Lewie Polk Steinberg (September 13, 1933 – July 21, 2016) was an American musician best known as the original

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

player for the

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

group Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

Biography

Early life

Steinberg was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

parents.

Booker T. & the M.G.'s

He joined Booker T. & the MG's in 1962. He was featured on "

Green Onions "Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. One of the most popular soul songs ever, and R&B instrumentals of its era, it utilizes a twelve-bar blues progression and features a rippling Hammond M3 ...

" and its B-side, "Behave Yourself", as well as the albums ''

'' and ''

Soul Dressing ''Soul Dressing'' is the second album by the Southern soul band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released in 1965. It was their final album with bassist Lewie Steinberg, who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn. The title track peaked at No. 95 on the ' ...

''. Steinberg left the group in 1965 and was replaced by

Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax R ...

. Steinberg was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

in 1992, as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

Personal life

Steinberg received a

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achiev ...

in 2007. Steinberg died from cancer on July 21, 2016, in Memphis, at the age of 82.Mehr, Bob (February 12, 2007)
Stax Stacks Up at Grammys
''

Memphis Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

''.

Discography

With Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Studio albums

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* 1933 births 2016 deaths American bass guitarists Booker T. & the M.G.'s members American rhythm and blues bass guitarists Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee 20th-century American guitarists {{US-bass-guitarist-stub