MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – As a teenager growing up in Memphis, Booker T. Jones delivered newspapers house-to-house, saving all the money he could for organ lessons.
Clearly, his investment paid off.
More than five decades since he played on his first record as a teenager – the danceable “Cause I Love You” by Rufus and Carla Thomas – Jones is still going strong. Now 71, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is playing his Hammond organ with the same energy he did when Booker T. and the M.G.’s served as the house band for Stax Records in the 1960s and influenced popular music with their funky instrumental hits like “Green Onions” and “Time is Tight.”
On Saturday, Jones will take the stage at the Halloran Center in Memphis, and it will be his first performance in this city since 2012. Joining him will be teenagers from the Stax Music Academy, an after-school program for aspiring musicians who idolize Jones and the other musicians who worked for Stax, from Otis Redding to Sam and Dave.
For the young musicians, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. For Jones, it’s a homecoming.