Green Onions  by Booker T. & The M.G.'s

Booker T. & the M.G.'s was a band from Memphis and Green Onions was their debut, an entirely instrumental album. Its compositions move between rhythm 'n' blues, rock, and naturally, soul influences are abundant.

The album begins with the titular track, which is one of the most recognizable musical themes in the entire history of rock music. It was a composition by all four members, namely Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg, and Al Jackson Jr. This musical theme has been covered by dozens of others, either in official recordings or for live performance needs. As for the rest of the musical themes - with few exceptions - they are instrumental covers of well-known hits of that time by black artists: e.g., Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" or Jackie Wilson's "A Woman, A Lover, A Friend," etc.

The importance of Green Onions as an album became evident when in 2012, it became one of the sonic treasures of the American nation as it was included in the list of the National Recording Registry, which is overseen by the Library of Congress.