Al Green-gets next to you
The_Hook_Up
8,182 Posts
found a minty OG yesterday, never heard this particular Al Green LP from start to finish before, as I thought I had all the best tracks on 45 and you just dont see this one out in the field often...but goddamn, this has got to be one of the best soul LPs from start to finish...ever.
Comments
I actually had to resort to the Bay for a clean copy of that one, too... great record.
I just woke up, so the title of the one from '75 is escaping me, but Wish You Were Here is one of my favorite songe ever.
You HAVE to get the version with this cover.
There's a reissued edition from '77 or '78 with a slightly saner cover (Al by then had a close-cropped natural and a more conservative suit), but what you see up above there is the one to get.
I mean, really, Brotherman looks like he just landed from the planet Pluto or something! And the music inside is bluesier and wilder than the Smooth Loveman Al we know today. This was more or less the album that really broke him as a superstar, and only "Tired Of Being Alone" hints at the sophistication that was to come. But that cover is pure art, and only one other sleeve design equals it:
I ain't lyin'.
Anyone ever been in a video store and looked at the ones that are all checked out like "man, those are the ones I really wanted to get!" even when that wasn't the case?
Same sort of feeling.
I just love how these 2 complement each other.
I think Gets Next to You is probably my favorite Al Green, although it has stiff competition from this one:
All these are classics, and undervalued because of their relative accessibility(tho as folks have pointed out, it's the finding unscathed copies that is the challenge)
I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this here(found at a flea a few weeks back)
Great sounding stuff, the hits, some gospel, but a great mix of his songs and with that live energy
My fave Al Green LP's are a three-album arc: Al Green Gets Next To You, Let's Stay Together, and I'm Still In Love With You, all released in that order between 1971-72. Listen to them in the order they came out, and you can hear how a semi-blues shouter mutated into a soft-soul crooner.
I mean, aside from Al having fur trim on his coat, their 'fits look pretty similar to me... I think I may be missing some subtleties.
sayin!
al's got a buckwild coat, but otherwise he looks normal
I love his BIZARRE version of "Light My Fire," where he starts "getting happy" and forgets the lyrics..."Teenie, play yo' guitar!...We WORKIN', y'all, we WORKIN'!"
Killer version of "The Letter": "My baby done wrote me...somethin' on a piece of paper, yeah!"
I think he's referring to the facial expressions. David looks like, "Hey, I'm David Ruffian, formerly of the Temptations." Al on the other hands looks like, "I'm Al and I've been smokin some Green."
Right.
dollar bin is the official king of photoshop.