feat. Sharon Jones, Lou Reed, Yim Yames and Matt Berninger of The National. The Road from Memphis starts with a young Booker T. Jones hauling his stack of newspapers to Phineas Newborn's front yard where, while folding them for his after-school delivery route, he could listen to the jazz great practice piano. It ends with Booker and The Roots roaring through a set of both timeless and contemporary originals (and propulsive covers of Gnarls Barkley's ''Crazy'' and Lauren Hill's ''Everything Is Everything''). Along for the ride are vocalists Matt Berninger of the National, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, Sharon Jones, Lou Reed, and Booker himself, telling the story of how the funk/soul sound that Booker helped invent spiraled out from Memphis, touching The Root's hometown of Philadelphia, New York (where engineer Gabe Roth has been recreating classic soul sonics for everyone from Sharon Jones to Amy Winehouse), and Detroit. Detroit as in Dennis Coffey, legendary Motown session guitarist who introduced driving rock-funk rhythm to hits like ''Cloud Nine'' and ''Ball of Confusion'' by the Temptations, and brings his Detroit grit to these tracks. The Road from Memphis is classic Memphis soul, and classic Booker in the tradition of ''Green Onions,'' but beyond that it is the story of a sound, and how Booker, working with the inheritors of his sound, is keeping a tradition alive. * ''Green Onions'' is one of the most popular instrumental tracks of all time, one of Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs of all time, and credited with introducing the Hammond B3 to rock music. * The Roots, Booker's backing band for The Road from Memphis, are nationally known for their work on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, their own albums and singles, and hit collaborations like 2010's Wake Up with John Legend. * Guest vocalists Matt Berninger (The National) and Sharon Jones are coming off career releases in 2010, while Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket is preparing for a hugely anticipated new album in April. * Produced by Booker, Questlove of The Roots, and Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith). Engineered and recorded by Gabriel Roth (Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse). * Liner notes include Memphis memories by Booker, alongside an essay by Grammy-winning writer Robert Gordon on Booker's place in Memphis music history. * Expect Booker performing with guests on national TV around the release of The Road from Memphis, and coverage of Booker's story on press outlets from NPR to CBS Sunday Morning.