AL GREEN: CLASSIC OR DUD?

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.

who did this? 😂 pic.twitter.com/TzJZdbq0Xc

— Al Green (@algreen) September 2, 2020

(holy crap, apparently that's in my hometown!)

haha, yeah i think that was posted on another thread just yesterday. love that al saw it!

by chance, i just so happened to receive 2 al green LPs in the mail! two pretty obscure ones: I'm Still in Love with You and Let's Stay Together :)

is this the first "who did this" tweet where the person who tweeted it didn't do it or knew who did it but decided not to credit them

my al green collection currently:

I'm Still in Love with You *****
Let's Stay Together *****
Livin' For You ****
Call Me *****
Explores Your Mind ****
The Belle Album ******
Precious Lord **

sadly, the original tweet was from the day before, and they did reply to their own tweet with credit:

This is the artists Instagram pic.twitter.com/3KCSQom0Vj

— Barmelo Xanthony (@Actn_jcksn) September 1, 2020

but i guess when al green picked it up he didn't see the reply

my al green collection currently:

I'm Still in Love with You *****
Let's Stay Together *****
Livin' For You ****
Call Me *****
Explores Your Mind ****
The Belle Album ******
Precious Lord **

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, September 2, 2020 8:02 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

as good as it gets tbr

Y'all need Gets Next to You, like, now.

'all need Gets Next to You, like, now.

yep, that's the last one i'm missing that seems really important and obviousobv that was the case with Still in Love and Let's Stay Together, until this afternoon. but are there any others like that? Al Green is Love, Have a Good Time, Full of Fire - anyone have thoughts on those? i can't imagine any of them being _bad_

i had gets next to you once upon a time ;_;

They're not bad but the songwriting, once tight as hell, starts to develop flab.

god, I love Al. lucky enough to see him perform 8 years ago, and other than some high notes that were raspier than previously, he still had it.

need to dig into the albums proper, I just had collections.

playing the title track to "I'm Still in Love With You". every bit of it is fantastic, the chord progressions, his feather-soft vocalizations, that chorus, the backing vocals. gentlest falsetto in the game.

oi. down the rabbit hole I go.

Listen to "Beware." Savor that outro.

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

minor coincidences on Let's Stay Together and I'm Still in Love With You:

- both released in 1972
- the first side of each features 5 songs, leading off with the legendary title track co-written with Jackson and Mitchell, along with a second co-write with one other musician, and 3 solo green credits.
- the second side of each features 4 songs, starting with 2 covers, and ending with 2 al green originals (although "Look what you done for me" has to ruin it by being a co-write with Mitchell and Jackson)

They're not bad but the songwriting, once tight as hell, starts to develop flab.

yeah, that was generally my feeling about Livin' for You, and allmusic reviews and the like kind of paint a similar picture with Is Love, Have a Good Time, and Full of Fire.

thing is, i would listen to him sing a phone book, so they're still solid. it's hard for there to be a bad al green song.