EMI will re-release Al Green's first albums of the Seventies in expanded form February 11th, just in time for Valentine's Day. Each of the four -- Green Is Blues (1970), Gets Next to You (1971), Let's Stay Together (1972) and I'm Still in Love With You (1972) -- will be remastered and augmented with bonus tracks.
Released over a tight three-year span, the sets feature Green working closely with legendary soul producer Willie Mitchell on the songs that have become his signature hits, including "Tired of Being Alone," "Let's Stay Together" and "Love and Happiness." The bonus cuts see Green taking on covers like "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Ride, Sally Ride" and "Baby, What's Wrong With You."
The reissues will be preceded by the January 28th release of the seventeen-song Al Green: The Love Songs Collection, featuring such baby-making classics as "I'm Still In Love With You" and "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)."
Green has long been rumored to be making an album of new material (his last was 1995's Your Heart's in Good Hands), but the ordained minister is reluctant to revisit his amorous past. "I'd like to cut music for the people who grew up listening to me," Green told Rolling Stone. "The people who got married to 'Let's Stay Together.' I want to make music that means something. But I'm not making "Baby Baby Baby," that's for sure. Al can't fool Al -- I know why I wrote those old songs. I was a fornicator, an adulterer. The celestial will not mix with the terrestrial."
COLIN DEVENISH
(December 18, 2002)
