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Track Listings
| 1. Lay It Down |
| 2. Just For Me |
| 3. You've Got the Love I Need |
| 4. No One Like You |
| 5. What More Do You Want From Me |
| 6. Take Your Time |
| 7. Too Much |
| 8. Stay With Me (By the Sea) |
| 9. All I Need |
| 10. I'm Wild About You |
| 11. Standing In the Rain |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk review
Few performers have ever been so inimitable as the Reverend Al Green, so it's no surprise that the starry young collaborators who join him on the superb Lay It Down simply let the man sing in the way he knows best, and make their own contributions fit around his. Despite the presence of such luminaries as John Legend, Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae and the support of co-producers James Poyser and the Roots' Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson, this is very much Green's show. But although the smart production attempts to update his classic sound, Lay It Down recognises and preserves its enduring strengths. ?uestlove's brilliant drumming perfectly recaptures the languid snap the late Al Jackson Jr. brought to Green's legendary seventies hits, Larry Gold's string arrangements are measured and minimal while crack guitarist Chalmers 'Spanky' Alford, on one of his last sessions, demonstrates precisely how to balance rhythm and detail (The album is dedicated to his memory). Songs like the elegant title track, where Green out-emotes the decades-younger Hamilton, "Take Your Time", a lovely deep soul duet with Bailey Rae, and the quietly propulsive closer "Standing In The Rain" are naggingly timeless, though there really isn’t a weak track on this excellent record. Lay It Down is a gift from one generation to the man that inspired them.--Steve Jelbert
Product Description
1-Lay It Down 2-Just For Me 3-You've Got The Love I Need 4-No One Like You 5-What More Do You Want From Me 6-Take Your Time 7-Too Much 8-Stay With Me (By The Sea) 9-All I Need 10-I'm Wild About You 11-Staning In The Rain (2008 'Blue Note') (44:40/11) Wunderschönes Comeback-Album des Sängers mit der weichen, schmelzigen Stimme
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Since the first time I heard Al Green (on "Tired of Being Alone", around 1970) I have regarded him as the paramount Soul man, His partnership with Willie Mitchell in the 70's produced some of the most consistent and superb music of that or any other era, and which came to define Soul for many. Soul went out of fashion around the time Al "retired" to his Memphis church, and he has struggled to reach anything approaching those dizzy heights since his return to secular music.
He is not alone in that. Nor is it unique to hitch up with current star names. There have been many attempts by 60's and 70's artists to recreate their success, and the fact that only a few have pulled it off tells you that it takes more than an up to date who's who. What it does take is that those involved have respect - for both the artist and for the work he did, and the ability to draw on that, bring it up to date and avoid cliche. They have managed it on "Lay It Down".
Here they provide what Al Green had in the 70's - a framework where his vocal can run in and out as he pleases, where he can swoop and soar and ad lib as the mood takes him and where his voice is, at times, just another instrument. As for individual tracks, the title track has a beautiful chorus across which Al whoops and wails and "Just For Me" could have lifted the rhythm track from "Let's Stay Together" (but it didn't).
Anyway, you get the picture - this is a real Soul album, from the master of the genre, which stands comparison with Al Green's classic 70's albums - yes it is that good. All of those involved on "Lay It Down" deserve enormous credit for creating a truly superb album - if you love Soul, what are you waiting for, just buy it
He is not alone in that. Nor is it unique to hitch up with current star names. There have been many attempts by 60's and 70's artists to recreate their success, and the fact that only a few have pulled it off tells you that it takes more than an up to date who's who. What it does take is that those involved have respect - for both the artist and for the work he did, and the ability to draw on that, bring it up to date and avoid cliche. They have managed it on "Lay It Down".
Here they provide what Al Green had in the 70's - a framework where his vocal can run in and out as he pleases, where he can swoop and soar and ad lib as the mood takes him and where his voice is, at times, just another instrument. As for individual tracks, the title track has a beautiful chorus across which Al whoops and wails and "Just For Me" could have lifted the rhythm track from "Let's Stay Together" (but it didn't).
Anyway, you get the picture - this is a real Soul album, from the master of the genre, which stands comparison with Al Green's classic 70's albums - yes it is that good. All of those involved on "Lay It Down" deserve enormous credit for creating a truly superb album - if you love Soul, what are you waiting for, just buy it
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Known for classic soul songs soul music such as `I'm So Tired Of Being Alone' and `Let's Stay Together' amongst many, Al Green returns in 2008 with a new album, Lay It Down.
11 songs that sound they were released in 1972, yet have a 2008 sound. Also featured on this CD is Corrine Bailey Rae, Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and the impressive horn section, the Daptones, members of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.
The opening track the ballad `Lay It Down' with Anthony Hamilton has all the standard Al Green trademark sound with Hamilton providing background vocals, the rest of the album follows this classic pattern with the tracks like `Too Much', `Stay With Me' which features John Legend. Green gets funky on the up-tempo tracks `You've Got The Love I Need', `I'm Wild About You' and `Standing In The Rain'. `Take Your Time' is a fine ballad with Corrine Bailey Rae as an excellent partner for Green.
Credit to the producers of this album James Poyser, Ahmir Thompson of the hip-hop band The Roots who along with Green decide to make this CD reflect Al Green's classic sound for which he is renowned. This is an excellent album.
Lay It Down
11 songs that sound they were released in 1972, yet have a 2008 sound. Also featured on this CD is Corrine Bailey Rae, Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and the impressive horn section, the Daptones, members of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.
The opening track the ballad `Lay It Down' with Anthony Hamilton has all the standard Al Green trademark sound with Hamilton providing background vocals, the rest of the album follows this classic pattern with the tracks like `Too Much', `Stay With Me' which features John Legend. Green gets funky on the up-tempo tracks `You've Got The Love I Need', `I'm Wild About You' and `Standing In The Rain'. `Take Your Time' is a fine ballad with Corrine Bailey Rae as an excellent partner for Green.
Credit to the producers of this album James Poyser, Ahmir Thompson of the hip-hop band The Roots who along with Green decide to make this CD reflect Al Green's classic sound for which he is renowned. This is an excellent album.
Lay It Down
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Only artists as great as Al Green can make a deliberate move back to their "sound" after 30 years and make it fresh and a joy to listen to.
This album is a delight and recaptures the mood of his great days and even without the guest appearances by todays sweet soul stars Corrine Bailey Rae, John Legend and Andrew Hamilton this is a memorable album that will bring great pleasure to those who fell in love with - and to - Al Greens distinctive songs of love in days gone by.
The guest slots are excellent and if they bring new fans to the music of one of the great stars of Soul music then more of the younger generation will appreciate how far much of todays "soul" and "r'n'b" has strayed from its roots and rarely for the better.
This album is a delight and recaptures the mood of his great days and even without the guest appearances by todays sweet soul stars Corrine Bailey Rae, John Legend and Andrew Hamilton this is a memorable album that will bring great pleasure to those who fell in love with - and to - Al Greens distinctive songs of love in days gone by.
The guest slots are excellent and if they bring new fans to the music of one of the great stars of Soul music then more of the younger generation will appreciate how far much of todays "soul" and "r'n'b" has strayed from its roots and rarely for the better.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the best albums of 2008
I bought this album a couple weeks ago but i've listened it before and i must say that it's one of my all time favourite albums. Read more
Published 4 months ago by rjpinto
A welcome, surprising return to form
It's something of a rarity in the music industry when a musician who's golden era has long passed manages to release an album of anything other than middling quality but the... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by Simon Bourke
Back again
Al is back...This is what he does best and he is back to his all time best.
Published on 23 May 2009 by E. Patterson
Legend
Iv been a fan of al for many years now and once again he delivers a brillient album,im also a fan of hiphop and so was very pleased to see the production handled by ? Read more
Published on 14 May 2009 by CRAZE
His best work in years!
I have bought AG albums in recent years and while I haven't exactly been disappointed, as they have all had their good moments and Al is a solid performer, they have failed to... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2008 by Mr. K. Moody
More good work from Al Green
An improvement over "I Can't Stop" and "Everything's OK". Excellent collaborations. Still not quite as good as his work in the 1970s (is Al Green the top male soul singer ever... Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2008 by vast leviathon
Al Green Is Love Again (Lay It Down)
"Al Green Is Love" was one of his classic excellent albums released around 1975. However I think he has done it again, this time with "Lay It Down". Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2008 by brentalexis
Very similar to the singer's classic 70's releases
As has been mentioned by others, "Lay it Down" is Al Green's latest effort to replicate the sound that kept him a mainstay on radio during the early 70's. Read more
Published on 6 July 2008 by Reginald D. Garrard
Al + young guns = marriage made in soul heaven!
This is superb . It starts brilliantly and ,incredibly, the quality never dips afterwards . If you like old-school soul , you're gonna love this . Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2008 by Uncle Cobbly
Fantastic
Not often do I write reviews either.. Always seems a bit pointless really.. I mean when do people usually feel compelled to write a review when they feel indifferent about a... Read more
Published on 30 May 2008 by Ziggywatters
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