Hip HugHer

Booker T. & The MG's: Booker T. Jones (keyboards); Steve Cropper (guitar); Donald Duck Dunn (bass); Al Jackson Jr. (drums). Recorded on February 9 & April 26, 1967. Includes original release liner notes by Deanie Catron. Originally released on Stax (717) on May 23, 1967. Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot & Dan Hersch (Digiprep). HIP HUG-HER is one of Booker T. and MG's strongest, most consistent studio efforts. Here, the band's sound gels completely, the grooves become more insistent, the sound more varied, yet the whole is smoother and more seamless. The addition of Donald Duck Dunn's loose, inventive bass lines (Dunn first appeared on AND NOW, this record's predecessor) opens up the compositions to maximum groovability, as on Booker's Notation, and the moody Pigmy. As always, Steve Cropper's slicing guitar, Al Jackson's spare, punchy drumming and Booker T.'s juicy, soaring organ chops do exactly what they should. Though, like most MG's albums, HIP HUG-HER includes covers, it's the originals that stand out most. Soul Sanction (with its great auxiliary percussion backing), the uber-groove of Slim Jenkins' Place (named after a soul food restaurant near the Stax recording studios), and the infectious, utterly irresistible title track display the ensemble at their funk/soul finest. Also included here is the popular cover of the Young Rascals Groovin', with which the MG's scored their own Top 10 R&B hit. For Memphis soul fans looking for more than the average compilation has to offer, HIP HUG-HER is essential.