Booker T. Jones
The Road From Memphis

THE REVIEW

There's something anachronistic about holding a vinyl with a multicolored cover, bold letters, and a small Cadillac (or something like that, I've never understood cars) rearing up. When "Green Onions" came out, that music was already almost outdated, not to mention the other carbon-copy songs. Beautiful and contagious, but still echoes of the thunderous hit of '62.

Booker T. Jones employs the same formula as the previous "Potato Hole," with a bit more conviction: "The Road From Memphis" (2011) contains original compositions with few pretensions and a lot of groove associated with at least one butt-kicking cover. And this one truly kicks. "Crazy," originally a minor hit by Gnarls Barkley, here dazzles like a refined party, the kind where you sip a gin and tonic and try to woo the blonde in a low-cut dress. I mean, I imagine that's the case, I've never been to such a party; I watched Rai documentaries.

Anyway, for anyone who feels like a cool cat, a yuppie, a hipster back when the word was synonymous with "consumer of smoky black music," a cheeky joker, or a connoisseur may indulge in this gem, also because I think Mr. Jones has to pay the rent.

Ah, the music is funk, it's soul, it's r'n'b not particularly original, a polished version of the old MG's. For the radical chic, there's even the mummified Lou Reed in the concluding "The Bronx" (a title that fits the guest like a glove, let's admit it), and someone else I don't know, so I won't tell you who it is because it would be dishonest to look up information on Wikipedia.

PS: trendy vinyl edition that also includes the same disc on CD for free, which is no small thing.

PPS: support music that doesn't want to retire if it still makes your head bob.