BOOKER T. & THE MG'S : TIME IS TIGHT [STAX - FRA 1969] 7'

Booker T & The MG's "Time Is Tight" single 7"

(Stax) 1969 made in France

cat. num. 169048

#funk #soul

1. time is tight

2. johnny I love you

"Time Is Tight" was Booker T. & the MGs' most successful single other than "Green Onions," making the Top Ten in 1969. In the rather drawn-out five-minute version that shows up on some CD reissues, it starts off with an almost celestial slow gospel-classical section of piano. That intro tends to be chopped off on versions played on the radio, where the opening cuts right to the chase with catchy low, twangy guitar triplets, which are joined by Booker T. Jones's ethereal organ, dramatic and taut yet sweet and churchy. Tautness is an adjective often used to describe tight soul and funk outfits, but seldom is there a soul or funk instrumental tauter than "Time Is Tight," the quick nervous energy walking the ultimate line between tension and graceful groove. The melody is far enough away from conventional R&B that it could almost fit into the soundtrack of the light moments of a film thriller, perhaps in interludes where the detective is using a car not to chase down bad guys, but to get out on the open road and unwind. At times the key races upward, as if to hint at an ascension into a higher state of grace, before returning to the basic themes that run throughout most of the track. Steve Cropper's guitar soloing is, as expected, piercing and wiry.