Booker T. And The MGs Jamming Iconic “Green Onions”- 1967 Footage

Live In Norway

‘Green Onions’: it’s one of those songs whose name and artist you never seem to remember, but the moment you hear it, you recognize it and it instantly transports you to another place!

Recorded in 1962 by Booker T. and the MGs, ‘Green Onions’ is one of the most famous instrumentals in the world. It was one of the first instances where a band walked the fine line between rock and R&B, using elements of both; in this case, Booker T. and the MGs used R&B’s heavy rhythm while fusing it together with an edgy guitar and organ section, making for a pretty versatile tune that stands the test of time over 50 years later.

In 2012 it was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry list of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” American sound recordings.

This performance of ‘Green Onions’ is fantastic! Featured on a television show in Norway, it’s both awesome and intimidating to know that this iconic instrumental was the result of just 4 musicians jamming together. Their stage presence is nothing particularly fancy, and it’s a testament to the skill of career musicians that existed long before the age of autotuning and studio production that they were able to put on such a phenomenal show with such a minimal amount of extras.