Jackson\'s father, Al Jackson Sr., led a jazz/swing dance band in Memphis, Tennessee. The young Jackson started drumming at an early age and began playing on stage with his father\'s band in 1940, at the age of five. He later played in producer and trumpeter Willie Mitchell\'s band and at the same time was holding down a chair in the popular Ben Branch Band.\n', '

In an interview with Drum! magazine, Mitchell recalled,\n', '

Future bandmates Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn first heard Jackson playing in Mitchell\'s band at the Flamingo Room, and the all-white Manhattan Club. Mitchell had also hired Booker T. Jones for his band. It was Jones who suggested Jackson be brought to Stax. He said, "You guys need to know about Al." Dunn said that Jackson almost caused his wife to divorce him, because after finishing his own gig at one o\'clock, he would stop by a club to hear Jackson and would get home at four or five in the morning; "He was that good!" said Dunn. At first, Jackson was reluctant to join Stax. He felt he could make more money playing live than doing session work. He wanted a guaranteed regular salary to come over to Stax (although he continued to play on sessions produced by Mitchell for Hi Records). And so he became the first Stax session musician to be on a weekly salary.\n', '

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