From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Sun Nov 24, 2002 7:18 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Donald Dunn DONALD "DUCK" DUNN Born Donald Victor Dunn, 24 November 1941, Memphis, Tennessee Donald "Duck" Dunn is best known as the bassist for Booker T. & the MG's, but he was not an original member of that group, formed in 1962. Before he replaced bass player Lewie Steinberg in the MG's toward the end of 1964, Dunn was a member of the Mar-Keys. This group started out in 1957 as the Royal Spades. Initially, the group consisted of Charles "Packy" Axton (tenor sax), Steve Cropper (guitar), Donald Dunn (bass), Charlie Freeman (guitar), Terry Johnson (drums), and occasionally Jerry Lee "Smoochie" Smith (piano). They all attended Messick HIgh School in Memphis and became entranced by the rhythm & blues music being played in the black nightclubs of West Memphis. Wayne Jackson (trumpet) and Don Nix (baritone sax) joined the group later. They changed their name to the Mar-Keys and began to record for the local Satellite label, owned by Estelle Axton (Packy's mother) and her brother Jim Stewart. The first few singles failed to lift off, but in the summer of 1961, the bluesy instrumental "Last Night" went to # 3 pop and # 2 R&B. One result of the success of Satellite was the threat of legal action by a similarly-named California company, so the label was renamed Stax (STewart & AXton). Dunn toured with the Mar-Keys for three years, playing teen dances and nightclubs around the country. But, after several unsuccessful attempts to follow up the success of "Last Night" (the highest chart position was reached with "Morning After", # 60), the Mar-Keys fizzled. Dunn joined Booker T. & the MG's in late 1964, thus rejoining Steve Cropper (Dunn and Cropper were the white half of the group). The MG's, besides scoring hits of their own like "Green Onions" (# 3 in 1962), had become the house band at Stax. At his best when collaborating, it was at Stax where Dunn grew into a key member of one of the most respected rhythm sections in music, laying down basslines for such soul stars as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Albert King and Rufus and Carla Thomas. At the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Booker T. & the MG's backed Otis Redding and, together, they stole the show with their tight arrangements and superb musicianship. Throughout the industry and among musicians and fans, the Stax sound gained a reputation for its heavy "bottom," and Dunn's deep, moving basslines were an integral part of that sonic makeup. Playing a key role creatively as both a backing musician for Stax labelmates and as a recording artist with the MG's, Dunn eventually became a staff producer and part owner of the label's publishing. Dunn remained loyal to the label into the mid-'70s, long after many other original Stax artists like Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes had left. And when Stax finally folded, Dunn used his recording experience, which often included providing basslines and arrangements for artists on the spot, to become an in demand session player and producer. Throughout the '70s and '80s he appeared on albums by such luminaries as Roy Buchanan, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart and Muddy Waters, becoming one of the industry's pre-eminent bass players. In 1994, the MG's reunited to back Neil Young on his American tour and released a new album the same year. In recent years, Dunn has been in the public eye as a member of the Blues Brothers Band alongside his longtime friend Steve Cropper. The two appeared in the two Blues Brothers movies. The first 2 LP's by the Mar-Keys have just been reissued as a 2-on-1 CD: The Mar-Keys "Last Night / Do The Popeye" (CD Stax 88041, Germany).