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- Date Released: December 1, 1973
- Genre: Hip-Hop/R&B
- Style: Soul, R&B
- Label: Hi Records / Fat Possum
Al Green at the top of his game — and that's really saying something
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We Say...
Al Green's first four '70s albums — from Gets Next to You to Call Me, spanning 1970-73 — constitute soul music's greatest courtship soundtrack. Livin' for You, released in December 1973, is where the singer gets domestic. You can tell that much by glancing at the song titles: "Livin' for You," "Home Again," "Let's Get Married," "So Good to Be Here," and that old devotional warhorse, "Unchained Melody." If Call Me was a long dark night of the soul, however honeyed its tone, this is the flip side. The groove is less edgy than on the prior albums, which fits the material: "Home Again" and "So Good to Be Here" and even "My God Is Real" — Al had begun to feature Jesus-oriented material on his albums well before becoming a reverend — all sound like a comfortable evening on the sofa with the one you want not just to sleep with, but to fall asleep next to, preferably for the rest of your life.
But if Livin' for You is Green at his most settled, he is also flightier here than he'd ever been before. Green had proven himself a master of the cover, but "Unchained Melody" is a masterstroke: strings set the scene while the Hi Rhythm Section slows the beat to a crawl and Al teases each syllable out with such shameless cunning that the song practically weeps for mercy. It's totally audacious, but it's nothing compared to the closer, "Beware," a loose vamp that builds to a boil and then back down over its eight-plus minutes. At the end, Al Green is laughing, and we know why: he's at the top of his game, and it all seems to come so easily. -
They Say...
Starting in 1971 with Al Green Gets Next to You, Al Green albums became necessities. Livin' for You is Green's sixth album, and the fourth to be certified gold. (Its predecessor, the classic Call Me, was still on the charts when this was released.) Each of Green's albums with Willie Mitchell are singular, with their own distinct style, and Livin' for You is no exception. It takes a more relaxed approach and offers some of his best ballads; the title track is Green at his most engaging, even when he sang potentially mood-interrupting lines like "I'm tired of your bright ideas about leaving me." "Home Again" and "So Good to Be Here" are romantic if not hypnotic, offering subtle drumming, economical keyboards, and gentle vocals. The biggest track here, the proficient and smooth "Let's Get Married," has Green being a little wishy-washy as he sings, "I didn't mean to say all the things I said/The way I felt in my heart it came out that way." Although the originals here rank with his best, Green also did good cover work too. The often useless "Unchained Melody" shows up and benefits from Green's methodical delivery. In many ways, Livin' for You is the perfect, intimate album for his fans.
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| 01. |  |
Livin' For You |
3:12 |
|
| 02. | |
Home Again |
3:57 |
|
| 03. | |
Free at Last |
3:28 |
|
| 04. | |
Let's Get Married |
5:34 |
|
| 05. | |
So Good to Be Here |
2:42 |
|
| 06. | |
Sweet Sixteen |
3:28 |
|
| 07. | |
Unchained Melody |
5:35 |
|
| 08. | |
My God Is Real |
2:45 |
|
| 09. | |
Beware |
8:13 |
|
09 Total Tracks, 38:54 Total Length
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Credits
- Al Green - Vocals // Al Green - Producer // Al Green - Main Performer // Willie Mitchell - Producer // Willie Mitchell - Engineer // James Brown - Piano // Charles Chalmers - Arranger // Charles Chalmers - Vocals (Background) // Charles Chalmers - String Arrangements // Sandra Chalmers - Vocals (Background) // Jim Cummings - Photography // Colin Escott - Liner Notes // Margaret Goldfarb - ? // Margaret Goldfarb - Reissue Production Assistance // Howard Grimes - Bongos // Howard Grimes - Conga // Howard Grimes - Drums // Jack Hale - Trombone // Jack Hale - Trumpet // Charles Hodges - Organ // Charles Hodges - Piano // Leroy Hodges - Bass // Mabon "Teenie" Hodges - Guitar // Wayne Jackson - Trumpet // Kathy Kinslow - ? // Kathy Kinslow - Reissue Production Assistance // Charles Levan - ? // Charles Levan - Reissue Production Assistance // Ed Logan - Sax (Tenor) // Frank Lopez - ? // Frank Lopez - Reissue Production Assistance // Andrew Love - Sax (Tenor) // The Memphis Strings - Strings // The Memphis Strings - String Section // James Mitchell - Arranger // James Mitchell - Sax (Baritone) // Bob Norberg - Reissue Mastering // Cheryl Pawelski - ? // Cheryl Pawelski - Reissue Production Assistance // Alan Robinson - Liner Notes // Archie Turner - Piano // James K. Brown - Piano // Tom Cartwright - Executive Producer // Al Jackson, Jr. - Drums // Teenie Hodges - Guitar // Malia Kleppinger - Reissue Production Assistance // Jim Cummins - Photography // Tom Daly - Artwork // Tom Daly - Illustrations // Vince Biondi - Art Direction // Howard Craft - Mastering // Howard Croft - Mastering // Dawn Van Patten - ? // Dawn Van Patten - Reissue Clearance // Chris Clough - Reissue Mastering // Michael Allen - Piano // Phill Brown - Reissue Mastering // Michael J. Allen - Piano // Ali Muhammed Jackson - Drums // James H. Brown - Piano // Charles E. Jr. Hodges - Organ // Charles E. Jr. Hodges - Piano // Alex Jackson - Drums // James J. Mitchell - Sax (Baritone) // James J. Mitchell - String Arrangements
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