Book a Table and the Maitre D's

McLemore Avenue
From Wikipedia:

In 1969, Duck Dunn and Booker T. Jones, in particular, had become enamored with The Beatles, especially their work on Abbey Road. The appreciation was mutual, as The Beatles had patterned a lot of what they did on the M.G.'s. John Lennon was a huge Stax fan ("Glass Onion" from The Beatles was named in honor of "Green Onions") who fondly called the group, "Book a Table and the Maitre D's." Paul McCartney, like Dunn, played bass melodically, without straying from the rhythm or the groove. It was obvious through each of their playing that they admired one another. And as the story goes, after being locked away in the Memphis studio, when the company embarked on the "Hit the Road, Stax!" tour of 1967, The Beatles sent limos to the airport and bent down to kiss Steve Cropper's ring. The M.G.'s had no idea, until then, of the impact they were having on the rest of the world.

In 1970, Jones, Dunn, and Jackson recorded McLemore Avenue, named for the street where Stax was located. Jones later taught Cropper, who had not heard Abbey Road, what to play. They covered thirteen of Abbey Road's songs, condensing twelve of them into medleys, and released a cover of George Harrison's "Something." The cover, pictured above in this article, is indeed an intentional spinoff of The Beatles' Abbey Road "street crossing" album cover.


Here's a little taste: "Medley: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End/Here Comes The Sun/Come Together"

Track listing:

1. "Medley: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End/Here Comes The Sun/Come Together"
2. "Something"
3. "Medley: Because/You Never Give Me Your Money"
4. "Medley: Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window/I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

Their interpretation of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is particularly cool.

Pictures I took four years ago of the STAX Museum of American Soul Music on a crappy Kodak disposable camera