Time is Tight

7/8/20 - "Time Is Tight" is an instrumental recorded by Booker T. & the M.G.'s for their soundtrack to the 1968 film UpTight.
The group recorded two versions of the song - the shorter (3:14), slower version was released as a single in 1969, and became one of the biggest hits of the group's career, peaking at #7 R&B and #6 Pop. The longer (4:55) version, the one I'll play here, which was included on the official soundtrack album is played at a faster tempo than the single version, and features an extended introduction and an instrumental 'breakdown' section, neither of which were included in the single version.

Booker T. & the MG's were the house band for Stax Records, but they released albums under their name. They first recorded this in the mid-'60s and reworked it in 1968 for the James Coburn movie Duffy. When the band learned they would have to give up their publishing rights to the song, they killed the deal. It ended up getting placed in another 1968 film, Uptight, directed by Jules Dassin. They didn't want to name the song "Uptight" because of Stevie Wonder's 1965 hit "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," so they went with "Time Is Tight."

This song is driven by the Hammond B-3 organ played by Booker T. Jones. He played guitar, saxophone and a variety of other instruments when he joined Stax, but the organ is where he made his mark. "The first time I saw a Hammond organ I just got a feeling inside about it and I was comfortable," he said in a Songfacts interview. "I'm more comfortable at that than any other instrument."

After the demise of Booker T. & the MG's, band members Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn joined The Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd), who used this in the introduction to their live show.

A famous cover of the song emerged by UK punk band The Clash, who would often use the song as a live warm-up. The Attractions' Steve Nieve contributed some piano lines in the recorded version, which was done at Marquee Studios in March 1978 before being completed by producer Bill Price in August 1979 during the London Calling sessions for inclusion on the US rarities compilation Black Market Clash. It featured only once live for the band, as the set opener to a show in Los Angeles in April 1980.

Booker T. Jones played a Hammond M-3 organ on “Green Onions”; on "Time Is Tight," he played a B-3.

HAMMOND B3 ORGAN: Ed Alstrom
BASS: pedals, baby!
DRUMS: Yamaha keyboard
www.edalstrom.com