"Green Onions" - Booker T. and the MG's cover by Ted

[Ted]

Green Onions

Composers: Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg, Al Jackson Jr.

Ted: SY-1 guitar synth pedal, guitar, bass, drum arrangement (Micro BR)

Recorded on Micro BR. Tweaked in Audacity (trimming, normalizing, high-pass filter)

I first heard this song on the American Graffiti film soundtrack album, with Wolfman Jack talking over the beginning. It was one of my least favorite songs on the album, but that soundtrack was my introduction to 50's early rock. I played the double album hundreds of times. It would take a few decades, but "Green Onions" eventually grew on me.

I'm certain that I spent more time recording this than did Booker T. and the MG's spent recording the original. They recorded the whole thing live in the studio, whereas I recorded each track separately, including performing the organ part on three tracks – left hand, right hand, and solo – and then mixing them together. Plus I had a Micro BR glitch that cost me a couple of hours.

For the main vamp, I couldn't get on the SY-1 a reasonable facsimile of organ sound from the original recording, so I found a synth sound instead. However, the organ solo is one of the SY-1 organ sounds with a teeny bit of distorted guitar mixed in from the effects loop.

Don't be a panhole. I mixed to mono on purpose to be more like the original.

[Zoltan]

Booker T. Jones was a child prodigy and the player of many instruments. Still he has nothing on Ted who just managed to undo years of keyboard learning with the help of a guitar pedal.
I'm not sure what Mr. Jones would think of the outcome, but he might think that the time wasted on rehearsing was a fools errand. Or maybe he'd think that the SY-1 is lacking a bit of soul that the Hammond has in spades.

Steve Cropper might nowadays be whiter than Johnny Winter, but i doubt he'd look like a sour onion after hearing that after decades of swimming in lukewarm waters you'd be getting hot with Green Onions.

A mighty fine cover version that sounds a bit more like Stevie Wonder does the MG(* than the original.

(* I don't mean to imply that little Stevie bangs cars. I wouldn't know that.

[Jean Pierre]

yes indeed it reminds of 50's rock and Ray Charle's gimmicky riff in what d I say

It's remarkably well done Ted

[TPB]

Fine fine job  on this enjoying it with my morning coffee
Tim

[StephenM]

oooooo.... diggin this.  That keyboard sound is heaven...
then that fine lead!

very fine cover indeed Mr. Ted and I am so glad you are recording more again.  That keyboard....oh....

[Farrell Jackson]

A super cover of Green Onions Ted! The main organ melody, the guitar rhythm and solo, the drums, bass, and the mono mix/recording really does capture the original sound of this popular '50s crusin' song. Excellent cover!

Not to anger any Pink Floyd fans (I'm one myself) but the first time I heard Money by PF I thought they borrowed some of the bass riffs and vibe from Green Onions

I almost forgot to mention that the movie soundtrack, "American Grafitti" where Ted heard the song Green Onions, was based on my area. I cruised that strip many times with my older sister. I was too young to drive in 1963 but my parents made me tag along to keep my sister out of trouble...it never worked, lol.

[Blooby]

This is wonderful. Really enjoyed your take on this. That SY has a cool farfisa type sound.

Blooby

[alfstone]

Wonderful cover!

Alfredo

[cuthbert]

No keys were used at all? It sounds fantastic! I'm getting G.A.S for the SY-1 again...

Great cover, Ted!

[Ted]

No keys were used at all?

Nope! That was kind of the objective. When I went looking for an original to cover, I scanned some lists online. When I saw "Green Onions," I thought, Yes! An experiment for the SY-1. I can just knock that one out! It was harder than I thought – it always is. I initially tried to do this without my usual MBR paperwork. But after I had the MBR glitch, I nearly abandoned the song. Instead, I pulled out the forms and used them forensically to reconstruct the song from the rubble.

the SY-1 is lacking a bit of soul that the Hammond has in spades.

That was a little disappointing, having to use a synth sound. I originally recorded that vamp using an organ sound, but it had a nauseating vampire-movie feel to it. I considered exporting the organ tracks to GarageBand to try finding an envelope filter or some other effect to make the organ sound like Booker T. But that felt like a rabbit hole. I'm learning to spot those before I jump down. I decided to keep it all on the Micro BR (as originally intended), and do the best I could mostly with the sounds generated before the guitar cable meets the MBR.

the first time I heard Money by PF I thought they borrowed some of the bass riffs and vibe from Green Onions

Funny you should mention that. I couldn't get "Money" out of my mind while I was working on this. I even went and listened to "Money" to see if Gilmour might have been paying a conscious homage to Cropper in the guitar solo. Apparently he copped to copying Cropper:

"I thought it was a sound that we could incorporate into Pink Floyd's Money without anyone figuring out exactly what the influence was," explained David Gilmour, "Four English architecture students with a groove from Memphis seemed like one thing to me. Quite bizarre. And I think it worked in the end."

https://www.virginradio.it/news/rock-news/1285009/pink-floyd-david-gilmour-racconta-la-storia-della-scrittura-di-money-credo-che-alla-fine-abbia-funzionato.html