The Greatest American Band Debate: Booker T. and the M.G.'s

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

Today for the greatest American band debate I'm going to nominate the first, and possibly only, all instrumental band. Instrumental music can be a hard sell for a lot of people, but these guys did it funky with a ton of soul and made it very enjoyable. Of course I'm talking about Booker T and the MG's.

Chances are even if you don't think you know who Booker T and the MG's are, or one of their songs, you've heard them before. They have been around forever, still performing today, albeit very limited and not the same guys that started the group, and their sound has been used by very famous singers. They were one of the first backing bands that went out and did their own thing and garnered a good amount of success doing it.

Booker T and the MG's formed in the early 60's in Tennessee. They helped shaped, and probably pioneered, the "Memphis sound". They were the funkiest backing band that I have ever heard. Booker T Jones was the organist and piano player, Steve Cooper was on guitar, Lewie Steinberg played bass and Al Jackson was the drummer. After forming, they quickly became the house band for Stax Records. They performed with legendary singers like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Bill Withers, Sam and Dave, Carla and Rufus Thomas and Albert King. Basically, any big time artist that Stax had, they wanted Booker T and the MG's to be their backing band. They have had to played on hundreds upon hundreds of hits when you look at those musicians that they performed with. Songs like "Walkin the Dog", "Hold On, I'm Comin", "Soul Man" and "Try a Little Tenderness", just to name a few, they were the ones bringing the music to the lyrics. Those are mega hits that not only soul music fans know and love, but just fans of music adore. "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin" really show you Booker T and the MG's signature soul/funk/rock sound. Great guitar, followed by great bass and thumping drums and then the cherry on the top that is Booker T's exceptional piano playing. They could even do slower stuff like "Try a little Tenderness", but they had to throw their sound in to make it a little funky and have a touch of rock and roll. When that song jumps up in tempo, I get goosebumps listening to it. It's a perfect song that perfectly showcases not only Otis Redding, but mainly Booker T and the MG's.

The band would also record and release their own material while still performing with these uber famous singers. They have put out a ton of their own stuff, but their biggest hit has to be "Green Onions". Believe me, you know this song. The first place I heard "Green Onions" was in the movie "The Sandlot". I was in fifth grade, my dad took me out of school early to see this baseball movie, and while the movie is one of my all time favorites, with the scenes of the kids playing being phenomenal, I kept asking my dad about "that one song that had no words". I couldn't shake that song. I loved it as a 10 year old and I still love it now. "Green Onions" is the personification of the "Memphis sound" and, more importantly, perfectly sums up the greatness that is Booker T and the MG's. The organ and the drum that starts is awesome. Then, the simple guitar riff, that is just chords, absolutely wonderful. Then, Booker T really shines on the organ, playing the most distinct notes anyone has ever heard. I guarantee you know the song when you hear that organ in the first verse. The guitar keeps adding reverb and gets a bit more complicated throughout the three minute song. Then, it's back to organ, with a downright funky bass line being played. The drums, keeping perfect beat the whole time, are just incredible. When I hear this song, I can't help but dance or move my feet or bob my head to it. It's a classic.

Now, "Green Onions" isn't their only hit as a band, they also have the song "Time is Tight". This song features the great organ by Booker T, but the other musicians shine just as bright. The guitar is just as front and center as the organ and it's awesome. The solos are fantastic. The drums are great, this time, not just keeping time, but playing awesome fills and having a very full sound. The bass is just as good. It's minimal, but it is necessary and it is good. I know bass always gets a bad rap and people make fun of bass players, but in a soul/R&B/funk group, bass is very important. It keeps time, just like the drums do. They have many other hit songs, but these are the two that everyone, even if they think they don't know them, know these songs. Hell, "Green Onions" is a staple in most movies and on a lot of TV shows.

Booker T and the MG's are owed a great debt by many musicians, especially ones that fancy themselves funk musicians. Without what these guys did, we may have never gotten that funky soul sound that they brought to the listening public. They are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I feel like they're a very underrated band. They are all extremely technically skilled musicians that all the big names in soul music wanted to be their backing band. Booker T and the MG's, in my opinion, are the best backing band of all time. I know people will throw out singers and musicians from the movie "20 Feet From Stardom" or the band from "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", but for my taste, it gets no better than Booker T and the MG's. These guys created a sound that was all their own. They are inventors and masters of their craft. They still perform today, with mainly new members, but Booker T is still there hammering away at his organ, and that's all that matters. As long as he is still around, the MG's will continue to be a great band.

Here's to you Booker T and the MG's, you guys are pioneers.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He feel bad for being mean to the bassist from his high school rock band. The dude kept good time. Hear all about the glory days of The Redshirt Freshmen by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Eric B and Rakim

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

For the greatest American band debate, I'm going to get back to a band, although it's a duo, and I'm going to get back to rap. The band I'm going to nominate today is Eric B and Rakim.

Eric B and Rakim may be the most influential rap group of all time, even more so than Sugarhill Gang. Eric B and Rakim proved that you could make great music with only two guys. I know that I nominate and talk about a lot of two piece bands, the White Stripes, Ratatat, Run the Jewels and the Black Keys to name a few, but, at the very least, there would be no Run the Jewels if not for Eric B and Rakim. They are the quintessential two piece rap group. They had a short, but very prolific run in the music industry.

The duo exploded on the scene very early on, only a few years after rap became a big thing. Their first record, "Paid in Full", was released in 1987 and it was a hit. It was helped by the huge single "Eric B For President".  According to Wikipedia, this album, although rushed to release, influenced huge hip hop stars like Run DMC, KRS-One and Chuck D. This record showed the world that smooth, yet profound flow of Eric B. It also introduced us to the wizardry that was Rakim. He was a master of making beats and could write the hell out of a song. So could Eric B. He was a lyrical master. The song "Eric B For President" is a master class of rhyming and flowing that hip hop artists nowadays owe a huge debt to. Without this song's structure, a lot of famous rappers wouldn't have a clue at how to put their flows to a beat. "Eric B For President" laid the groundwork for modern hip hop cadence.

After the release and success of "Paid in Full", they signed a deal with MCA. They were now with a huge label and expectations were high, and they did not disappoint. Their second album is one of the all time greatest albums. In 1988 they released "Follow the Leader". This record is a masterpiece. The title track, "Follow the Leader" is epic. The song has a great beat, great lyrics and the message is fantastic. They basically shouted to the hip hop world that they were the leaders of the movement, and it's hard to argue with them. No one, at that time, was even close to how awesome Eric B and Rakim were. They owned the throne of hip hop. "Lyrics of Fury" is another classic. This song is another example at how great of an emcee Eric B was/is. He is a lyrical genius. And the way he raps on "Lyrics of Fury", watch out because he destroys the song. It's an incredible rap song. "Microphone Fiend" is another great track on this record. I love this song and it was introduced to me through Rage Against the Machine, a band I've already written about, but Eric B and Rakim's original version is the best. I love the angst and anger that this song brings and I love that, instead of fiending for drugs or money or violence, Eric B wants only a microphone. That's what he's fiending for and I love it. He needs that microphone to spit his lyrics out to the world and we, the audience, need it as well. It's my favorite song from the entire Eric B and Rakim songbook. The rest of that record is just as phenomenal, but those are the three standouts. The fact that it took so long to be acclaimed, it didn't get good early reviews and it wasn't until the late 90's and early 2000's that it became a classic, is shocking. the first time I heard this record, as a 20 year old, it immediately blew me away. I love this album.

In 1990 they released their third album, "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em". it was okay, but it doesn't get the critical or commercial acclaim that their first two albums eventually got. The record is still really good. Songs like "Set 'Em Straight", "Untouchables" and the title track, "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em" are all classic Eric B and Rakim and they all still, 100 percent old up as all time great hip hop songs. This album was also the first album to get a 5 mic rating in "Source" magazine. That's a huge honor and they were the first to earn it. This is a good album.

They released their final album as a duo in 1991 called "Don't Sweat the Technique". This was just another example of their awesomeness. They weren't getting along great in the studio, but they still made a very good album. Two of the songs on the record were also used in two big time movies in the early 90's. The song "What's on Your Mind" appeared in "House Party 2" and they recorded the theme song to the very underrated movie, "Juice". Both of those movies were huge at the time. "House Party 2" doesn't really hold up, but "Juice" is just as good now as it was in 1991. They broke up shortly after this album's release and they both did solo and side projects, but they never hit the same nerve as they did when they recorded together.

Eric B and Rakim were on the ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they didn't make it on their first try. That's insane to me because I believe they are the most influential rap group of all time. Eric B's writing and rhyming laid out the example of what a true emcee should sound and rap like, and Rakim's ear for looping and beat making is second to none. They belong and deserve to be in the Hall of Fame much more than some of the bands that are already in there. Eric B and Rakim are one of the best rap groups of all time and they are definitely the best rap duo of all time. They belong in this discussion for all the reasons I laid out.

Eric B for president indeed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host for the X Millennial Man podcast. He is constantly fiending for the mic, but Ty only talks and does not rap. Yet. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: The Cars

We all have a soundtrack to our lives. There are songs we hear that immediately transport us back to a certain time in our life. These songs are not always considered great by the critics and keepers of pop culture, but they have strong personal feelings. Everybody born before 1980 can sing the first few bars of the song Alex P. Keaton hears when he thinks of Ellen. I had no idea who sang that song, or what it was called. (Billy Vera and the Beaters, At This Moment. Now you know, it that is half the battle.) Music is the closest thing we have to time travel. Sometimes we hear a song, and we are transported to a time long forgotten.

The Cars created some of the greatest memories with their incredible music. The band was able to build these memories by making some of the greatest music to come out in the early 1980's. Ric Ocasek and his sound is iconic, but he was not a solo artist.  The Cars were a band who went through many previous incarnations with new members being picked out of other small local bands until an influential sound could be created. Ocasek first picked up bassist Benjamin Orr in Cleveland and headed to Boston. Once in Boston the duo added and subtracted many members until the Cars were formed with Ocasek, Orr, Elliot Easton on guitar, Greg Hawkes on keyboards, and David Robinson on drums.  The synth heavy, new wave sound of The Cars helped move the nation away from disco. The bands first two albums, The Cars and Candy-O both brought the band great success, but their eternal greatness was going to be how The Cars music was brought to the masses visually.

On August 1st, 1981 MTV launched and created a new trajectory for popular music. Well regraded musicians who did not have a good look, such as Christopher Cross, were suddenly being left behind. The pretty bands like Duran Duran and Flock of Seagulls (???) were now taking over your screens and speakers. The Cars were one of the first bands to understand that great music videos could complement great music. They were already commercially and critically successful with their sound, now The Cars were gaining a new level of fame with their videos. At the very first MTV Video Music Awards, The Cars took home the top prize for their video for "You Might Think".

The Cars already had the great music, they now were considered the best music video artists. Incredible music and mind blowing videos is not how an entire generation will remember The Cars. In 1982 the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High opened and left its mark on all of generation x. Writer Cameron Crowe and director Amy Heckerling created iconic characters, and produced one particular scene that would hit a bit close to home for many of the audience. (link kind of NSFW). The iconic music used for this memorable scene was the song "Moving in Stereo" by The Cars. Like the Alex Keaton sad song, Phoebe Cates coming out of the pool song has been planted in our brains and created a moment we will never forget. The red bikini, the exit from the pool, the slow walk, the embarrassment, all to the voice and bass of Benjamin Orr with backing from the rest of The Cars. Anyone born before 1980 knows that scene, and they know that song. The Cars created an everlasting memory.

The Cars broke up in the late eighties, and bassist Benjamin Orr succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2000. There have been a few different line-ups touring under The Cars, mostly playing iconic hits from the bands greatest days. In 2010 the living founding members of The Cars reunited, recorded a new album, and went out on tour. It is down right criminal that The Cars have not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The keepers of the hall need to correct this oversight. The Cars created a sound for a generation.

In crowning the Greatest American Band, we get caught up in who made the most popular music, and we forget to give credit to the bands that are timeless. The Cars may not be the most popular, although they did pretty good at selling records, but they were unforgettable. When I listen to The Cars Pandora station, there is recognizable hit after hit. The moment "Moving in Stereo" comes on I am transported. Over thirty years later I can feel the excitement, and the embarrassment at the same time. That is true greatness.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He hopes now that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has no more Beatles to induct, maybe a deserving band like The Cars can get some love. Nominate your Greatest American Band and write for SeedSing.