Booker T. & the M.G.s – Hip Hug-Her – New LP

The living legend Booker T., and his bad-ass band, another album by black artists (actually an integrated group) with super-duper white people on the sleeve. But don't judge a brother by looking at the mod mother on the sleeve in her hip-huggers, don't judge a Booker T. by looking at the cover, this one will certainly get you grooving in the right direction.  While many instrumental bands had hit singles in the early 1960s, almost all of them were long forgotten by 1967.  But not Booker T. and his Memphis Group.  This is another essential outing for fans.  And if you ain't a fan, they should lock you up in a jail.  In a jail called Stupid Jail!  This album is the shit. -- winch (green noise records)

"Still riding high years after the success of "Green Onions," Hip Hug-Her is another 11-song solid session of Southern soul delivered by one of the best bands in the business. In an attempt to appeal to the up-and-coming mod movement, the cover features an alluring model flanked by fashionable faceless people. But not to judge the album by its cover, Hip Hug-Her finds the group diving deeper into soulful territories, no doubt aided by the addition of bassist Duck Dunn to the fold. The title track is clearly one of the stronger cuts on the album, but other tunes such as the midtempo Motown anthem "Get Ready" and the group's interpretation of "Groovin'" make this one of the strongest full-lengths in the Booker T. & the MG's catalog."