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Booker T & The MG's: Booker T. Jones (keyboards); Steve Cropper (guitar); Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass); Al Jackson Jr. (drums). Principally recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1966. Originally released on Stax (711). Includes original release liner notes by Deanie Catron. Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch (Digiprep). AND NOW! is notable for the replacement of bassist Lewis Steinberg by Donald "Duck" Dunn. Though Steinberg and drummer Al Jackson had demonstrated excellent rapport on the first two MG's releases, Dunn (formerly, like guitarist Steve Cropper, of the Mar-Keys) brought a looser, funkier feel and his arrival marks the beginning of the band's golden period. Though their finest albums were still ahead of them, AND NOW! shows the ensemble beginning to perfect the laid back, groove-heavy instrumental aesthetic pioneered on their first records. As with GREEN ONIONS, AND NOW! is a mix of covers and originals. Cropper's fluid leads wind around the rhythm section and Booker T.'s fat, soulful organ on versions of "Think," "Working in a Coal Mine," and "In the Midnight Hour" (co-written by Cropper), as well MG originals such as "Soul Jam" and the sunny shuffle-groove of "My Sweet Potato" (featuring a rare performance by Booker T. on piano). Though instrumental chops impress all around, it's the band's synergy that comes across most powerfully, as well as their ability to fuse soul, R&B and jazz into a seamless, grooving whole. Strong stuff from the architects of Memphis soul.
