DESCRIPTION:
From '' In Cold Blood ''
Label: New Rose Records -- NEW 31
Format: Vinyl, 12", Mini-Album
Country: France
Released: 1984

Tracklist
A1 In Cold Blood
A2 Just Another Girl
B1 Green Onions
B2 Diary Of A Lover
B3 Look In My Eyes

Mini-album repackaging of the original 2xLP version, removing the live material leaving only the 5 studio tracks.

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"Green Onions" is a hit soul instrumental recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.s.
The tune is a 12-bar blues with a rippling Hammond organ line.
Originally issued on the Volt 102 subsidiary of Stax Records in May 1962 as the B-side to "Behave Yourself", it was quickly reissued as the A-side of Stax 127; it also appeared on the album Green Onions.
The guitar used by guitarist Steve Cropper on "Green Onions", as was all of The M.G.'s instrumentals, was a Fender Telecaster.
According to guitarist Steve Cropper, the name is not a marijuana reference, rather it is named after the Green Badger's cat, Green Onions, whose way of walking inspired the riff.

Similar recordings

"Green Onions" is remarkably similar in style and chord progression to John Lee Hooker's "Onions", which appears on his 1963 album, The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker, although on that LP the songwriting credit was to John L. Hooker, not Jones/Cropper/Steinberg/Jackson.

Booker T & the M.G.'s released a continuation of "Green Onions" titled "Mo' Onions" on the album Green Onions on November 1962 and later released it as a single in February 1964 and reached #97 on both the R&B Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Sonny Boy Williamson's 1963 recording "Help Me" was based on "Green Onions" and features Willie Dixon performing a upright bass riff very similar to the riff in "Green Onions" performed by Lewie Steinberg.

Appearances in popular culture

"Green Onions" has been used extensively in radio, television, film and advertising, such as in the 1973 film American Graffiti, in the trailer to the 2000 film Chicken Run and in the films Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Get Shorty, The Sandlot, Houseguest, A Single Man and The Flamingo Kid. The song was also featured on the soundtrack to Quadrophenia.
It was used in the menu screen and various cutscenes in EA's game Skate.
The song is prominently used in the TNT comedy-drama series Memphis Beat. It is also featured in the series Supernatural in the episode 'Folsom Prison Blues'. This song is also used for The Weather Channel's Local on the 8's, as well as Storm TV's Local Weather NOW.
Green Onions is also the ad campaign for Super Why!.

Cover versions

Henry Mancini in album Uniquely Mancini of 1963.
The Ventures included their version on their popular 1963 album The Ventures Play Telstar and The Lonely Bull
In a live cover of this tune from the album Made in America, Dan Aykroyd, as his character Elwood J. Blues of the Blues Brothers comments on the song during a vamp, "I believe that this tune can be equated with the great classical music around the world. Well now you go to Germany, you got your Bach, your Beethoven and your Brahms.
Here in America, you got your Fred McDowell, your Irving Berlin, your Glenn Miller, and your Booker T. & the M.G.s!"
A live cover by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers appears on their career-spanning set The Live Anthology. In 1997, keyboardist Paul Hardcastle covered the song from his album Cover to Cover.
Graham Bond released a version of "Green Onions" on his 1970 solo album Solid Bond.
American guitarist Roy Buchanan played the song "Green Onions" on the album Sweet Dreams: The Anthology.
Milt Buckner released the song on Green Onions.
Jack Costanzo on his 2002 album Scorching the Skins.
Georgie Fame released "Green Onions" as the b-side to "Do Re Mi" in April 1964.
Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper recorded the song live on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper in 1969.
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires on several different albums.
Harry James did a version of Green Onions with his band in 1965 with Buddy Rich on drums.