Lewie Steinberg

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

Lewie Steinberg · Lewie Polk Steinberg was born in 1933 in Memphis, Tennessee, into a Baptist family. He played bass guitar and is known as the first bassist of the soul band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He joined the group in 1962. He can be heard on Green Onions and on its B-side Behave Yourself, and on the albums Green Onions and Soul Dressing. Green Onions became the group's best-known song.

Music and breakthrough

In 1965 Steinberg left the band. His place was taken by Donald Duck Dunn, who in the following years gave the group a distinctive, recognisable bass line of its own. Steinberg therefore remained known mainly for the group's first years, but his contribution to those early recordings was essential. The bass held the rhythm firmly and calmly, while organ and guitar took the melody.

Influence

In 1992 Steinberg was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. In 2007 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He died in Memphis in 2016, aged 82. He shows how much a bassist can add to an instrumental song, even without a solo or vocals.

Listening