The final interview of Duck Dunn, bassist for sixties soul sensation Booker T. & the M.G.’s

Elvis Presley confidant and deejay George Klein interviewed Donald “Duck” Dunn, the longtime bassist of Stax instrumental hitmakers Booker T. & the M.G.’s, nine days before his untimely death on a Japanese tour. Get the scoop on everything that went down on Klein’s SiriusXM Elvis Radio show. Above a definitely alluring beach-goer in a white two-piece bathing suit teases some willin’ Memphis musicians for the September 1968 cover of “Soul Limbo,” the seventh studio album by Booker T. & the M.G.’s on Stax Records. Spending nine weeks on the Billboard POP album chart at No. 127 but peaking much higher at No. 14 R&B, the title cut was a Top 20 single at No. 17 POP while “Hang ’Em High,” a radical reimagining of the Clint Eastwood western theme song, shot even higher to No. 9. Besides the unidentified model, standing left to right are organist Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, deceased drummer Al Jackson, Jr., and Fender Telecaster wiz Steve Cropper. Photography by George Whiteman / Atlantic Records / Pandora Radio

On May 4, 2012, nine days before the untimely death of Donald “Duck” Dunn, the bassist extraordinaire for Stax Records studio house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s granted his final interview with longtime confidant George Klein.

The legendary deejay, Memphis Mafia member, and best-selling Elvis: My Best Man author was the host of SiriusXM Elvis Radio’s The George Klein Show until January 5, 2018, when declining health precipitated his farewell. Conducted every Friday afternoon from the beautiful grounds of Graceland, the program celebrated Presley’s music, along with special interviews with musicians and friends of the late King of Rock and Roll [Klein succumbed to dementia and broken hip complications at age 83 on February 5, 2019. Eighties country pop vocalist T.G. Sheppard, given his first tour bus by Presley, assumed Klein’s Friday time slot].

Klein called this writer from the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi — where he then served as an executive host — to discuss how he was coping with his friend’s death in a brief interview.

“I almost cried when I heard the news on television”, confirmed the close Presley confidant. “He and I were real close. Both born and raised in Memphis, we used to hang out all the time in the ’60s and early…