Booker T. & The MG’s – Time Is Tight

If I ever get to drive across America, Booker T and the MG’s would be on my playlist. This is road music at its finest. I listen to them and get lost in the groove. That Hammond B-3 organ played by Booker T. Jones is just incredible. I have a reputation for not liking synths very much but a Hammond B-3? Give me more and more of it.

You may recognize the intro. Band members Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn joined The Blues Brothers, who used this in the introduction to their live show. The Clash also covered the song. It appears on their 1980 singles compilation album Black Market Clash.

The song was recorded for the 1968 movie Uptight. The members included Mr. Booker T. Jones on organ, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass guitar, and the great Al Jackson Jr. on drums. This ensemble formed the musical backbone of the Memphis, TN-based Stax Records.

The band was responsible for bringing the Memphis Sound to millions worldwide. Booker T. and the MG’s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #4 in the UK in 1968. Just sit right back and enjoy the groove of this song for the rest of the day.

Time Is Tight

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

37 thoughts on “Booker T. & The MG’s – Time Is Tight”

    1. LOL…. No I don’t mind them if they are not dominating the song… I guess I feel the same way you feel about The Doors keyboard. In the background I don’t mind…but I love this organ.

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  4. Love me some B-3! In my youth, lots of bands traveled with a B-3 and Leslie, as there was no way to duplicate that sound. Cropper always in the pocket, never overplaying. They look like they are having fun. And with that rhythm section they define tight.

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  6. Pretty good groove on that one . I had to play it to remember what it sounded like, I have trouble remembering the names of some of those 60s instrumentals. Love that Hammond organ sound too!

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  8. They are so tight yet still it swings along so exuberantly- you can’t hear it and not smile along. (Will this song bring forth another road trip list from someone here, sometime in the future? Judging by the comments here that sounds like it could be a winner.)

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    1. I knew the intro from somewhere and I put it together with the Blues Brothers. John I’ve been listening to them…what a tight unit.

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      1. They were, which is what you wanted for all those Stax artists. Excellent backup musicians, producers, and songwriters. Their version of “Hang ’em High” is better than the one from the movie.

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      2. I heard that one and I agree. I always liked Stax much more than Motown because they had a raw feel to them….

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  13. I love Booker T & the M.G.s. As you well know, I’m also a huge fan of the Hammond B3. If I had extra money and a nice place to put it, I’d even buy one just to have it as a piece of furniture. It’s such a beautifully crafted instrument. Okay, I would probably also fool around with it, though I don’t know how to play keyboards.

    I hope you’ll forgive me for including a link to an amazing YouTube clip of Booker T Jones demonstrating the B3. I’m pretty sure I included it in a comment to a previous post. But I’m thinking not all of our fellow bloggers may know it. It’s about 18 minutes and worth every second. Warning: Afterwards you’d likely want a Hammond B3, badly! 🙂

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    1. I agree…it has a sound that you cannot beat and it can’t really be replicated by a synth…

      Thank you Dude! I’m adding it now to the post!

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    1. Hey man! Yea I took a month off in August and I’m watching my time since lol… Yea man that came out of left field. I was shocked dude. Jeremy I’ve told people and you know this…he got sounds out of guitars that I’ve never heard anyone else get.

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      1. The incredible thing was that he was still at the height of his powers. Still nailing it down every night. Such a loss. Kind of like Bowie dying- just leaves a void 😞

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  17. Great record and famous to a generation of chart fans in the UK – it was the backing track to Radio 1 DJ announcing the new UK chart on Tuesday lunchtimes from about 1971 to 76ish. So a lot of people aroun then know it – but dont know they know it 🙂

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