It was an interesting juxtaposition with the influx of Sixties soul music. From Detroit, the sounds, and sights, of Motown, run with the iron glove of Berry Gordy, mimicking the owner’s tightness (and that’s a compliment).

To the south, though, out of Memphis, came the funky strut of Stax, with a little more daring, a little more funk and, yes, perhaps a bit more soul. The house band, then and now, for the "Stax sound" was Booker T & the MGs-Booker T. Jones on keyboards, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums. Backing up the Stax artists, like Carla Thomas and Albert King, they were a Godsend; on their own, as this interesting, albeit a bit uneven, three-disk box set shows, they were a revelation.

It was rare to hear vocals on an MGs track, ironic in a way given that they backed some of the best soul shouters in the business. Yet, with the 1962 release of the hot "Green Onions," they were a force to be reckoned with.

The box set shows their early sides, from the early Sixties, sometimes with horn accompaniment, and sometimes with other locals like Isaac Hayes sitting in. Yet, it was Booker T.’s organ and/or Cropper’s guitar work that set them apart.

In what could be called their "middle period," the MGs covered a myriad of other artists’ work, much of it reproduced here. From "Lady Madonna" to "Mrs. Robinson," to an entire recreation of the Beatles’ "Abbey Road" album, versatility was always their strong suit.

In later years, particularly after the death of drummer Jackson, the MGs have been in a bit of a holding pattern, but it is clear, from their work at "Bobfest," the October 1992 Bob Dylan tribute, where they operated as the house band, to a subsequent 1993 European tour with Neil Young, of all people, they continue to shine with production of the bottom as well as the top, of backing sounds.