« Back to Top Level | Al Green

Al Green - Al Green Gets Next To You (1971)

Track listing:
  1. I Can't Get Next To You 3:45
  2. Are You Lonley For Me Baby 3:54
  3. God Is Standing By 3:10
  4. Tired Of Being Alone 2:47
  5. I'm A Ram 3:43
  6. Driving Wheel 2:56
  7. Light My Fire 3:50
  8. You Say It 2:47
  9. Right Now, Right Now 2:48
  10. All Because 2:41
  11. Ride, Sally Ride 3:51
  12. True Love 2:40
  13. I'll Be Standing By 3:12

Notes

After the shaky start of Green Is Blues, Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell established their classic sound with Green's second album, Gets Next to You. The main difference is in the rhythm section. Abandoning the gritty syncopations of deep Southern soul, the Hi Rhythm Section plays it slow and seductive, working a sultry, steady pulse that Green exploits with his remarkable voice. Alternating between Sam Cooke's croon and Otis Redding's shout, Green develops his own distinctive style, and Gets Next to You only touches the surface of its depth. Although the album is filled with wonderful moments, few are as astonishing as Green and Mitchell's reinterpretation of the Temptations' "I Can't Get Next to You," which turns the original inside out.