CoronaVinyl Day 327 (G): Greatest Hits by Al Green

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "G," and my selection was soul legend Al Green's 1975 Greatest Hits album with its iconic cover featuring a shirtless Green beckoning you.  Yes, you.  He was tired of being alone, after all.

If there's any Al Green album you have, it's probably this one.  I know it was certainly the first Al Green album I owned.  What immediately jumped out at me when I put it on the turntable today was that the track listing on the CD version that I have is different than what's on the vinyl version.  Some quick research cleared everything up.  The original vinyl version of the album had 10 songs.  The last track on the first side of the original album was a cover of The Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart."  That was later replaced by "Love and Happiness," which is probably my favorite Al Green song.  And then in 1995, when the CD version of the album was released, it was expanded to 15 songs and included several of Green's hits that were released after the original album was released.  That's the version I'm used to.

Anyway, it's considered one of the all-time classic greatest hits albums across any genre.  It went to #17 on the Billboard album chart and #3 on the Billboard R&B album chart.  In Rolling Stone's initial list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time in 2003, it came in at an impressive #52, and it was ranked the same on the second edition of the list in 2012.  On the 2020 "woke" version of the list, it dropped to #456, which seems drastic, but perhaps a reflection of the fact that the voters featured a lot more younger artists who are less likely to know and appreciate Al Green.

The album features some of Green's biggest hits and most beloved songs, like "Let's Stay Together," "Tired of Being Alone," I'm Still in Love With You," "You Ought to Be with Me," "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," "Look What You Done For Me," and "Call Me (Come Back Home)."

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)"
I have always like the pace of this song and the beat.  That downbeat smack by Howard Grimes is complemented by Charles Hodges's subtle organ and, of course, the horns and Green's silky voice.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "I Can't Get Next to You"
Released in 1971, Green's version of The Temptations' #1 song from 1969 slowed things down and gave it a Memphis soul treatment, making the song more sultry and soulful.