"Take Me to the River" | |
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Song by Al Green | |
from the album Al Green Explores Your Mind | |
Released | October 2, 1974 |
Recorded | 1974, Memphis, Tennessee |
Genre | |
Length | 3:45 |
Label | Hi |
Songwriter(s) | Al Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges |
Producer(s) | Willie Mitchell |
Official audio | |
"Take Me to the River" on YouTube |
"Take Me to the River" is a 1974 song written by singer Al Green and guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges. Hit versions were recorded by Syl Johnson, Talking Heads and Delbert McClinton. [2] In 2004, Green's original version was ranked number 117 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [3] Green's 1974 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. [4]
Al Green originally recorded the song for his 1974 album, Al Green Explores Your Mind , produced by Willie Mitchell and featuring musicians Charles, Leroy and Mabon Hodges (The Hodges Brothers), drummer Howard Grimes, and the Memphis Horns. [5] Green and Mabon Hodges wrote the song while staying in a rented house at Lake Hamilton, Arkansas, for three days in 1973 in order to come up with new material. [3] According to Mitchell, Green wrote the words and Green and Hodges wrote the tune together. [6] Green dedicated his performance on the record to "...Little Junior Parker, a cousin of mine, he's gone on but we'd like to kinda carry on in his name." [7] According to one writer, "Green's song squares the singer's early religious convictions with more earthly interests", but when the singer became a pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in 1976, he dropped the song from his repertoire. [8]
Writing in The Independent in 1994, Tim de Lisle wrote: "Musically, it was much like any other track sung by Green and produced by Willie Mitchell, the Southern-soul maestro who ran Hi Records, the Memphis Horns and the Memphis Strings: R'n'B with lashings of subtlety, a light, easy, late-night sound, in which the strings, the horns, the organ, the guitars and that wild-honey voice blend into a single swinging, winning thing. It doesn't sound like a band playing: it sounds like a lot of instruments humming." [6]
The song was released as a single in the U.S. in 1982, in the "Motown Yesteryear Series". [9]
Al Green also used the title Take Me to the River for his autobiography, published in 2000. [10]
In 2004, Green's original recording was ranked number 117 on Rolling Stone 's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. [3] The song was used as the title track of the award-winning 2008 compilation album Take Me to the River: A Southern Soul Story 1961–1977. [11] [12]
In 1999 the tune was used in the popular animatronic singing toy "Big Mouth Billy Bass". This recording sung by Steve Haas was arranged and produced for the toy's manufacturers, Gemmy Industries. [13] According to Teenie Hodges, he made more money in royalties from that version than from any previous versions. [14] [ failed verification ] [15] [ failed verification ]
The song played a prominent role in two episodes of the HBO series The Sopranos , by way of the Big Mouth Billy Bass. It was also used in the 1993 movie Blood In Blood Out and also featured in the 1991 film The Commitments , sung on stage by the group of the same name. [16]
The record company, Hi Records, did not release Green's track as a single, but instead passed the song to his labelmate, Syl Johnson. [2] Johnson's recording of the song, also produced by Willie Mitchell and featuring most of the same musicians as on Green's version, but with additional harmonica and a grittier vocal performance, [6] reached #48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1975, and #7 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart, [17] [18] but reached just #95 in Canada. [19]
"Take Me to the River" has also been notably recorded and performed by other artists:
"Take Me to the River" | ||||
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Single by Talking Heads | ||||
from the album More Songs About Buildings and Food | ||||
B-side | "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" | |||
Released | June 30, 1978 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:01 | |||
Label | Sire | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Talking Heads singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Take Me to the River" (2005 Remaster) on YouTube |
The band Talking Heads recorded the song for their second album More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978). [2] Their version, recorded with co-producer Brian Eno in Nassau, Bahamas, was initially resisted by Byrne who felt the band should not release a cover. Eventually convinced, Eno suggested that they play the song as slow as possible, before adding his own effects to it. [2] The song was edited and released as a single, and reached #26 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979, [6] [17] [31] as well as hitting the singles charts in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. [2] Thomas Ryan wrote of Talking Heads' version that it "broadsided the status quo by combining the best ingredients of conventional pop music and classic soul music, stirring them together, and then presenting the mix in the guise of punk rock." [32]
In the liner notes for Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads , singer David Byrne writes: "Coincidence or conspiracy? There were at least four cover versions of this song out at the same time: Foghat, Bryan Ferry, Levon Helm, and us. More money for Mr Green's full gospel tabernacle church, I suppose. A song that combines teenage lust with baptism. Not equates, you understand, but throws them in the same stew, at least. A potent blend. All praise the mighty spurtin' Jesus." Live versions were included on Talking Heads' albums The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads and Stop Making Sense . [6] [2] A live version was played at the end credits of the 1998 film A Civil Action .
The track was remastered when Warner Music Group re-released and remastered the album in 2005, on its Warner Bros., Sire and Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format. The DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.
Chart (1978–1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Singles Chart [33] | 58 |
Canadian Singles Chart [34] | 34 |
New Zealand Singles Chart [35] | 20 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [36] | 26 |
Albert Leornes Greene, known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including "Take Me to the River", "Tired of Being Alone", "I'm Still in Love with You", "Love and Happiness", and his signature song, "Let's Stay Together". After his girlfriend died by suicide, Green became an ordained pastor and turned to gospel music. He later returned to secular music.
Mabon Lewis "Teenie" Hodges was an American musician known for his work as a rhythm and lead guitarist and songwriter on many of Al Green's soul hits, and those of other artists such as Ann Peebles and Syl Johnson, on Hi Records in the 1970s. His credits as a songwriter include "Take Me to the River", "Love and Happiness", "L-O-V-E (Love)", and "Here I Am ".
The Hi Rhythm Section was the house band for hit soul albums by several artists, including Al Green and Ann Peebles, on Willie Mitchell's Hi Records label in the 1970s. The band included the three Hodges brothers, organist Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges and guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, together with pianist Archie Turner and drummer Howard Grimes. Many recordings also used The Memphis Horns - Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love - of Stax fame, usually with Willie's brother James Mitchell arranging and (Perry) Michael Allen - piano (Alt). The recordings were made at producer Willie Mitchell's Royal Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Let's Stay Together is the fourth studio album by soul singer Al Green. Released in 1972, as the follow-up to his moderate success, Al Green Gets Next to You, it was recorded at Royal Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. A commercial success, it peaked at number eight on the pop albums chart and became the first of six consecutive Green albums to peak at number one on the soul album chart, where it held the position for ten straight weeks.
The Greatest is the seventh studio album by Cat Power, the stage name and eponymous band of American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall. All tracks on the album were written by Marshall, making it her first album not to include any cover songs. The Memphis Rhythm Band includes Roy Brewer, Teenie Hodges, Steve Potts, Dave Smith, Rick Steff, Doug Easley, Jim Spake, Scott Thompson and Susan Marshall. String arrangements were contributed by Harlan T. Bobo and Jonathan Kirkscey.
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 ", 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 Is Love is the ninth album by soul singer Al Green. It was his final of six consecutive albums to hit number 1 on the R&B/Soul Albums chart, and it peaked into the Top 40 on the Pop Albums chart.
Full of Fire is the 10th studio album by soul singer Al Green, released in 1976.
Have a Good Time is the 11th studio album by soul singer Al Green, released in 1976.
I'll Rise Again is a gospel album by Al Green, released in 1983.
He Is the Light is an album by Al Green, released in 1985. It was Green's first album for A&M Records.
Stop Making Sense is a live album by the American rock band Talking Heads, also serving as the soundtrack to the concert film of the same name. It was released in September 1984 and features nine tracks from the film, albeit with treatment and editing. The album spent over two years on the Billboard 200 chart. It was their first album to be distributed by EMI outside North America.
Night Shift is the sixth studio album by the rock band Foghat. It was released in 1976 by Bearsville Records.
"Love and Happiness" is a song by Al Green from his album I'm Still in Love with You. Green co-wrote the song with Teenie Hodges. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom on London Records in 1973 and in the United States on Hi Records in 1977. It has been covered by Etta James, Al Jarreau, and many other performers.
"I Can't Stand the Rain" is a song originally recorded by Ann Peebles in 1973, and written by Peebles, Don Bryant, and Bernard "Bernie" Miller. Other notable versions were later recorded by Eruption, Graham Central Station, Tina Turner and Lowell George. The original version is ranked at 197 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Otis Lee Clay was an American R&B and soul singer, who started in gospel music. In 2013, Clay was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.
Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads is a compilation album by Talking Heads, released in 1992. The single disc version of Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, it was released outside of the US and UK in place of that album.
Hold On, I'm Comin' is the 1966 debut album by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966.
Call Me is the sixth album by soul singer Al Green. It is widely regarded as Green's masterpiece, and has been called one of the best soul albums ever made. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named it the 70th greatest album in any genre. Call Me was a Top 10 Billboard Pop Album, and the third #1 Soul Album. In 2003, the album was ranked number 289 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 290 in a 2012 revised list. Praised for his emotive singing style, Green here incorporates country influences, covering both Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. This album contained three top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "You Ought to Be with Me," "Here I Am " and "Call Me ."
"Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" is a 1973 song by Al Green, the second single released from his album Call Me. The song reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It was certified as a gold record by the Recording Industry Association of America.
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