Let's Stay Together (Al Green album)


Let's Stay Together is a 1972 album by the soul singer Al Green, and is the follow-up to his moderate success Al Green Gets Next to You. It was recorded at Royal Recording Studio, 1320 S. Lauderdale, in Memphis and was a success, peaking at number eight on the pop albums chart and became the first of six albums to peak at number-one on the soul album chart. It is best known for the title track "Let's Stay Together", which became Green's signature song and his only number-one pop hit single. The album was the third produced by Willie Mitchell and marked the beginning of Green's classic period of critically acclaimed albums. Let's Stay Together was reissued in 2003 by The Right Stuff.

Critical reaction

The album's appeal was widespread among critics. At the time, Rolling Stone noted "Green's voice is something to marvel at. He can croon, shout, scat, rise to the smoothest falsetto, and throw in the funkiest growls...Let's Stay Together is, like its predecessor, an indispensable treat." In 1999, Q magazine wrote that the album "shows him as the authentic voice of love's pain and purity on such wonders as 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?'" and that "is cover of the Bee Gees' took the soul ballad to new levels of artistry and refinement."

List rankings

All songs written by Al Green, except where noted

Side one

  1. "Let's Stay Together" – 3:18
  2. "La-La for You" – 3:31
  3. "So You're Leaving" – 2:57
  4. "What Is This Feeling?" – 3:42
  5. "Old Time Lovin'" – 3:19

    Side two

  6. "I've Never Found a Girl " – 3:41
  7. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" – 6:22
  8. "Judy" – 3:47
  9. "It Ain't No Fun to Me" – 3:23

    Reissue tracks

Bonus tracks on 2003 reissue

Rhythm section