BCB 100 - Al Green
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Listen to davey, hatz, and matt wilson on this one, people. Al Green is fucking magic! 'Soul' is not just measured by sweat, grunts, 'gotta-gottas' and melisma - there's a smoldering fire beneath Rev. Al's apparent smoothness - and there are times when I'd rather hear no one else.
I saw him twice - at his church in Tennessee (was it Memphis? Nashville? Can't remember!) in 1986, and about a year or so later in Anaheim, CA with davey the fat boy. Different types of shows (gospel/sanctified vs. secular/sexual), same response - the women literally threw themselves at the man, wanting to bask in his aura. Grown women were weeping with joy, fainting, the works. At the Anaheim show (which ran hours late), davey and I were mesmerised by his voice, his songs, his presence. Mind-blowing.
Album - Call Me
Song - 'Love And Happiness'
I saw him twice - at his church in Tennessee (was it Memphis? Nashville? Can't remember!) in 1986, and about a year or so later in Anaheim, CA with davey the fat boy. Different types of shows (gospel/sanctified vs. secular/sexual), same response - the women literally threw themselves at the man, wanting to bask in his aura. Grown women were weeping with joy, fainting, the works. At the Anaheim show (which ran hours late), davey and I were mesmerised by his voice, his songs, his presence. Mind-blowing.
Album - Call Me
Song - 'Love And Happiness'
- BARON CORNY DOG
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see baron cry wrote:grimble gromble wrote:seriously though, al green? style over substance, surely?
Were it true, it wouldn't matter as the style is singular, phenomenal, and perfect in every way. Of course, it isn't a valid criticism as there is ample "substance."
Correctomundo.
*****
Album: Call Me
Song: Let's Stay Together
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This is why Baron's a lawyer. It's his gift of elocution.see baron cry wrote:grimble gromble wrote:seriously though, al green? style over substance, surely?
Were it true, it wouldn't matter as the style is singular, phenomenal, and perfect in every way. Of course, it isn't a valid criticism as there is ample "substance."
Album- I'm Still In Love With You
Song- a tie between Tired Of Being Alone and Love and Happiness. The horns at the end of Love & happiness are one of the greatest things ever commmited to tape.
He tries.
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grimble gromble wrote:Matt Wilson wrote:grimble gromble wrote: a non-soul fan reunion!
You must be the first graduate of the T Berry school of soul.
well t-berry is the man (like i didn't already know it)!
seriously though, al green? style over substance, surely?
Just for interest sake - can you elaborate? In which area does Green lack substance for you?
“Remember I have said good things about benevolent despots before.” - Jimbo
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I think what's undeniable about Al Green was (and still is) the supreme control he seemed to convey in his voice, as if everything was wrapped up as tightly as it could. There's something in it that seems to be both oddly cold and alien as well as sumptuously beautiful, often at the same time. Am I the only one who finds "Simply Beautiful" to be as creepy as it is gorgeous, for instance? It's in the measured nuances, too.
Few artists could twist the word "love" as well as him. I love the way he holds on the "love" "I'm gonna keep on/loving you" during La-La-For You (off the superb Let's Stay Together). Let's also add that the drumming on this classic Hi-albums is something else, as declicate and precise as Green, that little snare on "I'm Glad You're Mine" was good enough to be dubbed to hell for Massive Attack's "Five Man Army" (on 1991's Blue Lines). I suppose Call Me (the song, the album) might be the summation of his talents-- that cover of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is just a well of hurt that doesn't want to be shown, in well, crying. Yet there's great reach and pain in the quite astonishing Belle Album, too- which I suppose is an album-length answer to his take on Jesus Is Waiting (as heard on Call Me)
I'm not sure whether I should quote this line from Robert Christgau, the self-styled "Dean of Rock Critics" and mainstay of Village Voice (for better or worse), but I do think it gets Green's allure down, if I'm honest.
[Al Green] demands to have his feet on the ground and to walk in the water. Perhaps it is the final tragedy of soul music that all its creators have hoped to do just that, and almost none of them have really managed it.
As has been hinted before, as well as being a superb songwriter in his own right, he was an even better interpreter. His take on "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" is one for the ages, so elegantly wrought, so beautifully handled. I think at his best, there's something oddly hypnotic about his work, if not exactly warm.
Album: depending on my mood, I'm Still in Love with You or Call Me
Song: Call Me (Come Back Home), Simply Beautiful, La La for You, Let's Stay Together, Jesus is Waiting.
Few artists could twist the word "love" as well as him. I love the way he holds on the "love" "I'm gonna keep on/loving you" during La-La-For You (off the superb Let's Stay Together). Let's also add that the drumming on this classic Hi-albums is something else, as declicate and precise as Green, that little snare on "I'm Glad You're Mine" was good enough to be dubbed to hell for Massive Attack's "Five Man Army" (on 1991's Blue Lines). I suppose Call Me (the song, the album) might be the summation of his talents-- that cover of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is just a well of hurt that doesn't want to be shown, in well, crying. Yet there's great reach and pain in the quite astonishing Belle Album, too- which I suppose is an album-length answer to his take on Jesus Is Waiting (as heard on Call Me)
I'm not sure whether I should quote this line from Robert Christgau, the self-styled "Dean of Rock Critics" and mainstay of Village Voice (for better or worse), but I do think it gets Green's allure down, if I'm honest.
[Al Green] demands to have his feet on the ground and to walk in the water. Perhaps it is the final tragedy of soul music that all its creators have hoped to do just that, and almost none of them have really managed it.
As has been hinted before, as well as being a superb songwriter in his own right, he was an even better interpreter. His take on "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" is one for the ages, so elegantly wrought, so beautifully handled. I think at his best, there's something oddly hypnotic about his work, if not exactly warm.
Album: depending on my mood, I'm Still in Love with You or Call Me
Song: Call Me (Come Back Home), Simply Beautiful, La La for You, Let's Stay Together, Jesus is Waiting.
It's before my time but I've been told, he never came back from Karangahape Road.
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Shagger Dave wrote:This is why Baron's a lawyer. It's his gift of elocution.see baron cry wrote:grimble gromble wrote:seriously though, al green? style over substance, surely?
Were it true, it wouldn't matter as the style is singular, phenomenal, and perfect in every way. Of course, it isn't a valid criticism as there is ample "substance."
Electrocution is out of style, man. The needle is where it's at!
See you in Huntsville!
Davey The Fat Boy wrote:Just for interest sake - can you elaborate? In which area does Green lack substance for you?
the style, his voice, is fantastic. by substance i mean the material. i'm not a fan of smooth 70's soul, or the phillie sound in general.
mind you he did have "a run of no less than thirteen US top 40 pop hits from 1971-1976 (and who knows how many hits on the R&B charts?)" so i guess that's reason enough for inclusion in the bcb 100.
goldwax wrote:What's wrong with the material? His six or eight key albums are full of wonderful compositions that sound like no one else, as well of inventive reworkings of other people's songs.
in your opinion.
inventive doesn't necessarily equate to great.
i'm not sure i can elaborate any more on my previous post. the al green albums i own (all three of them from his 'key' period) don't do anything for me, in much the same way as 'let's get it on' or 'hot buttered soul' do little for me. i don't really enjoy 70's schmaltzy soul. i can live with that.
toomanyhatz's comment on al green is one i sort of imagine a lot of al green fans thinking "I love Al Green, because Al Green is love"
barf!
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grimble gromble wrote: i'm not sure i can elaborate any more on my previous post. the al green albums i own (all three of them from his 'key' period) don't do anything for me, in much the same way as 'let's get it on' or 'hot buttered soul' do little for me. i don't really enjoy 70's schmaltzy soul. i can live with that.
toomanyhatz's comment on al green is one i sort of imagine a lot of al green fans thinking "I love Al Green, because Al Green is love"
barf!
So, you don't care for Al Green, Let's Get It On, or Hot Buttered Soul, yet still you claim to be a judge of "non-soul?"
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soul-a-skope wrote:Davey The Fat Boy wrote:Just for interest sake - can you elaborate? In which area does Green lack substance for you?
the style, his voice, is fantastic. by substance i mean the material. i'm not a fan of smooth 70's soul, or the phillie sound in general.
Phillie, Memphis... what's a 1000 miles between friends?
ablum: love and happiness
song: let's stay together
my friend the speed freak asked me who my favorite singer was, I told him. He told me his favorite singer was Al Green and played me the "Let's Stay Together" album. It's the closest thing to sitting still I ever saw the guy do. I love Al Green. every hair is in place. the horns, the drums and a voice that can calm a speed freak.
song: let's stay together
my friend the speed freak asked me who my favorite singer was, I told him. He told me his favorite singer was Al Green and played me the "Let's Stay Together" album. It's the closest thing to sitting still I ever saw the guy do. I love Al Green. every hair is in place. the horns, the drums and a voice that can calm a speed freak.
Guy E wrote:soul-a-skope wrote:Davey The Fat Boy wrote:Just for interest sake - can you elaborate? In which area does Green lack substance for you?
the style, his voice, is fantastic. by substance i mean the material. i'm not a fan of smooth 70's soul, or the phillie sound in general.
Phillie, Memphis... what's a 1000 miles between friends?
well, you'll note i said sound, not location!
if you're not happy with the concept of the philadelphia soul sound, then i understand.
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