Booker T. Jones celebrates his life, legacy with memoir and album

When reading Booker T. Jones’ career-chronicling memoir “Time is Tight: My Life Note by Note” (Little, Brown & Co.). as well as listening to companion album “Note By Note “ (Edith Street Records), it becomes clear the immense role the city of Chicago has had on his musical growth.

Whether it was gospel, soul, R&B, or other styles of music, Jones has always been eager to absorb as much music as he could. In turn, he started pushing the boundaries of his music, beginning with his time at Memphis’ Stax Records, by creating a true melting pot of genres through songs such as “Green Onions.”

“Chicago, as a city, has had a huge impact on my musical development, especially from the gospel music that I listened to as a kid on the South Side at the church conferences,” recalls Jones during a recent interview. “I can remember standing on 49th and State near a church there, visiting a conference… just hanging out there, just being there in Chicago.”

Jones was inspired by the many gospel greats who made a name for themselves in Chicago, including Thomas Dorsey and Mahalia Jackson. He offers his own rendition of their song, “Precious Lord,” on his new album. In the book he writes that the song was made famous at Chicago’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. When he was just 12-years old, he performed the song with Jackson.

“I ended up accompanying her on ‘Precious Lord’ in Memphis one Sunday afternoon and it was a very moving experience for me to be playing with [her],” he says. “[The song] was a link from Chicago to Memphis, a direct link. It’s not only from Chicago to Memphis but to many Southern cities, through the music, through the churches.”

He discovered the ideal to strive for in a live performance after seeing Jackie Wilson play the Regal Theater in 1965.

Piper Ferguson

The memoir and album chronicle important moments in Jones’ life that made him the musician, songwriter and producer he is today. For example, “Cause I Love You,” marks the first time he recorded music in a studio.

“I have examples in the book and examples on the album of sort of where I was musically at the time,” he says. “‘I Want You’ is a song from the ’80s that I wrote on my A&M [Records] album [of the same name]. Very different from anything I did, I think, in the ’60s. And so, if you look, you’ll see there’s a road that I was on, musically as well as physically.”

The album features his own work, that of his biggest musical influences, covers of songs from those he’s recorded with (such as Carlos Santanaand Willie Nelson) as well as two new songs featuring his son, songwriter and guitarist Teddy Jones. The elder Jones, who plays a Hammond B3 and piano and sings on occasions, is also joined by drummer Steve Ferrone and longtime bandmate and bass player Melvin Brannon. The National’s Matt Berninger and Vintage Trouble’s Ty Taylor are among the special guests who also appear.

Little, Brown & Co.

His inspiration to write the book started at a hotel on the South Side of Chicago. During a break between recent gigs, he began writing essays about his life.

“I started writing to practice writing lyrics there, in my spare time,” Jones says. “And of course, walking around the city and trying to draw out some experiences there for songwriting purposes.”

He hopes the book and album can act as a guide to not only fans but aspiring, younger musicians.

“I started to read a few memoirs of my contemporaries and started to think, well, maybe it’s a good idea to put some of my experience down, maybe to help along some young musicians who are having [to make] the same types of decisions that I was,” says Jones. “Whether to continue to study or whether to go on the road. It’s hard to know exactly what to do if you’re a young musician… I remember [my mother] telling me to always try to work with young musicians and inspire them.”

Throughout his life, Jones was often the youngest musician in the room. That usually brought on a fear of rejection. In fourth grade, he was playing in a band of seventh graders. At the age of 14, he was playing music with 21- and 22-year-olds.

“It was a natural thing to be rejected because I was too young to be in the situations I was in. Too small, not emotionally prepared for the situations that I was in,” he says. “I was afraid of the rejection. So, I just practiced all the time. I wanted for people not to really have a reason to say no. So, I wanted to be good. That’s why I think I got to saying [in the book] I wanted to be too good to be rejected.”

He admits that “writing in any form can be such an imposing proposition in general.”

“It’s just like practicing scales on the piano,” he continues. “It’s just getting the discipline of going to your desk at the same time every day, and sitting down with a piece of paper, and going through the process. And a lot of times it’s nothing, but sometimes it’s something.”

That includes “Green Onions,” which he wrote with the M.G.’s in 1962.

“I feel gratified by it, both as a composer and as a fan,” says Jones. “It’s one of my favorite songs as well. I’m really proud to have been involved in the recording of it. But it’s also one of my favorite records, like some of Marvin Gaye’s records are my favorites. So, it’s quite an experience, but never, never expected “Green Onions” to be around today.”

Joshua Miller is a local freelance writer.