AL GREEN: CLASSIC OR DUD?

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

Livin' for You and the Belle Album are the ones I go back to most frequently. But, yeah: the whole run is pretty solid.

This has been the one killing me lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7zclKteJs0

Maybe my favorite of his album tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pupeAPWStR4

"beware" is a monster

when that acoustic guitar comes out of nowhere...

This one is my personal fav... beyond beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xSj_iFMVJY

New track, cover of “Before the Next Teardrop Falls”:
https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/09/13/647053567/hear-al-greens-first-new-recording-in-nearly-a-decade

i love the recreated Hi Records sound

it could be included on any number of his classic records without sticking out, which is a very high bar to clear imo

i sure fucking hope this isn't going to be the album cover:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SKWRkMU0L._AA256_.jpg

i hope that didn't take longer than 45 seconds to put together

yeah, i'm kinda wondering what the deal is with new al green tracks in general, though! this new one is part of a compilation of that producer:

Green recorded the track at Sam Phillips Studios with Matt Ross-Spang, the brilliant producer and engineer who is the proprietor of that historic mid-century modern Memphis sound shrine. The recording is part of Amazon Music's new "Produced By" series highlighting the gifts of board masters like Ross-Spang; this week's offerings, all produced by him, also features new material from Margo Price, John Prine and William Bell.

which is cool, but...i mean, can we pretty please have 8-10 more new ones? i would love to hear more.

trying to make Matt Ross-Spang the star here... hmm...

Greatest album artist ever?

That run of albums is pretty hard to top.

The gospel albums sound like FIRE this morning.

^ I love The Belle Album ... what of his gospel discs should I get next?

I'll Rise Again

If I only know "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" and I like it in a slightly "I could imagine Tindersticks covering this" sort of way ... what Al Green do I listen to next?

see my guide linked here last month

Oh, thanks - I'd missed that.

I'm going to enjoy exploring that.