Green Onions

Infobox Single
Name = Green Onions


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Booker T. & the M.G.s
from Album = Green Onions
A-side =
B-side = "Behave Yourself"
Released = August 1962
Format = 7"
Recorded = Memphis, Tennessee
Genre = Soul, R&B
Length = 2:45
Label = Volt
102
Stax
127
Writer = Booker T. Jones
Steve Cropper
Lewis Steinberg
Al Jackson, Jr.
Producer =
Certification =
Chart position =
* #3 Pop:* #1 R&B
Last single =
This single =
Next single =
Misc ="Green Onions" is a hit soul instrumental recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.s. The tune is a twelve bar blues with a rippling Hammond organ line. According to guitarist Steve Cropper its name arose from the band members' efforts to think of a title that was "as funky as possible". [Greenberg, Steve (1994). "The Very Best of Booker T. & the MG's" [CD liner notes] . Los Angeles: Rhino Records.]

"Green Onions" entered the Billboard Hot 100 in September of 1962 where it remained for 16 weeks, peaking at number 3. Originally issued on the Volt subsidiary of Stax Records, it was quickly reissued on Stax proper; it also appeared on the hit album "Green Onions". The recording did not chart in the UK until January 1980 after being featured in the 1979 film "Quadrophenia".

"Green Onions" has been used extensively in radio, television, film and advertising. The tune is also a favorite at baseball parks across the United States.

"Green Onions" was ranked #181 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

In a live cover of this tune from the album Everybody Needs the Blues Brothers, Dan Aykroyd, as his character Elwood J. Blues of the Blues Brothers comments on the song during a vamp, "I believe that this tune can be equated with the great classical music around the world. Well now you go to Germany, you got your Bach, your Beethoven and your Brahms. Here in America, you got your Fred McDowell, your Irving Berlin, your Glen Miller, and your Booker T. & the M.G.s!"

Appearances in film

* "American Graffiti" (1973)
* "Big Wednesday" (1978)
* "Quadrophenia" (1979)
* "" (1993)
* "The Sandlot" (1993)
* "Get Shorty" (1995)
* "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998)
* "Stepmom" (1998)
* "Glory Road (film)" (2006)

Other appearances

* In the video game "Skate."
* In the video game ""
* In the video game ""
* On the NPR program "Fresh Air"
* Sampled in Shaggy's cover of "Oh Carolina" (a hit in 1993).
* In a Bus Eireann advertising campaign
* Used in the commercials in advertisement of the TV show Karen Sisco
* Used in the commercials in advertisement of the TV show Burn Notice
* Used in the TV show 'Top Gear' for the challenge of Clarkson in a Bugatti Veyron vs. May and Hammond in May's plane
* Used in the TV show 'Top Gear' for the modification of Mercedes-Benz S-series
* Used in the Scottish TV Sitcom Still Game
* Used in a recurring joke in Harry Hill's Channel 4 show when Hill (wearing a long black wig and pretending to be newsreader Zeinab Badawi) would suddenly play a computer keyboard like an organ to the sound of the track.
* Used at Dodger stadium, Before announcing the Starting Lineup.
* It was covered by The 5.6.7.8's on their 2002 album, Teenage Mojo Workout.
* It was covered by Jon Lord and The Hoochie Coochie Men.
* Narrated cover by show band The Blues Brothers, with guitarist Steve Cropper
* Used in the TV Series Supernatural Season 2 - Fulsom Prison Blues
* Used in the movie American Graffiti
* Used in the movie The Sandlot

External links

* [http://wc04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:gzfwxct5ldte Song Review] at Allmusic