''UpTight'' is a soundtrack album by

Southern soul Southern soul or country soul is a type of soul and country music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel ...

band Booker T. & the M.G.'s for the film of the same title. The album features " Time Is Tight", the single version of which became a US Top 10 hit (the second biggest of their career) and a signature song for the band.

Recording

The version of "Time Is Tight" included on the ''UpTight'' soundtrack album is an alternate recording, which differs from the single version in several respects: it is in stereo, it is played at a faster tempo, it runs almost two minutes longer (4'55"), and it includes both an extended introduction and an instrumental "breakdown" (beginning around 3'30"), neither of which are in the single version. "Johnny, I Love You" (the B-side of "Time Is Tight") features a rare vocal by keyboardist

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...

. Judy Clay provides vocals on "Children, Don't Get Weary." The album was recorded at

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

' studios by Ron Capone, produced by Jones, and was overdubbed and mixed at

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was founded in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio. ...

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

and

Terry Manning Terry Don Manning (December 29, 1947 – March 25, 2025) was an American recording engineer, record producer, musician and photographer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top, the ...

Reception

The album charted at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart and number 7 on the ''Billboard'' R&B albums chart. ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

called it a "superb score" and later said that until the band's 1971 ''

Melting Pot A melting pot is a Monoculturalism, monocultural metaphor for a wiktionary:heterogeneous, heterogeneous society becoming more wiktionary:homogeneous, homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative bei ...

'' album, ''UpTight'' was the exception to the "somewhat mechanical, boxy rhythms that always made their albums boring even though the individual cuts were unexceptionable". "Time is Tight" was covered by the Clash on their 10-inch vinyl '' Black Market Clash'' LP in 1980 (and later on their ''Super Black Market Clash'' CD) and by

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian musician, actor, and comedian who served as David Letterman's musical director, bandleader, and sidekick on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1993) and ''Late Show with D ...

on his 1993 double CD '' The World's Most Dangerous Party''.

Track listings

All tracks composed by Booker T. Jones, except where indicated ;Side 1 #"Johnny, I Love You" – 3:00 #"Cleveland Now" – 3:08 #"Children, Don't Get Weary" (Frank Williams) – 3:35 #"Tank's Lament" – 2:49 #"Blues in the Gutter" – 3:24 ;Side 2 #

"We've Got Johnny Wells" – 3:46 #"Down at Ralph's Joint" – 3:51 #"Deadwood Dick" – 4:29 #"Run Tank Run" – 2:37 #" Time Is Tight" (Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr.) – 4:55

References

External links

* {{Authority control Booker T. & the M.G.'s albums Drama film soundtracks 1969 soundtrack albums Albums produced by Booker T. Jones Stax Records soundtracks Atlantic Records soundtracks