― , Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink
― brent d., Tuesday, 6 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink
― , Tuesday, 6 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink
Um, no, he doesn't. Classic, probably the best of all the great soul singers. But it's not just about the voice - the amazing no-frills metronomic Hi backbeat has a lot to do with why his records are so good. "Al Green Is Love" is probably my favourite soul non- compilation album ever.
― Tom, Tuesday, 6 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink
― Patrick, Tuesday, 6 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 7 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink
SHAME ON YOU ALL.
Some of you are WRITERS. All, or most of you, claim to "love music". And yet this is the best you can do, a few shrugs and spindly sentences. This is the MAN. He has made the world an infinitely better place by just being around. BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP.
UBER-classic.
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Sunday, 6 April 2003 20:16 (10 years ago) Permalink
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 6 April 2003 20:29 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Sunday, 6 April 2003 20:30 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 April 2003 20:54 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 6 April 2003 21:34 (10 years ago) Permalink
― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 6 April 2003 21:53 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 6 April 2003 22:50 (10 years ago) Permalink
http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/green-76.php
esp the first two paragraphs
i can't think of another artist/band for whom my love (and yeah it goes beyond a deep and abiding affection or respect or whutever) is so unexamined, so basic and (dare i say it) pure.
― jess (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 6 April 2003 22:56 (10 years ago) Permalink
― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 7 April 2003 01:57 (10 years ago) Permalink
I really like Otis Clay's Hi singles, like "Let Me Be the One."
More later.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 7 April 2003 02:09 (10 years ago) Permalink
― gaz (gaz), Monday, 7 April 2003 02:10 (10 years ago) Permalink
Kind of a surprise: I'm reviewing the reissues of those first Al Green albums on Hi, and Green Is Blue actually stacks up pretty well. Bonus track of him singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is OMG killa fire-honoring cover of all time
― Neudonym, Monday, 7 April 2003 04:11 (10 years ago) Permalink
― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 7 April 2003 04:30 (10 years ago) Permalink
Ann Peebles'"Trouble, Heartaches, and Sadness" is another Hi-Records gem that Al Green lovahs should search from her great album, "Straight From the Heart."
― Cub, Monday, 7 April 2003 04:46 (10 years ago) Permalink
― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 7 April 2003 12:03 (10 years ago) Permalink
― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 7 April 2003 13:37 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Dadaismus, Monday, 7 April 2003 13:58 (10 years ago) Permalink
But them bonus tracks is special. Green Is Blues includes not only "I Want to Hold Your Hand" but also two originals and a cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee"; Gets Next to You has a nice long version of "Ride Sally Ride" and a couple more.
― Neudonym, Monday, 7 April 2003 14:02 (10 years ago) Permalink
Mitchell's Royal Recording studio is still there in S. Memphis. Last time I visited the Big "S" Grill made a very good barbecue sandwich, good jukebox, and there's always Josie's Tamales near there if you need tamales, not to mention Blue Suede Shoe Shine...
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:06 (10 years ago) Permalink
also, as others have mentioned here, there's a wealth of great stuff by other Hi artists like Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Otis Clay & Syl Johnson if you want more of that sound - what a band! Al Jackson and the Grimes bros, Willie Mitchell production... oh, oh, and Jess Hill is otm about the "Love Ritual" collection - "Up Above My Head is my favourite Al track maybe... sorry, it's just so fucking good... I'm about to fall off my chair again.
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:16 (10 years ago) Permalink
Like Stax/Volt etc., Hi's output was so prolific that a lot of horn and string charts, melodies, lyrical ideas, etc. got recycled. I have absolutely no problem with that whatever. It's actually a good way to determine what a given singer brings to the table.
I actually really like the later Hi stuff, from the late '70s, which both is slightly hampered by and benefits from a certain slackness, or quietude. Examples would be Ann Peebles's If This Is Heaven, Syl Johnson's Total Explosion, Al Green's Have a Good Time, etc.
O.V. Wright is sort of a force of nature; his Hi stuff sounds more like his pre-Hi stuff than you'd expect. He doesn't go "uptown" as much as other Hi artists of the period. "That's the Way I Feel About 'Cha" is a great balance though.
Crosspost w/Fritz!
― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:21 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:39 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:42 (10 years ago) Permalink
― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:43 (10 years ago) Permalink
I don't really know, not having ventured into it... though the oft-maligned "The Belle Album" - the transitional one - is quite good.
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:45 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:52 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:54 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 7 April 2003 14:55 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Jonathan, Monday, 7 April 2003 15:24 (10 years ago) Permalink
I was re-reading some Xgau reviews the other day and came across something he said about Green and the rhythm-section thing happening on those classic Hi records. Xgau says something about the "thick 3rd-beat" emphasis of the drumming and as far as I can tell that's a classic howler--Xgau can't count. He's hearing the second beat as the third beat for some reason--he's counting the eighth notes as quarter notes.
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Monday, 7 April 2003 15:39 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Burr (Burr), Monday, 7 April 2003 17:41 (10 years ago) Permalink
search Hi Rhythm's On the Loose, reissued a couple years ago w/some photo instead of whatever the original cover art was. they're not kidding--it's really loose, like about-to-fall-apart loose, and extremely charming for it
― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 7 April 2003 17:42 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Monday, 7 April 2003 19:24 (10 years ago) Permalink
I love Al Green btw.
― Sean (Sean), Monday, 7 April 2003 19:50 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 8 April 2003 06:37 (10 years ago) Permalink
― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 09:11 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 10:12 (10 years ago) Permalink
Ace Al Green track, the one I love above all: "Love is Real." The way he says "Say something..."
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 13:03 (10 years ago) Permalink
― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 13:20 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 13:26 (10 years ago) Permalink
― bobo t, Tuesday, 8 April 2003 13:33 (10 years ago) Permalink
-- M Matos
Man, all I said was that I can count. Maybe that's a shockah where you come from.
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 15:15 (10 years ago) Permalink
― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 15:17 (10 years ago) Permalink
I will leave that sentance as it stands for Dan's pleasure, but you know what I mean.
― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 8 April 2003 19:10 (10 years ago) Permalink
classic in my eyes
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 18 November 2007 14:21 (5 years ago) Permalink
i love al to death but i dont think he has any great albums
You're missing out, man!
Al Green Gets Next To You is fire! Let's Stay Together is yoga flame! But I don't think it gets better than I'm Still in Love With You.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 18 November 2007 14:50 (5 years ago) Permalink
hmm.
i actually harbour evil suspicions about people that dont like al green. if you dont love him, fine, but if you dont like him? something sinister is at work.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Sunday, 18 November 2007 15:01 (5 years ago) Permalink
If you actively dislike Al Green, then I can never respect anything you have to say about anything.
― caek, Sunday, 18 November 2007 15:05 (5 years ago) Permalink
the best al green album is the 'true love' compilation.
― veryloggedout, Monday, 31 December 2007 13:14 (5 years ago) Permalink
no, it isn't...The Belle Album is...wonderful way of dealing with born-again-ism ("it's you I want but Him that I need"...the holy trinity love triangle)..."Feels Like Summer" couldn't be a more appropriate song title, and "Dream", well, if I ever get hitched (ILM Poster In Unmarried SHOCKER!) that will be "our" song...(if I can sell it, which I'm sure I can)...
― henry s, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:29 (5 years ago) Permalink
I'm very fond of Livin' For You's "Beware."
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:38 (5 years ago) Permalink
This is still the most retarded question ever asked on ILM.
― Pleasant Plains, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:43 (5 years ago) Permalink
HOOS otm
― forksclovetofu, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:45 (5 years ago) Permalink
the best al green album is the belle album
― strgn, Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
arguable
― The Brainwasher, Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:39 (5 years ago) Permalink
no
― strgn, Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:41 (5 years ago) Permalink
haha yes. but belle is at least top 3 rite
Rite. Classic album.
― Tom D., Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:43 (5 years ago) Permalink
georgia boy owns 99.9% of everything ever
― strgn, Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:45 (5 years ago) Permalink
Those who like the follow-up to The Belle Album should come vote on this thread: Best Version Of "I Say A Little Prayer"
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Saturday, 19 January 2008 14:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
On one listen, liking his new album quite a bit. Even the Corrine Bailey Rae duet.
― The Reverend, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 06:13 (4 years ago) Permalink
not heard it all yet but thought the songwriting on the tracks i have checked out werent quite as strong as the production/instrumentation. or maybe its just that his voice cant make them seem better than they are anymore.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 10:06 (4 years ago) Permalink
We play it at on the stereo at my bookstore, and beneath the racket of customers, it's sounds pretty indistinguishable from Classic Al. There doesn't seem to be a real killer track, but it's very pleasant, and I think I appreciate "pleasant" a lot more these days than I used to.
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 16:46 (4 years ago) Permalink
I will be purchasing this album as soon as humanly possible.
And yeah, this was the dumbest question ever asked on ILM. How can you ever question the good Reverend?
― B.L.A.M., Tuesday, 27 May 2008 17:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
the title track is gorgeous.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 17:51 (4 years ago) Permalink
On Letterman tonight.
― Kerm, Friday, 6 June 2008 03:48 (4 years ago) Permalink
i'm offended someone even asked this question.
― chicago kevin, Friday, 6 June 2008 03:49 (4 years ago) Permalink
Can anyone copypasta that story about Al Green and the hot grits that his girlfriend threw at him?
― J@cob, Friday, 6 June 2008 06:13 (4 years ago) Permalink
show last night here was amazing.
― s1ocki, Sunday, 29 June 2008 22:57 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Belle Album" as far as I can tell has never been maligned
Hard to believe I know, but it is maligned in the sleevenotes to "The Legendary Hi Albums, Volume 3" which, of course, includes... "The Belle Album"! The guy who wrote the sleevenotes, who is obv. an Al Green fan, says that "The Belle Album" was a big disappointment when it was released + goes on to criticise the musicianship and esp. use of the string synth. Rather incredibly he seems to consider "Truth n' Time" and "Have a Good Time" as better albums!
― Tom D., Monday, 21 July 2008 09:41 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, you hate to call deafness on other writers, but . . .
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 21 July 2008 10:12 (4 years ago) Permalink
A really filp and facile thing to say would to be that "The Belle Album" is, in some ways, Al Green's "There's a Riot Goin' On"... so, being a flip and facile guy, I'm going to say that "The Belle Album" is, in some ways, Al Green's "There's a Riot Goin' On".
― Tom D., Monday, 21 July 2008 10:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
This past week on The Best of Soul Train, they reran the ep from '74 when the Rev opened and closed the show playing live with his road band Killer.
― C. Grisso/McCain, Monday, 21 July 2008 15:41 (4 years ago) Permalink
FUCK. The first time in at least a few months that I've missed Soul Train and they show one with Al Green!!
― Granny Dainger, Monday, 21 July 2008 16:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
Watched that one, too. Why was Al's right arm in a sling?
― briania, Monday, 21 July 2008 16:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
Burnin' grits?
― Tom D., Monday, 21 July 2008 16:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
OMG that soul train was so so good. It's so rare that they did live shows and even rarer that they let the artist do two songs back to back and goddamn did he tear it up. Everything onstage at that performance was dope: the pink toms, the purple glitter hoody on the cat playing congas... such a sweet piece of video.
It's been a few good weeks on Soul Train: Letta M'bulu and Yellow Magic Orchestra lately!
― forksclovetofu, Monday, 21 July 2008 17:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
SHUT UP YOU GUYS
― Granny Dainger, Monday, 21 July 2008 17:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
Oh, yeah, that Letta M'bulu show was cool, if if it was a lip-synch. DC was actually dignified & respectful with her. The live performance I keep hoping they'll re-broadcast is Earth Wind & Fire doing the whole hour.
― briania, Monday, 21 July 2008 17:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
YMO did an electronic cover of Tighten Up that was the coolest fuckin thang.
― forksclovetofu, Monday, 21 July 2008 19:08 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I saw the Al Green and YMO episodes too! I posted elsewhere about the assholism that Don Cornelius put on display with YMO ("Ahahaha, they're Japanese and they have funny names!")
I only caught the last Al Green song, " ", but he had flowers all over the stage and his hand along with the mic, he was wearing hot yellow pants, and his arm is in a cast. Effortless dominance.
― Z S, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Here I am (Come and Take Me)", I meant to add in there, d'oh.
― Z S, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:54 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Georgia Boy"
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 09:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
That might be my favorite song of all time.
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 09:57 (4 years ago) Permalink
Along with four or five other al green tracks, then it gets to the heathens....
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 09:58 (4 years ago) Permalink
But "georgia boy"
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 09:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Stand Up" a close second
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 10:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
A second.
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 10:03 (4 years ago) Permalink
GEORGIA BOY FOR ALL TIME, OM FUCKING G
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 10:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
long time coming
― strgn, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 10:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
This was before the grits thing. During the interview Don asked him about this injury, and Al replied something along the lines of "After a show, me and some of my fans had a disageement on whether or not I should have gotten into my car." (IIRC, I think his hand got smashed by a car door after a gig).
― C. Grisso/McCain, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 20:21 (4 years ago) Permalink
― strgn, Wednesday, July 23, 2008 5:19 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark
― Euler, Sunday, 29 August 2010 21:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
"Beware"
― Gucci Mane hermeneuticist (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 29 August 2010 21:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
He is good drinking music.
― , Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
oh guys Belle so incredible wrassling with yr better instincts and yr proper instincts
― thread lock holiday (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 12:02 (7 months ago) Permalink