AL GREEN: CLASSIC OR DUD?

This might work on the 'songs which' thread but listening to the Belle Album and wondering if, like in the title track, there are any other tracks which are explicitly about a threesome with big JC?

Dylan's "Covenant Woman".

Shout Factory TV posted this on YouTube a month ago - it's the full episode but skip to 22:00, Green starts his half-hour set after the break. Grab it while you can, this is some damn hot shit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBjBgVwbCw4

h/t to Jimmy McDonough who turned me on to this appearance.

Man, it's actually not a half-hour, it's two songs, then a third about 20 minutes later, but still great stuff, especially for how it's shot.

The second number, "I'm So Tired of Being Alone," is just AWESOME, especially when the camera floats up close and circles to his front. Just a flat-out AMAZING performance.

Wow thanks for that it’s fantastic indeed !
What a magnetic performer.

h/t to Jimmy McDonough who turned me on to this appearance.

This is another of those threads we all have to be careful bumping. (throws salt over shoulder.)

Do love the gets next ToYou album which is where teh studio version of the Tired of being Alone appears.
I think the version soul/r'n'b that the band is playing on that lp is about an absolute apex of teh form for me but was apparently just a point the band was passing through on their way somewhere else.

Finding something similar with the band backing Little Richard on the Rill Thing. Sublime but I think just a transitory thing that was part of a longer curve or not dependent on whether that band actually played together more. Still would love to find more of the sound both of those records coalesce to individually.

knowarrimean

Is it mentioned in the bio?

Yes, but it kind of gets a brief mention in his Neil Young bio. The TV show wasn't available (or at least easily found) when I read it years ago, so I forgot about it, and then flipping through the book again, I was reminded of it. He brings it up in the chapter on Freedom while listing other great TV musical performances.

McDonough doesn't actually focus on the broadcast uploaded by Shout Factory. According to his Al Green bio, Green made TWO appearances on Soul! that year. By the time Green did the latter, he had blown up into an enormous star, and he was invited as the only guest. He gets the full hour, and it's apparently treasured by some Al Green aficionados as his greatest live performance on film or record: http://www.trunkworthy.com/witness-al-greens-finest-hour-a-moving-soothing-grooving-dose-of-soul/ (Bits and pieces can be found on YouTube, but unlike the earlier appearance I posted, there's no official upload, much less one that's been restored or sourced from the original broadcast master.)

McDonough doesn't say much about the earlier broadcast, but despite its brevity, that appearance has one big advantage over the later performance: the camera work. Unlike the later appearance, they've cleared out the floor space around Green, allowing them to place their cameras MUCH closer, and it makes a world of a difference - you see every nuance in his face and gestures including some long, unbroken shots of Green in close-up. It's so good, it's actually disappointing we only get three songs.

thanks a lot for posting that. i am very tempted to screen/video capture it so i can keep it after it gets taken down. the performance and filming of "tired of being alone", in particular, is astounding. the set is minimal, but whoever filmed it did a fantastic job. starting with his velvet-tipped shoes, profile shot from the side, catching him tapping his foot, panning up to the face, with the black background. and he is in peak, al green handsome, perfect voice, can do no wrong, no surprise. already some small beads of sweat showing on his forehead. the second verse comes around and the camera slowly shifts from the profile to the front shot, with this lovely era-specific soft-orange glow. i'm not sure words are appropriate for the magnificence of that middle 1/3 of the performance. then the final verse/chorus, a final shift of the camera and zoom out, to show his band behind him as he brings it home.

i think it's all one shot, too? brilliant performance.

i watched the rest of the show, too. holy shit. that was a good fucking show and i would like to track down the rest of the episodes too.

i watched the rest of the show, too. holy shit. that was a good fucking show and i would like to track down the rest of the episodes too.

Shout Factory seems to have put up a bunch from the masters, but I'm hoping they or someone get around to the Stevie Wonder episode. He plays for the entire 60 minute show and is amazing.

yeah, i took a moment to dream on this wikipedia paragraph:

Among the musical performers who appeared on the show were Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Dells, Ashford and Simpson,[3] Al Green, Tito Puente, McCoy Tyner, Max Roach, Gladys Knight, The Delfonics, Kool & The Gang, Mandrill, and Black Ivory, as well as African performers Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba.[5] Others who appeared on the program included boxer Muhammad Ali, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, minister (later politician) Jesse Jackson, actor / singer Harry Belafonte, actor Sidney Poitier,[5] and Kathleen Cleaver, wife of Eldridge Cleaver.[6] Legendary poetry collective The Last Poets also performed on the show.[7]

patti labelle on the premiere, too

that’s great footage of a wonderful performance!

a propos of nothing: Al Green has been one of my all-time favourite artists for more or less forever, and yet I never realised what an incredibly hot guy he was in his prime.

i think it's all one shot, too? brilliant performance.

You're right, they did that whole song in ONE shot!

There's another priceless moment in "Let's Stay Together." For the bulk of it, the camera's off to the side, so Green's rarely looking at the camera...but deep into the song, right after he sings "But you'd never do that to me?" he glances to the left, finds the camera, and flashes that awesome, seductive smile and croons "...would you baby?" Even without the video, it would've been awesome because his phrasing is ridiculously perfect. But seeing it? DAMN.

yet I never realised what an incredibly hot guy he was in his prime.

i think there's an unspoken understanding among all people in relationships that if 1971 al green shows up at your door and wants to sweet talk one or both of you and maybe stay up til 3 o clock in the morn, then that's just going to happen

PBS just ran an Independent Lens doc on Soul!! last week. Questlove raves about those Al performances.

_yet I never realised what an incredibly hot guy he was in his prime._

i think there's an unspoken understanding among all people in relationships that if 1971 al green shows up at your door and wants to sweet talk one or both of you and maybe stay up til 3 o clock in the morn, then that's just going to happen

got kind of worried when i saw the revive but instead it's just exactly the kind of ho-hum "best ever is best ever" revive that i love to see all day every day.

Here's another favorite, from a Soul Train appearance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vntdKHhhWw

Quality isn't great - looks like a VHS recording - but Green's amazing, incredibly lively even with his arm in a sling.

"Have You Been Making Out Okay with Al Green?"

more than okay, friend ;)

Make room on that sofa, sailor

Quality isn't great - looks like a VHS recording - but Green's amazing, incredibly lively even with his arm in a sling.

There's some discussion (and dead links) about this upthread. Too bad there aren't better copies of it on YT, as what sparked that discussion was a remastered rerun from when Soul Train had ceased production and was airing classic episodes (the YMO appearance was also exhumed).

In the interview, he explains the sling as the result of "my fans and I haven't a disagreement about whether I should get into a car" (he'd had a limo door slammed on his arm after a gig).

Not sure if they're still up, but Shout Factory had a bunch of Soul!! eps up for free on Prime.

Not sure if they're still up, but Shout Factory had a bunch of Soul!! eps up for free on Prime.

― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain)

Not sure if they're still up, but Shout Factory had a bunch of Soul!! eps up for free on Prime.

― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain)

Not sure if they're still up, but Shout Factory had a bunch of Soul!! eps up for free on Prime.

― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain)

Not sure if they're still up, but Shout Factory had a bunch of Soul!! eps up for free on Prime.

― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain)

Not sure if they're still up, but Shout Factory had a bunch of Soul!! eps up for free on Prime.

― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain)

YES!!!!!!!!! it is all up there

I watched few today, they rule

episode 3 has max roach
episodes 4-5 are a two part interview between james baldwin and nikki giovanni (who i don't know, but every single person affiliated with this show seems to rule)
episode 6 bill withers singing ain't no sunshine (which didn't even make the damn wikipedia entry?!!)

it goes on and on

jeez, they had to throw in mccoy tyner on the bill withers episode too, just to fill it out a bit

Info on the PBS Doc: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/mr-soul/

nice, thanks! maybe the PBS doc led to the youtube upload which led to this al green revival (which is only appropriate), which led me to all of these nice episodes and now the doc as well! the bill withers episode has been sick. mccoy tyner's band is great of course, and i really enjoyed listening to bill withers talk about coming from nowhere and just being grounded. i always knew he was a great guy from reputation and his music, but it so cool to hear him speak at length, fumble at things like not knowing what "prognosis" was in a question, and just being as relatable as humanly possible.

yes -- when i saw this earlier today i was going to link to the doc but i got sidetracked. it's an independent lens production iirc?

sidebar: if anyone has not yet watched the bill withers still bill documentary from a few years ago, you're not really living your best life just yet. just saying.

y'all should play the second side of Livin' For You.

That's all.

also the first side.

and both the second and first sides of every other album al green released between the years of 1967 and 1977.

then join us on the couch

Is it odd to prefer the non-singles on Let's Stay Together to the non-singles on I'm Still in Love With You? I think Call Me is stronger than both.

Play The Love Sermon from Al Green Is Love, repeat as needed

is that ... ornette coleman in the front row at 43:44 ??

It looks like him, but about 20 years too young.

They released this performance on DVD a while ago. Stevie wonders soul TV performance was also meant to be released but I think it got pulled for some reason which is a big shame (I stupidly sold a promo DVD of it as I thought it would he released officialy).

Was listening to the album al made with questlove just a few weeks ago as it happens. It's pretty good. Maybe low on strong songs but I found it hard to resist, and was just pleased to hear al in the present day, even if I didnt totally buy some of the overtly romantic sentiments.

In the interview, he explains the sling as the result of "my fans and I haven't a disagreement about whether I should get into a car" (he'd had a limo door slammed on his arm after a gig).

McDonough's book talks about this. Linda Wills later claimed Green injured it going through a revolving door. Members of Green's band claim it happened on tour in Ft. Lauderdale - on that tour, they were playing theaters essentially run by gangsters. Green tried to cancel the gig because he wasn't feeling well. There was an argument with the theater owner, and eventually the band watched as this giant thug in a suit walked into Green's dressing room. After a bit of time, that thug came out and left, and ten minutes later, a doctor came in and went into Green's dressing room. The theater owners then told the band they were PLAYING, and when they went to rehearse, Green showed up later with the cast. After that, the band said Green started carrying a gun.

https://www.howardgrimesdrummer.com/about

Drummer Howard Grimes memoir coming July 1

https://staxmuseum.com/event/book-event-timekeeper-my-life-in-rhythm-an-evening-with-howard-grimes-preston-lauterbach/?fbclid=IwAR0xSrgaGSL3U_SjHsraltp8QqLp8DTpLhDGnlaksAsgsrseWauEnwRkiqk

Wed July 21 drummer Grimes talks with Preston Lauterbach at Stax on Zoom

No stems no seeds just Al Green

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/09/23/memphis-music-history-hi-rhythm-rev-charles-hodges-book/5790901001/?fbclid=IwAR0AqmljkfGAEhOIHTxnPX1rP2oYfHDTdC_Lo3cbtIT-jKtcsVUbIIaf5qo

Per writer Robert Gordon— Hi Records organist / keyboardist Charles Hodges has a book coming out . Release event at his church this Sunday!
The Rev. Charles Hodges discusses "My Story," a book about his life, at 3 p.m. Sunday at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, 7786 Poplar Pike, Germantown. The event is free and open to the public

Sadly seeing on Facebook now that Memphis drummer Howard Grimes has passed away. He played on Stax and Hi records and efforts by Al Green and Ann Peebles. He released a book about his life last year.

Howard Grimes and Al Jackson both played on song “Love and Happiness “ I think. Grimes was on congas.