Delivering the cool grooves from moment one and not letting up until the end, The Essentials is a good reminder of how awesome the catalog of Booker T. & the MG's really is. The tight guitar of Steve Cropper mixes well with the floating free-form jams of organist Booker T. Jones on song after song. Many of their best tracks were left off the album -- which offers only 12 nuggets from their incredible catalog -- but for a delicious taste of classic Southern soul, this makes for a wonderful sampler platter.