Al Green Explores Your Mind is the eighth album by soul singer Al Green. Unlike previous Al Green albums, this album featured only one major hit, the U.S. No. 7 hit "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)", but did contain the original version of "Take Me to the River", a song which went to No. 26 on the Billboard chart when covered by Talking Heads in 1978. In 2004, the song "Take Me to the River" was ranked number 117 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
| Al Green Explores Your Mind | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Studio | Royal Studios, Memphis, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 30:26 | |||
| Label | Hi | |||
| Producer | Willie Mitchell, Al Green | |||
| Al Green chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| Tom Hull | A−[5] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
The album was his fifth consecutive album to claim No. 1 on the Soul Albums chart, and peaked at No. 15 on the Pop Albums chart.
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by Al Green; except where indicated
- Side one
- "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" – 3:01
- "Take Me to the River" (Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges) – 3:45
- "God Blessed Our Love" (Green, Willie Mitchell, Earl Randle) – 3:57
- "The City" (Green, Charles Hodges) – 3:25
- "One Nite Stand" – 2:26
- Side two
- "I'm Hooked on You" (Green, Mitchell) – 3:22
- "Stay with Me Forever" (Green, Anne Sanders) – 3:15
- "Hangin' On" (Green, Michael Allen) – 4:21
- "School Days" – 3:14
Personnel
edit- Al Green – vocals
- Mabon "Teenie" Hodges – guitar
- Leroy Hodges – bass guitar
- Charles Hodges – Hammond organ, piano
- Howard Grimes – drums, congas
- Archie Turner, Michael Allen – piano
- Charles Chalmers, Donna Rhodes, Sandra Rhodes – backing vocals
- Andrew Love, Ed Logan – tenor saxophone
- James Mitchell – baritone saxophone, string arrangements
- Wayne Jackson – trumpet
- Jack Hale, Sr. – trombone
- The Memphis Strings - strings
- Technical
- Glenn Ross, Richard Kriegler - art direction, design
- Bob Levy, Buddy Rosenberg - photography
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Al Green Explores Your Mind at AllMusic
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: G". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ "Al Green Explores Your Mind - Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Hull, Tom (May 2005). "Recycled Goods (19)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.