Love Ritual

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Album Information

Total Tracks: 11   Total Length: 50:34

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Michelangelo Matos

eMusic Contributor

07.12.10
Who wouldn't want to bask in these leftovers?
Label: Hi Records / Fat Possum

Before there were box sets, there were rarities discs, and as CDs took hold in the late '80s, label vaults began to be scoured for extras that might enhance sales of reissued titles. And of course, there was the never-to-be-underestimated offer of extra money for little extra work, as well; labels could capitalize on artists no longer in their employ, and fans could be sated yet again.

Lots of times, this stuff appeals only to the diehard. But Al Green dominated his corner of '70s R&B as surely as anyone from Philadelphia International to P-Funk. He carried the flame for southern soul as a unique style with broad outreach and contours anyone could access. He was also the sexiest singer who ever lived. Every album Green made between 1970 and 1975 is a classic. Chances were always good that his outtakes might have something going for them.

In 1989, MCA issued Love Ritual: Rare and Previously Unreleased 1968-1976. The opening track wasn't a new discovery: "Love Ritual" had led off side two of 1975's Al Green Is Love. There were congas and Green's delivery was pitched nicely against a dramatic string arrangement. The version on this collection didn't have strings —… read more »

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If you love Al Green

bigsteveno

Get this. Get the regular albums first, but these outtakes are brilliant. The stripped down version of the title cut alone is worth the price of the album.

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They Say All Music Guide

As a pop/R&B singer throughout the ’70s, Green always produced intriguing and challenging work with producer Willie Mitchell. But by late 1974, Green’s work seemed to get a little more eccentric, and he often had to contend with the breakdown of the Memphis sound as well as his own changing persona. This album complies many of the odds and ends from his final four ’70s albums with Mitchell. In many respects the final three albums, Al Green Is Love, Full of Fire, and Have a Good Time took great pains at attaining a sense of normalcy. Love Ritual doesn’t seem to care and offers more truthful look at some of Green’s edgier, left-of-center work. The hypnotic title track with its sharp rhythm and often incoherent lyrics is made even more striking and emotional due to the string arrangement. The harder edged “I Gotta Be More (Take Me Higher)” and “Let It Shine” sounded better here than they did on their original albums. During this time frame, Green’s voice remained intact even when his confidence and attention span seemed to waver. More often than not, he was tiring of conventional love songs. “Glory, Glory” on the surface seems like a love song but upon closer inspection it vacillates from romance to religion in a manner that only Green could pull off. Love Ritual was released after Hi Records switched distribution from London to Cream. Although the motives for this release still remain unclear, Love Ritual does offer a good array of Green’s hits, grazes, and misses. – Jason Elias

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