Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Melting Pot (Booker T album)

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Released
  
January 1971

Length
  
40:10

Artist
  
Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Producer
  
Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Recorded
  
1970

Melting Pot (1971)
  
The MG's (1973)

Release date
  
January 1971

Label
  
Stax

Melting Pot (Booker T album) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen553Mel

Genres
  
Rhythm and blues, Instrumental rock

Similar
  
Booker T & the MG's albums, Rhythm and blues albums

Booker t the mg s 1971 melting pot ec2 full abum


Melting Pot is a 1971 studio album recorded by Booker T. & the M.G.'s for Stax Records. It is the last album to feature the group's classic lineup of Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson and the first of their albums to contain longer, jam-oriented compositions.

Contents

Booker t the mg s melting pot


Background

By 1970, band leader Booker T. Jones had become estranged from Stax, as he protested the changing atmosphere under the leadership of executive Al Bell. Jones left Memphis, Tennessee, where Stax was headquartered, and moved to California. Guitarist Steve Cropper, also dissatisfied with the new Stax atmosphere, opened his own studio in Memphis, spending less and less time at the Stax studio. Melting Pot was recorded in New York City, between M.G.'s gigs, as Jones refused to record in Memphis and wanted the band to create a different sound for the new album.

The album's title track was edited for length and issued by Stax as a single in spring 1971. "Melting Pot" peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and at number 21 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.

Reception

The review in Rolling Stone magazine was very positive, concluding in its final paragraph:

"Altogether, as an album, it works really well, with the group's customary taste and precision balanced against a new looseness and a return to earlier, funky playing patterns. That's more than enough to make it the best Booker T. album in some time, the Memphis Gas of the Year, and a Major Rock Event for everyone."

Track listing

All songs written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Al Jackson, Jr. except "Kinda Easy Like", by Jones, Cropper, Jackson, and Lewis Steinberg

  1. "Melting Pot" – 8:15
  2. "Back Home" – 4:40
  3. "Chicken Pox" – 3:26
  4. "Fuquawi" – 3:40
  5. "Kinda Easy Like" – 8:43
  6. "Hi Ride" – 2:36
  7. "L.A. Jazz Song" – 4:18
  8. "Sunny Monday" – 4:35

Personnel

  • Booker T. Jones – keyboards
  • Steve Cropper – guitar
  • Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass
  • Al Jackson, Jr. – drums
    • Additional personnel
  • The Pepper Singers – background vocals

    • Production credits

  • Recording engineers – Ron Capone, Gordon Rudd, Rik Pekkonen, Shelly Yakus, Jay Messina, Steve Cropper
  • Remix engineer – Steve Cropper
  • Cover photographer – George Rodriguez
  • Art director – The Graffiteria/Stan Hochstadt
  • Art supervisor – Herb Kole, Larry Shaw

    • Samples

  • "Melting Pot"
  • "Another Victory" by Big Daddy Kane on his album It's a Big Daddy Thing
  • "Chicken Pox"
  • "Silence of the Lambs" by Showbiz and A.G. on their album Runaway Slave

    • Songs

    1Melting Pot8:19
    2Back Home4:44
    3Chicken Pox3:30

    References

    Melting Pot (Booker T album) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA