mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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gets next to you let's stay together i'm still in love with you call me i can't stop
Gets Next To You At the time, Al Green’s second album probably was very appreciated by the people looking for someone to fill the space of Otis Redding, whom tragically passed away a couple of years earlier, and so did Sam Cooke before him. However, for us with all the facts and the privilege(?) of looking back Gets Next To You is not a fantastic record. It sounds good, sure. Al Green sings it really well and the band usually hits a great groove, but it is far from original, nowhere near as seductive as Green’s later releases, and hardly as exciting as, say, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd or Wilson Pickett. I do think the cover of The Doors’ “Light My Fire” would have been the perfect song for this particular singer to cover, unfortunately the final result is a little bit clumsy. If he’d done it just a year or two later I’m sure it would have been truly breathtaking. Pretty ironic that the most sexy and tender moment of the album appears during a somewhat up-tempo song, “Tired of Being Alone”. A song that stands head and shoulders above everything here. Al Green himself admitted that he tried to sound like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and the others during this period and that he was yet to find his own voice. And when the bands moves between Booker T & The MG’s R’n’B to the sane interpretations of James Brown’s crazy funk, Green isn’t quite as relaxed as he should be. I mean, it sounds good, but when you know I’m So In Love With You and Let’s Stay Together was released only a year later. Both albums seemingly so much more personal true and natural than mostly any moment on Gets Next To You.
Let’s Stay Together This is where things starting to happen. Al Green takes a different approach vocally, nearly singing every number as if they where ballads. Whilst Green having taken leaps as a singer, producer and arranger Willie Mitchell does wonders with the songs, using tasteful strings, excellent female backing vocals, horn sections and of course a band that is aware of what’s going on. The album is not perfect, but it has its fair share of highlights. The opening title track for instance is flat out stunning, making it hard to believe it us the same singer as on Gets Next To You. Other highlights are The Bee Gees written “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” and “Judy”. Both songs sung by Green with such conviction, and yet so tender and gentle. Hard to describe. Some of the more up-tempo songs doesn’t work quite as well as the ballads, but they all sound better than on the previous record. More humble, relaxed and timeless laid-back grooves, rather than the somewhat over the top style on Gets Next To You. “It Ain’t No Fun To Me”, which closes the album, is a great example of the loveable rhythms. Let’s Stay Together is very consistent and doesn’t have a single bad track on it. However, it has too few songs that really break through to make it a masterpiece. In the end it remains a really good album by a man starting to finding himself.
I’m Still In Love With You Released the same year as Let’s Stay Together, but still yet another step up. Similar sounding to its predecessor, but leaving the faster tracks behind, focusing on mid-tempo songs and ballads. It never sounds one-dimensional, boring or dragging. Once again, the title track is one of the best moments, but my favorite tracks here probably are the covers of “Oh, Pretty Woman” and “For The Good Times”. Both beautifully performed and hits something within the listener. However, those songs doesn’t necessarily feature the best vocal performances on the album. That honor might belong to “Simply Beautiful”, which is done so tender and carefully, so fragile sounding you nearly fear it’ll break if you just breath at the wrong moment. No matter if Green is taking the role as a women’s man or the lonely guy in the back of the bar, he manages to win over the listener either way. He makes you wish you could be like him when he is at his most seductive, and when he is the guy at the back, the listeners wishing they could be romantic and straightforward recognizes themselves. Whatever approach Green takes, it always sounds honest, never fake, which obviously is the sign of a great singer. It is an emotional listen and miles and miles better than the debut. Of course it’s a completely different album too, but it seems like this is Al Green and not someone idolizing Otis Redding. Now, I like Redding as much as the next guy, but he was one of a kind and impossible to beat at his own game. Not even two years after the debut Green himself has grown into be unique and someone doing his own thing. That alone is impressive, but it would not mean so much unless the music presented on I’m Still In Love With You wasn’t absolutely amazing.
Call Me This is soul. Not the R’n’B or gospel influenced soul that hit big in the 60’s, but maybe less spiritual and raw in favor of personal experience of relationships. Both friendship and traditional, blind love. Perhaps it’s hit oriented, but it still has integrity and an artistic value. We all know that soul is more about the feeling the music gives you rather than the lyrics message, at least in these modern days. At first, the thing that will get to you about Call Me is the actual music. Soft and laid back with horns, strings and organs, but you should really pay attention to the guitar work that shines during the whole album. Tasteful licks that actual seems Jimi Hendrix-inspired (think “Little Wing”, “Bold As Love”), slightly modified to fit the album’s overall sound. Give this one a couple of listens and the lyrics will add another dimension to the songs, delivered by Green’s quiet and almost whispered, gentle voice. It is partly because of his voice he wins over other artists in the same genre such as Marvin Gaye. Gaye and others are very well aware of their vocal capacity and after, been stuck in very strict and disciplined schools such as Motown, they wanted to use their voice more like an instrument and improvising during a song. Something that they had the opportunity to do when they gained artistic freedom thanks to several hit records. That often very easily makes the melodies suffer and maybe hard to memorize for an average listener. Since Al Green had his break through some time after Motown’s golden era in the mid-60’s, he was never held as tight as Marvin Gaye, and therefore never had the same will to vocally break free from traditional and somewhat conservative forms and ideas about how a vocal should be done. In the end, that makes the songs stronger since they have atmosphere, good lyrics and a solid melody. Often an artist, no matter the genre, only has a talent for one or maybe two of those things. Green masters all three and has a great voice in addition to that. Naturally, the result is quite impressive.
I Can’t Stop Teaming up with Willie Mitchell yet again, nearly thirty years after they first created magic. Despite the three decades that has passed, despite whatever difference in experiences and recording equipment the duo manages to not only approach the old sound, but copy it and yet keeping it fresh and exciting. Whatever doubts you might have about this album; forget all about them. If you liked Green’s mid-70’s albums you’re in for one helluva ride. Catchy hornarrangements lies on top of groovy bass lines that keeps the listener on the hook, whilst an excellent string quartet adds color to these bluesy. Funky, even jazzy, but foremost, soulful songs. What is most notable is Green’s remarkable voice and interplay with the backing singers (who are the very same as on the hits from 1971-1977). Especially successful are the beautiful ballad “Rainin’ In My Heart” that no one else than Green could have pulled off, the up-tempo and good feel “I’d Still Choose You” (which arguably is the album’s best song) and the grabbing “Play To Win”. “I’ve Been Thinkin’ Bout You” is filled with youthful energy, which mostly comes from Green himself, recalling the best moments of James Brown. The laidback rhythm in “I’d Write A Letter” has you tapping your feet, whilst incredibly cool, uplifting “Too Many” makes you move along with your whole body. Green is capable of moving and affect the listener with the ballads too, already mentioned “Rainin’ In My Heart”, the nice “Not Tonight” among other fine songs, even though not quite as exciting as the faster numbers. It is fun to still have one of the great ones around. It’s even better to see him put all his followers and imitators in their right place, showing how the real deal should be done. Hopefully he lives up to the record’s title and never stop.
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