Monday, May 06, 2019

Groove o' the day: Al Jackson - Soul Dressing

Hip groove from Al Jackson on the tune Soul Dressing, by Booker T. and the MGs, from their 1965 album of the same title. They recorded so many of these tight little 45s, R&B miniatures— very controlled, minimal, perfectly composed.




The right hand comes to the snare drum for that ghost note on the & of 4; that note is played near the edge of the drum, and is muffled because the left hand is resting on the drum for the rim clicks. Often a quarter note is played on the cymbal on beat 3 of both measures, instead of the 8th notes.


1 comment:

Ed Pierce said...

I never noticed that that one ghost note was played on the snare (I think I assumed, without studying it too closely, that he just played it on the ride cymbal). Very cool.

Al Jackson played this groove on a few other tracks (usually just as an intro or for part of a section, not for the whole groove), although I think this tune was the first (and obviously, the most famous). He also plays it on the intro and interlude sections of the MG's version of "Mrs. Robinson."