September 28, 1962: Booker T. & The M.G.’s Release “Green Onions”

Left to right: Donald Dunn, Booker T. Jones,

Steve Cropper & Al Jackson Jr.

September 28, 1962: Booker T. & The M.G.'s release the instrumental "Green Onions." All 4 members of the M.G.'s, short for "Memphis Group," were credited as the song's writers: Black organist Booker T. Jones, white guitarist Steve "the Colonel" Cropper, white bass guitarist Lewie Steinberg, and black drummer Al Jackson Jr., a.k.a. "the Human Timekeeper."

Why call it "Green Onions"? Somebody said in the studio that the track was "funky," and they debated what was the smelliest thing they could think of. Somebody thought of green onions. As Stan Freberg put it in his "Christmas Dragnet" novelty record a decade earlier, "Some people call them green onions, but they're really scallions."

The fact that the M.G.'s were split right down the middle, black and white, was almost unheard of in those days, especially in the South. But, along with the Memphis Horns, they played on just about every hit to come out of Memphis' Stax Records, including "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave, with Sam Moore memorably yelling over a Cropper guitar lick, "Play it, Steve!"

In 1965, Steinberg left the group, and was replaced with white bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Jackson was shot and killed in 1975, and the suspect gunman was subsequently killed in a shootout with the police.

In 1978, The M.G.'s, with black drummer Willie Hall replacing Jackson, and the Memphis Horns were hired as The Blues Brothers' band on NBC's Saturday Night Live, and also backed them in their 1980 film. In 1992, they were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That same year, they were the "house band" for the Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden.

Dunn died in 2012, Steinberg in 2016. As of September 28, 2022, Jones, Cropper and Hall are still alive.

UPDATE: Cropper died in 2025.

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September 28, 1962 was a Friday. Grant Fuhr, the goaltender for the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty of the 1980s, and the 1st black player elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, was born on this day.

One college football game was played that night: Alabama, ranked Number 1 in the nation, beat Tulane, 44-6 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-3 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the 7th inning and 4 in the 8th, all off ChiSox starter Early Wynn, to make a winning pitcher out of Tex Clevenger in relief of Jim Bouton. I guess Bouton didn't smoke them inside. (Ball Four reference.)

Roger Maris, Dale Long and rookie Joe Pepitone hit home runs. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-3 with a walk. Yogi Berra went 1-for-2 after pinch-hitting for Elston Howard, who also went 1-for-2.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3. Only 595 paying customers came out on a Friday afternoon to see the Cubs advance to 58-102, and the expansion Mets fall to 39-119. They would finish 59-103 and 40-120, respectively, with the Mets having 2 games they never made up. Those 120 losses were the most in the 20th Century. (UPDATE: They would remain the most losses in a Major League Baseball season between 1899 and 2024.)

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 0-for-3, but was hit by a pitch. He actually had, statistically speaking, a better season than the year before, when he was named the National League's Most Valuable Player. Willie Mays had an even better year, helping the Giants win the Pennant, as Robinson had done with the Reds the year before. But the MVP went to Maury Wills of the 2nd-place Dodgers, because of his unprecedented 104 stolen bases.

* The Detroit Tigers were leading the Kansas City Athletics, 7-3 at Tiger Stadium, after 7 innings, when the game was called due to rain. Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito hit home runs.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Braves, 8-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron did not play. Nor did Roberto Clemente, and rookie Willie Stargell went 0-for-5. He got better.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 11-5 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Charlie James singled Bobby Smith home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Smith was pinch-running for Stan Musial, who, approaching his 42nd birthday, went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Larry Jackson went the distance for the win. Duke Snider drew a walk as a pinch-hitter.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators were rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Senators won the opener, 3-1. The Red Sox won the nightcap, 3-1, on a walkoff home run by Don Gile. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-6 with a walk.

* The Houston Colt .45s and the San Francisco Giants were rained out at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Giants won the 1st game, 11-5. The Colts (who became the Astros in 1965) won the 2nd game, 4-2. Over the 2 games, Willie Mays went 0-for-7, with 2 walks.

As in 1951, on the other coast, the Giants were making a big comeback to catch the Dodgers, and would beat them in a Playoff for the Pennant, before losing to the Yankees in the World Series.

* And the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Angels were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Since the next day, Saturday, already had a rain-forced doubleheader scheduled, this game was moved to the final day, Sunday. The Indians swept, 4-3 and 6-1.