Something Else! sneak peek: Booker T., “Father Son Blues” from Sound The Alarm (2013)

Booker T.’s “Father Son Blues” — which, yes, features his talented offspring Ted Jones — opens with a grease-popping organ lick before recapturing a groove familiar to anyone who ever soaked up a Stax Records side back in the day.

Not that there aren’t new things to dig into. In fact, if you listen hard enough, you almost hear a whisper of ZZ Hill’s “Down Home Blues,” just before the younger Jones unleashes a scalding guitar aside. Booker T., who composed or collaborated on each of the 12 songs featured throughout Sound the Alarm, then returns with a mind-bogglingly soulful solo — highlighted by this shivery one-note declamation.

Along the way, “Father Son Blues” certainly heralds a return to grittier, more elemental sounds — the warm, generation-defining sounds, in fact, of his old Stax house band Booker T. and the MGS — after Jones’ experiments in fusion and hip hop on the guest-packed, Grammy-winning Road to Memphis.

Look for Sound The Alarm on June 25, 2013, from Concord. Booker T.’s featured band this time includes the Avila brothers and guitarist Raphael Saadiq. Luke James (“All Over The Place”), Mayer Hawthorne (“Sound the Alarm”), Sheila E (“66 Impala”) and Gary Clark Jr. (“Austin City Blues”) also appear.

[amazon_enhanced asin=”B00CC7RE0I” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B001P75M0K” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B000KP62UM” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B004S7G6CW” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B008MMFBPM” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]

• Author
• Recent Posts

Nick DeRiso

Nick DeRiso has written for USA Today, American Songwriter, All About Jazz, and a host of others. Honored five times as columnist of the year, he oversaw a daily section named Top 10 in the U.S. by the Associated Press before co-founding Something Else! Nick is now assistant managing editor with Townsquare Media. www.nickderiso.com

Latest posts by Nick DeRiso (see all)

• Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Rock + Pop): Death Cab for Cutie, Joe Jackson, Toto + Others - January 18, 2016
• Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Blues, Jazz + R&B): Boz Scaggs, Gavin Harrison, Alabama Shakes - January 10, 2016
• Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Reissues + Live): John Oates, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Faces + others - January 7, 2016

You May Also Like:

It’s unclear when, or if, Booker T. and the MGs will record again: ‘I’m not saying never’ Birth of Booker T. and the MGs has an intriguing backstory: ‘I only found out later the real reason’ That time CCR moved Booker T. and the MGs to greatness: ‘It was inspirational; it’s still inspirational’