Let's Stay Together

Sometimes, 35 minutes of gospel twinged soul is exactly what you need to be listening to. Opens with Let's Stay Together, never tops it, but very few have in the 50 odd years since. That sentence feels a bit harsh on How Do You Mend A Broken Heart, but you have a proper 11/10 track as the opener. I'd have hidden it halfway through the album to make sure the rest gets used! Shout out to the band as well - the guitar never does what you're expecting it to do. Brilliant stuff. As a side note, if I saw an album by somebody looking that cool on the front cover, I'd still give it a listen today.

His voice is so soulful and emotive. I'm digging it. Shame that he's a piece of shit wife-beater. Let's stay together or else I'll beat the piss out of you.

Oh yah... Such a lovely record from the Rev

Fucking loved it.

19th July 2021 Listened in the shower then on the living room speaker while getting ready for work in the morning. So relaxing, super chilled and so nice to listen to on a day like this. Absolute diamond.

Great way to start off this challenge. Love it energy he brings to the tracks. Everyone of them commands your attention. How can you mend a broken heart.... :'(

Soulful, listenable. Only one famous song.

Soul isn't generally my genre but there's something about Al Green's effortless energy that is just wonderful. I'm not sure what else to say. The man is an incredible performer and the musicianship was top-notch. Really enjoyable.

Fuck yes

This album is smooth, funky, groovy, soulful. Enjoyable from start to finish. Highlights: Let's Stay Together, What Is This Feeling, I've Never Found A Girl, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.

Saved Prior: Let's Stay Together Saved: 9. Old Time Lovin' 8. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 7. It Ain't No Fun to Me 6. What Is This Feeling 5. Judy 4. La-La for You 3. I've Never Found a Girl 2. So You're Leaving 1. Let's Stay Together Overall Notes: So so good. Groove is immaculate. LOVED this.

Big fan of the sounds of this album, only thing I'm not 100% on board with is the lyrics because it seems to mostly be about being/longing to be in a relationship. But I'm not gonna be too harsh on it. Every song on this sounds distinct while simultaneously having a nice flow throughout the entire project. Definitely gonna add it to my Discogs wantlist. Added every single song to my playlist. The highest of quality

I feel cool just listening to this. Pretty frickin' fantastic start to finish.

Great for chill background music, but only the title track stood out as a memorable song.

Kicks off with it's best track but nothing to dislike with the groove and vocal of classic Al Green

This one didn't escape background music level for me - there are some interesting melodies and Green's voice is generally pleasing in delivery, just not any solid hooks I found to grab onto here.

Wasn't my jam. Wasn't particularly bad either, just wasn't feeling this.

It’s so beautiful. It’s so nice to listen to good soul, and Al Green pours his into this album

Smooth from start to finish. Laid back and chilled out, but still puts you in a happy mood.

Solid gold, and although the title track is very popular, the rest of the album is packed full of lesser known tracks which, to me, encapsulate al's early edge much better than some of his more popular work. Long time fav

LOVED it. Did not expect that whatsoever

Touching soul that invokes a smile.

Will be returning to this one for sure. Title track, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (fantastic Bee Gees cover!) and Judy were highlights for me.

Al Green is one of the great soul voices of the 70’s, and Let’s Stay Together is great song. But I hadn’t heard anything else from this album. But I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of Otis Redding vibe, though Green’s voice is unique. All it all it works, really well. Solid 4/5

This was a good, relaxed listen. Let's stay together (pulp fiction) and how can you mend a broken heart stood out. Went back and relistened to last track too.

Wonderful gem of an album. Soulful as they come. A nice listen.

Rhythms totally his own, soulfulness as intelligent as it comes. He's touched by god and passing it along to you. Savour the moment. (A little too long on the slow tempos to compete with his best work.)

A

A brilliant voice with a great sense of emotion. A stellar album.

This shit was amazing.

The most soulful soul that emanated from any soul, even if that soul was actually a brutally violent and abusive one. Weird how that works.

Smooth and sultry from the master of soul - if you don’t just turn it off after the hit single, you’re rewarded with minimalist funk and buttery vocals for the rest of the record.

So good. More horns and strings than I imagined! Lots of talk about love too. I wish he woulda made a song about riding the bus or something.

Like it

This is a great album.

I actually love this album so much. I wasn't expecting to like it but I was surprised. The music is very calming and it is stuff I would actually listen to so that was cool.

Classic

It's Al so it gets 5.

Excellent album! I'm going 5/5. I love Al Green

I love the interplay of the bass and drums. Some really catchy songs in this album as well as nice rhythm. Just listening to this put me in a good mood!

i like this dude very funky I LOVE AL GREEN HIS VOICE THE INSTRUMENTS i can tell where gnarls barkly was inspired from god i love this

yes

Such a great vibe.

Reverend Green is the man.

Just brilliant, rich soul music. One of my dad’s favorite albums that I heard so often in the car. I also remember that guy singing Let’s Stay Together at karaoke one time and it was great. One of the more universally recognized great albums on this list. Everyone feels the longing and appreciates the expressiveness

Really great album. My favorite of Al Green’s. Anyone wanna see him at Ravinia this summer?

Love it

I had heard the title track before but never actually listened to this full album. This album has SOUL like no other. Every track is a pleasure to listen to and it doesn't overstay its welcome. It leaves me wanting more. My buddy Gio also told me about Al's life story, and knowing how much he went through while still pushing on through is inspiring. A great artist and a great album to start this project with.

Pure soul perfection.

I've put the title track on every "I'm about to get laid" playlist I've ever made, I have to pay proper respect

One of my favorites

Starting off with the title track, a bold, and absolutely correct, choice. This is a great song that is now unfortunately linked in my mind to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Al Green is a great soul music performer. It's hard to decide if I like 70s soul or 90s/2000s neosoul better. I'm loving the horns in this. Memphis soul might be the best soul. I knew I liked his hits, but this album is a revelation. Old Time Lovin' is great. This whole album is great so far. It's crazy to me that Darondo wasn't more popular...he has a very similar sound to this album. I'm not going to oversell the importance of an album's length on my rating, but it has some importance.

4.5/5

Super blissful listen

Great morning listen with work

It's an absolute must-listen, from the very first note, you're drawn into Green's smooth and velvety voice. Every song feels timeless!

Was ein tolles Album. Al Green's "Let's stay together" lädt den Zuhörer in seinen eigenen Sommer ein. Verliebt, groovey und optimistisch in die Zukunft blickend. Einen Sommer auf den man immer wieder nostalgisch zurückblicken wird, weil er doch so einzigartig war. Und wenn man diese Platte auflegt, kann man zumindest die Silhouette des Sommers nochmals erfassen und die Essenz auf der Zunge schmecken. Grandios :)

One of soul music's most beautiful voices with one of his classic albums. Includes Al Jackson Jr.'s immortal drums and Willie Mitchell's flawless production. 34 minutes of obligatory southern soul.

Excellent album, nice length, Al's voice is amazing. The kind of soul record to listen to on a chill Sunday morning

love love love. you can feel the emotion and skill. I love the reverberation in his voice.

Sexy

WOW. A classic example of what true soul/R&B sounds like. Not a single song misplaced. This whole album is a painting that draws your ears to different flavors when it's needed. Nothing too overwhelming. I listened to the album twice over before I realized I had repeated it! 10/10 would smash to

Short album that just hits so so right.

I wonder how many people have gotten pregnant because of Al Green?

Loved the mixing and Al Greens lyrics and tempo. One of my favorite albums so far

It's like I manifested this in my Curtis Mayfield review

amazing, consistent soul energy! my personal favorites are “let’s stay together” and “how can you mend a broken heart…” but every song is just so wonderfully soulful.

You can tell this album is a 5 in the first :30 seconds

Very pretty and sexy. I love how soulful his voice is, and the instrumentation fits every song perfectly

Awesome, easy listen with some soul

Literally had the fight that led to breaking up with my girlfriend of 2 and 1/2 years while this album played in the background. Love this album so much but can’t bring myself to listen to it

Awesome

Smooooth

To start a record off with an all time classic then you’re putting yourself in a position to have to deliver exceptionally for the rest of the Album. He does that and more, such timeless music, smooth vocals and terrific production. I love this album, it’s just makes you feel good

Classic!

Alright. A total slam dunk for five stars. Amazing voice. Great recording. Soulful songs. Done.

tws good, never heard of the artist but will remember the songs since theyre memorable

Great music!

Coming into this album, I figured it'd have a similar issue to 2112 or MAGGOT BRAIN. Y'know, those are albums where their opening title tracks are so great and massively famous that no matter how the rest of the album stacks up, it can't help but be dwarfed in comparison. And it's not like I think that those title tracks don't deserve the acclaim they've gotten; I love them as much as anyone else. It's just that, at the same time, I can feel for songs like "Something For Nothing" getting a bit lost, y'know? And don't get me wrong here either: "Let's Stay Together" is as incredible as I've heard that it is. I can absolutely hear why it's as big as it's become, from every performance on it, but particularly Al Green's. He's so soulfully smooth, my goodness. I'm just thinking, it's such a good thing for the rest of the album that it carries itself as well as it does. I'm not sure if I'd say any of it is on exactly the same level as the title track, but let me say: if that's an 11/10, then everything else is an 8 or 9/10. They're really not that far off — especially that Bee Gees cover. A part of me was already inclined to love it, 'coz I do enjoy it whenever I see someone cover a Bee Gees song that didn't soundtrack John Travolta, and thankfully it lived up to my expectations beyond that. And "Judy" right after it? Like, wow, I just needa shout out those strings, I swear. A++ performances all around, my goodness. I'll admit, this is one of those albums where I wish I had more to say about it, but dang it, sometimes an album is just that simply good that you don't need too many words to describe it. This is classical soul, pure and simple, shared with any of the best by Otis Redding. I'll end a third paragraph in a row with this: my goodness. Unsurprisingly, I'm at a 5. My seventh in a row, even! Part of me feels like I've been too generous with those lately, and that I'm probably gonna look back on a few of these and figure I should've dropped a point at least (checking you, DESTROY ROCK & ROLL). This one, though? Nah, no chance. I'm gonna let this one stay, you can bet.

Not much to say from my end. It's simply some good ass soul, this album this. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

That is a smooth as silk 5. I only knew the title track going into this one – obviously, we’ve heard “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”, but I didn’t realize Al Green ever did a cover of it. Past those two tracks, the other 7 were all mysteries to me, and my hope going in was that they would all be good enough to come together coherently and make a really strong album. It succeeded and more – just banger after banger after banger throughout this one, in 34 minutes of the smoothest soul music I’ve ever heard. I’ve only ever really known Al Green for “Let’s Stay Together”, but the vocal range and delivery exceeded what I was expecting. I knew he had a damn good voice, but he was channeling guys like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder & Ray Charles without a hitch, while still sounding totally unique to all 3 of them. His voice is the instrument that really carries the emotional weight of this album, and the overall church-y vibe to the whole thing gives it an intimacy that’s hard to replicate. If I had to knock the album anywhere, it’s that a few songs do sort of stagnate, and his vocals alone, as good as they are, can’t always carry some of these tracks to the finish line without my ears noticing a bit of repetition or padding. With that said, when this album manages to find that pure state of zen, it is *perfectly* executed. “Old Time Lovin’” & “I've Never Found a Girl (Who Loves Me Like You Do)” are great tracks that do a great job of setting the tone leading up to it, but his version of “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” is the shining example that hits the real emotional climax of the album for me. When it gets to that point, and the emotions simply take over, with his instincts going into auto-pilot, it’s a harmony felt by both Al & the listener, and it’s one of those indescribable things that just can’t be captured in words. I loved it, plain & simple – it’s the type of soul music I’ve been waiting to get from the generator for a while, and I can only hope we get more stuff like this sooner than later. Just an extremely easy 5 for my tastes.

As smooth as it is infectious as it is energetic. This record is unbelievably good!

So good, easy listening. Love it.

Awesome

This album consists of the magnificent Let's Stay Together and 8 more songs that are good, but not as good as Let's Stay Together. I think it just about deserves a 5.

Me listening to this: mmmmmm mm mm

I accidentally listened to this twice in a row and I loved it

this was a childhood favourite of mine and as i grow older and more yearnfull it only hits harder and harder... How Can You Mend a Broken Heart is just an absolutely devastating song. it absolutely floors me in its beauty... its so elegant, so longing... you can tell this mf has seen some shit. this is some real loverboy music for sure

Every song is a treasure, loved it!

Its not surprising how much I loved this album and why it's on this list. Al Green and his music is near perfection.

Često si pustimo, vrhunski album, vrhunski lik ♥️ Jedan od onih albuma za koje poželim da duže traju, zanimljivo kako dužina ne znači kvalitetu wink wink. Nemam šta puno duljiti, čista petica! 5/5, 9.5/10

Awesome 👌

Smooth and easy listening album. Soft spoken and simply a beauty. Arrangements are extremly good and Al's voice is soothing. Short and well thought album that must be a pillar in every collection.

Got me wet

Man, I've had a string of such terrible albums... calling this a welcome reprieve is an understatement. Al Green can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

Smooth operator!

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh’m … sooo in lerve with youuuuu.

yes, let’s stay togetherrrrr

The reverend prevails. What an album. Absolutely excellent.

Warm liquid sunlight. I know that doesn’t make sense but it’s what it sounds like. An album so pure and golden that it seduced me into supporting this relationship with all my soul - no matter how dysfunctional it sounds.