How do you know at the age of 17 that you have written a song that will resonate with people for decades to come? 

Booker T. Jones, the composer of "Green Onions," says with candor that he didn’t. 

"It was just a little idea that came to me and it could have gone completely unnoticed, but it made a career for me," Jones said. "It got me noticed, hooked me up with some other professional musicians who were great, it got me a job through college. It was just one fortunate song." 

Jones — known since 1962 as "Booker T" of Booker T & the M.G.’s — is the headliner of Mark Tarone’s Hallowbaloo 2015 extravaganza Saturday evening at the Hawai’i State Art Museum and the Chinatown Arts District. He’ll be backed throughout his 70-minute set by his five-piece national touring band. 

By the time he wrote and recorded "Green Onions," Jones had already spent several years as a working professional musician in Memphis, Tenn. 

"I started to play music as far back as 1958 professionally, as a 13- or 14-year-old," he said, calling from his current home in Lake Tahoe. "I got paid $5, I think, for my first gig, and that was just a whole lot of money then. If I played 20 of those ($5 gigs), then it was rivaling what my dad was making as a teacher." 

Jones assembled the M.G.’s from musicians he was working with at Stax Records in Memphis. The original band included Jones (keyboards), Al Jackson Jr. (drums), Steve Cropper (guitar) and Lewie Steinberg (bass). Donald "Duck" Dunn replaced Steinberg in 1965. 

Jones and Cropper still play together from time to time. Jackson was murdered in 1975, Dunn died in 2012 and Steinberg is out of the picture. 

Jones has also racked up a tremendous list of credits over the years as a solo artist, and also as a celebrity guest of artists ranging from Kelly Hogan to Rancid. 

His broad musical interests are evident in the guests he has on his most recent album, "Sound the Alarm." The list includes Gary Clark Jr., Mayer Hawthorne, Sheila E. and Kori Withers, along with his son, Ted Jones. 

Withers is the daughter of Bill Withers, a longtime friend. She and Jones share the lead vocal spot on the song "Watch You Sleeping." 

"Her dad for a long time has been one of my favorite people, and I’ve always loved her style," Jones said. "She has his style and she’s just a great person too, so it was great to have her on the album."

Yes, although Jones’ signature song, "Green Onions," is an instrumental, he has been a singer almost his entire life. 

"I basically stopped because we became popular as an instrumental band, and I got the job as a session player playing instruments," he noted. "Singing took a back seat for a long time for me." 

Jones’ label has "Sound the Alarm" up on YouTube, but the listening experience is enhanced by the context he provides in the liner notes of the traditional hard-copy CD. It is a beautiful package. 

YouTube is one of the most visible examples of the changes that have taken place in the record business since Jones hit it big with "Green Onions" in 1962. 

"You have to go with the times," Jones said. "People see music as something that should be free, and I’m willing to give it away as long as they pay me for something that I do. I get paid for my performances, I get paid for music that’s played on TV shows and movies and various projects. It keeps me going."

Coming back one more time to the "little idea" that changed his life forever, Jones graciously confirmed, for maybe the millionth time, which story is the true story about why the song was titled "Green Onions." 

"(The title) came from Lewie Steinberg. He wanted to name it ‘Funky Onions.’ He heard it and he said, ‘That is so funky.’

"But that idea got nixed by (Stax Records President) Jim Stewart’s sister, Estelle Axton. She had mortgaged her house to (help Jim) buy the (recording) studio and everything — well, it was 1962, it was pretty conservative — and she said, ‘You can’t put a song out with the word ‘funky’ in it. Why don’t you call it "Green Onions?"’ 

"And we did."