The Messick High School group added keyboardist Jerry Lee "Smoochy" Smith, singer Ronnie Angel (also known as Stoots), and a budding young horn section in baritone saxophone player Don Nix, tenor saxophone player Charles "Packy" Axton, and trumpeter (and future co-founder of the Memphis Horns) Wayne Jackson.

Axton's mother, Estelle, and her brother Jim Stewart owned Satellite Records and signed the band, who had a national hit with "Last Night" in 1961 under their new name, the "Mar-Keys".

's was founded by Cropper and Booker T. Jones in 1962, with the drummer Al Jackson, Jr.[5] The original bassist, on early hits such as "Green Onions", was Lewie Steinberg; Dunn replaced him in 1965.

The MG's and Dunn's bass lines on songs like Otis Redding's "Respect" and "I Can't Turn You Loose", Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin'", and Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" influenced musicians everywhere.

In 1971, when the rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty left Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), the remaining members discussed with Dunn the possibility of his joining the group, with their current bassist, Stu Cook, moving to guitar.

Dunn went on to play for Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, and Rod Stewart.

Dunn played himself in the 1980 feature The Blues Brothers, where he famously uttered the line, "We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline!"

The group backed such guitarists as Joe Walsh and David Hidalgo on the main stage at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

[10] On the morning of May 13, 2012, Dunn died in his sleep at age 70 after finishing his fifth double show[11] at the Blue Note nightclub in Tokyo with Cropper the night before.

[13] Throughout his life, Dunn believed this was a 1958 model, but after his death, his son Jeff had work done on it, and the neck was inscribed "4-59," putting the date definitively as 1959.

His bass (serial number E0xx009) was finished in his favorite color, Candy Apple Red, with a matching headstock, and featured a one-piece maple neck, and gold hardware.

Over the decades, he was given various basses by friends and admirers, which included models by Travis Bean, Rickenbacker, Gibson, custom builders, and others, but his everyday instrument was always his Precision.

In 1998, Dunn collaborated with Fender to produce a signature Precision Bass: a candy apple red model based on the late 1950s style, with a gold anodized pickguard, split coil humbucking pickup, maple neck, and vintage hardware for a limited production of 200 instruments.

Over the years, Dunn played through an Ampeg Portaflex, or "Fliptop", B-15 combo (so named for its head that flipped over to store in the cabinet), as well as a Kustom 200 stack, and a Fender rig.

's With Shirley Brown With Jimmy Buffett With Cate Brothers With Eric Clapton With Doug Clifford With Rita Coolidge With Steve Cropper With Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young With Patti Dahlstrom With Joe Dassin With Delaney & Bonnie With Bob Dylan With Tinsley Ellis With The Emotions With Eddie Floyd With John Fogerty With Peter Frampton With Alan Gerber With Richie Havens With Levon Helm With Chris Hillman With Albert King With Freddie King With Al Kooper With Stevie Nicks With Harry Nilsson With Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers With Wilson Pickett With David Porter With John Prine With Otis Redding With Bruce Roberts With Leon Russell With Leo Sayer With Guy Sebastian With Paul Shaffer With The Staple Singers With Mavis Staples With Rod Stewart With Billy Swan With Carla Thomas With Mickey Thomas With The Manhattan Transfer With Muddy Waters With Tony Joe White With Jerry Lynn Williams With Bill Withers With Neil Young In 1992, Dunn was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the MG's.