Booker T. and The MG's - The Platinum Collection (2007)

Check it: if you are not one of those obsessive types that needs every classic side Booker T. & the MGs recorded for Atlantic (they cannot be blamed since the music is so utterly addictive), and don't already have the Rhino double-disc, this Warner collection will most likely fit the bill. Here are 20 killer cuts -- well, 19, the version of George Gershwin's "Summertime" that closes the disc could have either been lopped off or replaced with something more fitting -- with all the hits and then some. It kicks off with "Green Onions" and "Hip Hug-Her" but it's really just gathering steam. From the roiling fuzzed out funk in Steve Cropper's guitar on Hoyt Axton's "Bootleg," to the lazy, gut bucket stroll of his in the original "Slim Jenkins' Place," the steamy organ shimmy that is "Soul Sanction" and "Soul Dressing," to the bluesed-out "Home Gown" to the amazing version of the Rascals' "Groovin'," it's an excellent comp, and well worth its price tag.