Released in 1971, Melting Pot was the final album by the finest soul instrumental combo of all time: the original Booker T. & the MGs. The disc, from which an edited version of the title track became a hit r&b single, is "one of the group's crowning achievements," in the words of Stax historian Rob Bowman. Indeed, it is the quartet's most jazz-oriented and boldly experimental work. Sadly, the four musicians would never play together again. Drummer Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975, though keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn still get together on occasion to tour and record.

Melting Pot, Back Home, Chicken Pox, Fuquawi, Kinda Easy Like, Hi Ride, L.A. Jazz Song, Sunny Monday

with Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson, Jr.