Let's Stay Together | ||||
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Studio album by Al Green | ||||
Released | January 31, 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1971 Royal Recording Studios (Memphis, Tennessee) |
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Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 33:53 | |||
Label | Hi (SH-32070) | |||
Producer | Willie Mitchell | |||
Al Green chronology | ||||
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Singles from Let's Stay Together |
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Blender | |
Robert Christgau | A- |
Pitchfork Media | (8.7/10) |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) & |
Let's Stay Together is a 1972 album by soul singer Al Green, and is the follow-up to his moderate success Al Green Gets Next to You. It was recorded at Royal Recording Studio, 1320 S. Lauderdale, in Memphis and was a success, peaking at number eight on the pop albums chart and became the first of six albums to peak at number-one on the soul album chart (where it claimed the position for ten weeks). It is most well known for the title track, which became Green's signature song and only number-one pop hit single. The album was the third produced by Willie Mitchell and marked the beginning of Green's classic period of critically acclaimed albums. Let's Stay Together was reissued in 2003 by The Right Stuff.
The album's appeal was widespread among critics. At the time, Rolling Stone noted "Green's voice is something to marvel at. He can croon, shout, scat, rise to the smoothest falsetto, and throw in the funkiest growls...Let's Stay Together is, like its predecessor, an indispensable treat." In 1999, Q magazine wrote that the album "shows him as the authentic voice of love's pain and purity on such wonders as 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?'" and that "[H]is cover of the Bee Gees' [song] took the soul ballad to new levels of artistry and refinement."
All songs written by Al Green, except where noted
Bonus tracks featured on 2003 reissue