269 . Al Green - Let's Stay Together (1972)

















Track Listing

1. Let's Stay Together
2. La La For You
3. So You're Leaving
4. What Is This Feeling
5. Old Time Lovin'
6. I've Never Found A Girl
7. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
8. Judy
9. Ain't No Fun To Me

Review

There is something strange about this album, and it's not the music itself but the year it came out. It really sounds like something from the late 50's to early 60's. A lot of the albums on the list are anachronistic in the opposite sense, stuff like Can sounds like it came from the future, the same happens with Roxy Music for example, which sounds like it came from outer space, this album seems like it was preserved in a time capsule.

There is nothing wrong with the album itself however, it is just not the most orignal of music. Still it is all very competently executed, Al Green's voice is great indeed, he is a great singer. The title track is the definite stand-out here, just a great track, all the other tracks are not bad and he shows up how much better he is than the Bee Gees by covering one of their songs in a much better way than they ever could.

Of course anyone showing that they are better than the Bee Gees really doesn't stand out, but making How Can You Mend A Broken Heart bearable is a feat in and of itself. Of course it didn't become a great song overnight, but it was always shit. In the end Al Green presents us with a very nice album which looses points by not bringing anything new or tremendously interesting to the world of music, but he does it really well. Get it from Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. Let's Stay Together
2. La-La For You
3. I've Never Found A Girl (Who Loves Me Like You Do)
4. Ain't No Fun to Me

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

On October 18, 1974, Green's girlfriend, Mary Woodson, poured boiling grits on him as he was showering because he had rejected her marriage proposal. This caused second-degree burns on his back, stomach and arm. She then killed herself in an adjacent bedroom. Deeply shaken, Green converted to Christianity and became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976. Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and the critics grew steadily harsher.

Another piece of evidence for the fact that the devil has all the best tunes.

Let's Stay Together, look at that man's crotch! And how uncomfortable does he look mimimng to the song?: