Al Jackson Jr was a drum set artist from Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. He was mainly known as a founding member of Booker T & the MGs and the as the Stax Records house drummer. He was affectionately called “the human timekeeper” because of his legendary grasp of tempos. Someone once wrote to Stax and asked whether it was true that Stax was the first label to use a drum machine. Guitarist Steve Cropper wrote back: “Yes, and its name was Al Jackson“. Jackson could make any groove, any kind of feel that he was hearing work in the studio. He’d come in after seeing a new dance, or after hearing some new music on a trip somewhere, and next thing you know that idea was a Stax hit song. The band was incredible, for sure, but Al Jackson was the “Memphis Sound“. A real genius of the instrument, whose prodigious talent was on display even as a child, when he could run a band of seasoned musical veterans from his drum chair as a twelve-year-old. His backbeat made hits, and Stax was never the same after his tragic death. Jackson’s work paved the way for a lot of what happened later, from funk to hip-hop music.
Perhaps Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) said it best:
“I’ll tell it to you straight: He could make shit smell good.“
Sam Moore
