Al Jackson Jr.

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Al Jackson Jr. was an American drummer, producer and songwriter from Memphis, born in 1935. His father led a jazz and swing dance orchestra, and at five the young Jackson was already playing in it. Later he drummed in the bands of trumpeter and producer Willie Mitchell and of Ben Branch. Keyboard player Booker T. Jones recommended him to the label Stax, and Jackson became the first session musician there on a fixed weekly wage.

Music and breakthrough

At Stax, with Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Lewie Steinberg, later Duck Dunn, he formed the group Booker T. & the M.G.'s. As the house band they played on records by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd and Albert King, among others, and they also made instrumental tracks of their own. In the 1970s Jackson co-wrote and played on hits by Al Green, such as Let's Stay Together and I'm Still in Love with You, and drummed for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers and Elvis Presley. In 1975, shortly before a planned reunion of the M.G.'s, he was shot dead in his home in Memphis. The culprit was never found.

Influence

Jackson was nicknamed The Human Timekeeper, the human metronome. His playing was tight, simple and instantly recognisable: a steady backbeat that sat exactly right in the groove. In this way he gave the sound of Stax and southern soul its backbone, and he is regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of recorded music.

Listening

In School of Rock

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