Time is Tight

A three-CD, 65-song box set that includes all their hits from 1962 through 1971, in addition to numerous LP tracks and failed singles; the third disc is devoted entirely to previously unreleased live material (most from 1992-1994) and rarities. Greatest-hits compilations will serve the needs of all but intense Booker T. and Stax fans. However, if you really dig their instrumental sound, this is a fine package. It might skip an odd, worthy track from their catalog, but basically has just about everything deserving of attention, concentrating more on their original compositions than their covers. Some of the more obscure selections, like their jazzy 1967 LP cut "Pigmy" and their inventive 1969 cover of "Lady Madonna," are overlooked standouts. A number of sides here, like "Burnt Biscuits," "Fannie Mae," "Sunday Sermon," "MG Party," and the moody, dignified "Meditation," were never on album before. Other oddities fans will want to know about is a live medley of James Brown material from 1968, Albert King doing "Born Under a Bad Sign" with them live (also from 1968), a hit 1965 single ("Hole in the Wall") released under the name "the Packers," and "Booker's Theme," which was only available on the 1969 Stax various-artists sampler Soul Explosion. The 1992-1994 live cuts (all previously unreleased), with various drummers in place of the late Al Jackson, show the band in decent though not amazing form, including a ten-minute jam on "Time Is Tight" and a version of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with Neil Young on vocals. The booklet contains extensive liner notes by Stax Records authority Rob Bowman. (www.allmusic.com)

CD 1:
1 Green Onions
2 Behave Yourself
3 Jelly Bread
4 Home Grown
5 Burnt Biscuits
6 Chinese Checkers
7 Mo'' Onions
8 Tic Tac Toe
9 Fannie Mae
10 Soul Dressing
11 Can''t Be Still
12 Boot Leg
13 Outrage
14 Be My Lady
15 My Sweet Potato
16 Hip Hug Her
17 Summertime
18 Slim Jenkins'' Place
19 Groovin''
20 Soul Sanction
21 Pigmy
22 Booker''s Notion
23 I Can Dig It
24 Expressway (To Your Heart)
25 You Don''t Love Me
26 Never My Love
27 Blue on Green
28 Ode to Billie Joe

CD 2:
1 Soul Limbo
2 Heads Or Tails
3 Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy
4 Hang ''Em High
5 Willow Weep For Me
6 Over Easy
7 Time Is Tight
8 Johnny I Love You
9 Lady Madonna
10 Mrs. Robinson
11 Soul Clap ''69
12 I''ve Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)
13 You''re All I Need To Get By
14 It''s Your Thing
15 Something
16 Sunday Sermon
17 McLemore Avenue
18 Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene/Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window/I Want You (She''s So Heavy)
19 Chicken Pox
20 Melting Pot

CD 3:
1 Gotta Serve Somebody
2 Lay Lady Lay
3 MG Party
4 Terrible Thing
5 Hole In The Wall
6 (Sittin'' On) The Dock of the Bay
7 Booker''s Theme
8 Albert''s Rap
9 Born Under A Bad Sign
10 Medley: I''m With You / I Don''t Mind / Oh, Baby Don''t You Weep
11 Meditation
12 Green Onions
13 Sarasota Sunset
14 I''ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
15 Hang ''Em High
16 Time Is Tight
17 (Sittin'' On) The Dock of the Bay