Sixty years ago, Booker T. & The MG’s transformed an impromptu studio jam into one of the most popular instrumentals ever recorded, “Green Onions.” An instant hit when it came out in the summer of 1962, the single topped the R&B chart and peaked at #3 on the pop chart before selling a million copies. That fall, the song became the title track to the band’s debut album, which, coincidentally, was also the first album released on Stax Records, the legendary Memphis-based record company that shaped the sound of Southern Soul in the Sixties.
In celebration of this classic album’s anniversary, Rhino is releasing a newly remastered version on green vinyl. GREEN ONIONS: 60th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION will be available on February 24 on 180-gram translucent green “onion” vinyl. The music also will be available the same day on CD and from digital and streaming services. The newly remastered version of “Mo’ Onions” from the reissue is available today digitally. LISTEN NOW.
The music has been completely remastered for this edition, and the album packaging features all-new liner notes by American author David Ritz, who interviewed two of the group’s founding members – Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper – for this release.
Today, the popularity of “Green Onions” continues to grow. Everyone from The Blues Brothers to Count Basie and Deep Purple to Mongo Santamaría has covered the funky and soulful instrumental. It’s appeared in a long list of films and television shows, including Quadrophenia, Get Shorty, The Sopranos, and Ken Burn’s The Vietnam War. The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2012, and the Grammy® Awards gave it the Grammy® Hall of Fame Award in 1999. In addition to physical sales, the song has been streamed nearly 200 million times to date.