Another of my brother’s 1960s singles. An instrumental this time.

The Ventures were a sort of US version of The Shadows. Or The Shadows were a UK version of The Ventures. Take your pick.

The Ventures: Perfidia

And here’s a rarity. Walk Don’t Run in stereo.

The Ventures: Walk Don’t Run

Just before my time there was a vogue for instrumental bands – The Shadows, The Ventures, The Tornados – but this more or less petered out with the advent of The Beatles.

Booker T and The MGs started out in that earlier era but carried on in that vein; so unusually for bands in the mid to late 1960s continued to eschew actual songs. According to Wikipedia they were (ahem) instrumental in shaping the sound of Southern and Memphis Soul.

I believe I first heard of them when they released Soul Limbo, a minor hit in Britain – and a track now much more famous as being the theme music for Cricket coverage on the BBC (TV and radio) – after which their earlier records received some retrospective airplay. They later had a much bigger hit with Time Is Tight.

I was going to have this track in the Friday slot a few weeks ago but a restricted blog which I frequent got there before me so I’ve held it over till now.

This is a live version of the band’s first single, Green Onions.

Booker T and The MGs: Green Onions