AL GREEN: CLASSIC OR DUD?

"Beware"

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

Almost scuppered by Mr Mouthy:

http://devonrecordclub.com/2013/11/23/al-green-im-still-in-love-with-you-round-58-toms-selection/

What's the next Al Green album to get?

there are weak spots, but i'll love the belle album forever.

no weak spots, just slightly-less-excellent spots. yeah Belle for sure.

i mean just get everything ffs

Back in the mid '90s when I lived in North Carolina I went on a road trip to see the New York Giants play against Tennessee. It was in 1997 the first year after they moved from Houston so they were playing in Memphis and still known as the Oilers.

In an era that saw the internet not quite as expansive as it is now, I planned my trip using SPIN Underground U.S.A.: The Best of Rock Culture Coast to Coast. The book grabbed an indie-rock dignitary from a couple dozen cities/scenes and had them list the places to go when in those cities.

I forget who did Memphis but I followed his instructions: The Sunday of the game I went to Miss. Ellen's soul food. The place was in the middle of possible the worst neighborhood, me and one friend from my group were the only white folk in the place; everyone was so nice to us and they were amazed that the place was in a book. To this day the best fried chicken I have ever had.

But before the soul food and after the game, I went to the church that the guy in the book suggested: The place that the Reverend Al Green preached. We were ushered in, a motley trio (me, Giants fan and metalhead; a friend from Scrabble club who didn't know much about football but went along for the experience; a black dude from Harlem from my Giants fan club in Raleigh), but it was cool since there were a bunch of tourists among the locals who understood the deal with us interlopers.

After some supporting acts, suddenly Al Green made his way to the mic.

"Some people come here to hear me preach," he said. "Some people came to hear me sing. Today... I'm gonna sing."

And sing he did. And it was amazing, seeing this master of Motown give it his all for a 3/4 empty church. We weren't there for a spiritual lift but hearing him sing up close and personal, we got it anyway.

So, yeah. Total classic.

I love that gritty r'n'b thing he does to perfection on I Can't Get Next To You but I think that is the only place, the lp that is, where he uses that exact style.
Great voice and he is interesting elsewhere but that sound is one of my favourite styles.

Lydia Lunch once described the sound of 8 Eyed Spy as a cross between Al Green and somebody, possibly CCR. I always wondered what part of Al Green it was and assume it must be that particular thing I love.

master of Motown

???

Not directly, but there was a connection.

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=3089852

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-3089852-1315236256.jpeg

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-3089852-1315236256.jpeg

http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc462/aztreasures/7-10-13%20lpbox18/100_9018.jpg

when worlds collide

My copy of "The Belle Album" is on Motown

I wouldn't call him a Motown master unless I wanted to confuse people

al green is just about the most consistent artist ever. not every album is great, but every album is better than good-- even the ones critics like to say are "bad" just to set up some "comeback."

of course his run of LPs in the 1970s is the equal or better of any run of LPs by anyone, ever. stunning. and don't sleep on his gospel records. if i am put on the spot and asked for a favorite singer or musician, this is who i name.

also there are people (like my mom, if I don't correct her) who hear any soul music and assume it's motown.

if you can distinguish motown from stax/volt you are already in a small minority. alas.

if you can distinguish hi records from stax/volt, you are one in a million.

Fat Possum now distributes Hi Records for the world. We begin with the European re-release of Al Green's Greatest Hits, Let's Stay Together & I'm Still In Love With You. Those titles are In Stores Now!

the great Teenie Hodges

RIP Teenie Hodges

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2014/jun/23/songwriter-guitarist-and-anchor-hi-rhythm-mabon-te/

During Hi Records' glory years starting in the late '60s, Mr. Hodges wrote or co-wrote many classics of the R&B genre, including a succession of hits with and for Al Green: "Here I Am," "Full of Fire," "Take Me to the River" and "Love and Happiness"

Mr. Hodges was also the cornerstone of the famed Hi Rhythm band

damn, RIP

RIP Teenie

More recently, Mr. Hodges recorded in support of his nephew, the hip-hop star Drake.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2014/06/25/4a5d0192-fbd4-11e3-b1f4-8e77c632c07b_story.html

Sam Moore and Mavis Staples sing "Take Me to the River" for Al Green at the Kennedy Center Honors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc3BqMl1NII

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/al-green-the-soul-legend-and-kennedy-center-honoree-is-still-tired-of-being-alone/2014/12/05/457f2c3e-75b6-11e4-a755-e32227229e7b_story.html

During our 45-minute window, Green is energetic, quick to laugh, even quicker to break into song. But his left foot won’t stop tapping anxious 16th notes into the carpet.

One-on-one conversation seems difficult for him. He answers most questions with forthright brevity, then darts off on scattered digressions.

Ask about his relationship with his church, he laments the rise of the drug trade in Memphis. Ask whether stardom made him a better preacher, he volunteers the fact that his first love was a prostitute who introduced him to a dangerous social circle. Ask about his mentor, producer Willie Mitchell, Green reminisces about an unrelated bar fight that required him to neutralize an opponent carrying a switchblade. “Always hold the hand with the knife!” he shouts, offering hard-knock-life tips with a belly laugh.

Perhaps these broken strands of communication are Green’s way of explaining that he has seen life on the other side and that instead of examining his current struggles, he’d rather purge up memories of traumas conquered long ago.

please tell me some al green songs that are long and jammy like this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pupeAPWStR4

i have his whole discog and can find greatness up through at least the belle album, but yeah, i'm still in love with you is the best soul album i've ever heard

there is greatness long after the belle album imo

Yo did anyone see this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCHP7hYZZTk

Lechera! "Beware" is often my favorite Green song. It's dangerous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT99vMay_pU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q-hONahmU0

I have this on the Love Ritual odds n end comp!

A few other long ones:

"I Didn't Know" 7:49 (1975)
"Dream" 7:28 (1977)
"Georgia Boy" 7:00 (1977)
"For The Good Times" 6:27 (1972)

anyone with the slightest interest in al green needs the see the movie "gospel according to al green"

green has an incredible amount of charisma, but he's an eccentric through and through. his speech patterns are hypnotizing.

it doesn't surprise me in the least that he lives alone in the woods.

agggggh georgia boy is killing me

i love beware so much i usually listen to it 3x in a row because i never want it to end. i need to make an al green mix for my car so thank you all for your input.

love sermon is my new favorite al green longjam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmGJFU9_h7w&list=RDkmGJFU9_h7w#t=398

Went to Reverend Al's church yesterday and heard him sing, preach, read scripture, tell jokes, and offer condolences. So classic.

Gets next to you is fantastic. Seems to hit a version of r'n'b that should be archetypal.
Next couple change focus a bit and I wish there was more like this.

The new biography that's out, Soul Survivor, is quite good. McDonough definitely has his quirks but he conveys honest appreciation and love of the work versus some of Al's sketchier sides. But it's also a great overview of Hi Records in general, the first I've ever seen myself.

So Memphis has banners hanging with Al Green song titles on Main Street--"Love and Happiness" and "Let's Stay Together"

http://esotolson.com/my-work/downtown-mempht-pole-banners/

have been listening to Al Green is Love today. Love Ritual = reet choon!

I've been diving deep into Green's discography lately. I'm convinced his 70s' output was one of the most consistent runs ever, comparable to the Beatles and Dylan in the 60s, Sinatra in the 50s, Louis Armstrong in the 20s and early 30s, etc.

Here’s Xgau’s ratings for Green’s ’70s albums —  13 non-comp records and only a couple of "stinkers."

Al Green Gets Next to You [Hi, 1970] A
Let's Stay Together [Hi, 1972] A-
Al Green [Bell, 1972] B-
I'm Still in Love With You [Hi, 1972] A-
Call Me [Hi, 1973] A+
Livin' for You [Hi, 1973] A
Al Green Explores Your Mind [Hi, 1974] B+
Al Green's Greatest Hits [Hi, 1975] A
Al Green Is Love [Hi/The Right Stuff, 1975] A
Full of Fire [Hi, 1976] A-
Have a Good Time [Hi, 1976] B+
Al Green's Greatest Hits Volume II [Hi, 1977] A-
The Belle Album [Hi, 1977] A
Love Ritual [Hi, 1978] B-
Truth n' Time [Hi, 1979] B+

Yeah even his lesser albums from the late 70s have some fantastic songs on them. And although the narrative is that he went gospel and fell off, that isn't really the case. They're less consistently fantastic than his peak 70s stuff, but a lot of those 80s albums are excellent in their own right.

Agree with xgau on Full of Fire and The Belle Album

Yep. This guy made albums – like, with album tracks as good or superior to singles.

Lot of well-deserved love upthread for The Belle Album. That's the one I listen to the most at this point.

the version of "unchained melody" on livin' for you occurs in deep time imo

ive been feeling his "funny how time slips away" so much lately