Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones helped shape Memphis soul as a keyboardist, composer, arranger, and producer. Time Is Tight traces his development from a child studying music in segregated Memphis to his leadership of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, the interracial house band associated with Stax Records. Jones recalls recording while still in high school, creating instrumentals such as Green Onions, and working with singers including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave. Little, Brown released the autobiography in 2019 with the fuller title Time Is Tight: My Life, Note by Note; Back Bay Books later issued the paperback. The book also follows his later collaborations with artists such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Bill Withers. By linking musical decisions to family, race, and the working culture inside Stax, Jones presents both a personal history and a firsthand account of a formative American recording scene.