Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones joined the MCA Master Series later in its life, past its peak, and at the start of its decline.  He brought a pure jazz sound, focused on Hammond organ.  However, the music was fairly tame and possibly groove-oriented, which was made more painful by the use of drum machines. 

Jones had a strong history and reputation, so it was probably considered a great win to sign him to the MCA Master Series which makes it hard to understand why the album resulted in such a disappointment.  Jones wouldn’t make a second album for MCA Master Series.

The Runaway

This album is a concept album where the songs are telling a story of a kid who runs away from home, experiences the city and its people, then returns home never planning to do that again, very much like the story of the country and city mice switching places.  The album is organ-led, but there are no impressive solos to speak of.

The artwork for the album breaks from the standard second design style in a few different ways and is similar to other covers that were transitioning to the third design style, like Balconies by Matt Rollings.  The large border is off-white and has aged edges, like they are burnt, and the top of the cover has a dark color block, which forces a color inversion of the artist and album titles.