“Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
“Let’s Stay Together” is a song performed by African-American singer, songwriter, musician and pastor, Al Green.
This romantic soulful song is bound to be a definite hit in many couples’ playlist. It holds a simple meaning of wanting to stay with a loved one for the rest of their lives. No amount of bad or sad times is going to break them apart.
Al goes on to say that he’s going to be truthful to his partner for as long as they shall live together. This is also a promise that anyone in a relationship would not want to have their partner breaking.
What troubles him, though, is how people can break up only to make up when they get lonely or miss their exes. He shows some vulnerability in asking his significant other if she’d ever do such a thing to him. We can see that Al doesn’t want to get caught in an on-and-off relationship as he believes they can stay together throughout the “good or bad”.
Facts about “Let’s Stay Together”
“Let’s Stay Together” was officially released in November of 1971. Green released it as the only single from his album of the same name (“Let’s Stay Together”).
This song has been largely regarded as the signature song of the renowned singer’s career.
Al Green collaborated with Willie and Al Jackson Jr., an American composer (who was also a founding member of the group, Booker T. & the M.G.’s) in composing “Let’s Stay Together”.
The studio production of “Let’s Stay Together” has been credited to Green and Willie.
In the US, “Let’s Stay Together” spent a total of 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 1. It peaked at No. 7 and No. 14 in the United Kingdom and Canada respectively.
According to Billboard, “Let’s Stay Together” was the 11th best song of 1972. It attained Gold status in Italy and platinum in the US as well as the UK.
In 2010, the song was selected by the Library of Congress in the United States to be added to the National Recording Registry. Rolling Stone placed it at No. 60 on their “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list, published in 2004.
Covers
On November 7 of 1972, a remake of the song was released as a single from the album, “Private Dancer” by American singer Tina Turner. This version saw Tina collaborate with English band Heaven 17 for the second time.
Aside from Tina’s remake of the song, scores of artists hit the studios to produce their own versions. Notable among them include:
- Soul for Real (1996)
- Maroon 5 (2012)
- Boyz II Men (2004)
- Isaac Hayes (1972)
- Michael Bolton (1999)
- Craig David (2010)
The “Let’s Stay Together” Album
“Let’s Stay Together” was released on the last day of January in 1972 as Al Green’s 4th studio album.
Royal Recording Studios, located in Memphis, Tennessee, hosted the singer as he recorded the soul album.
The album’s production was handled by American music executive, trumpeter and record producer, Willie Mitchell. Prior to this album, Willie had produced two other albums for Al Green. The album was officially made available to the public through Hi Records, an American record label, where Willie served as vice president.
In 2003, American reissue company, The Right Stuff, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group released a reissue of the album.
“Let’s Stay Together” was a commercial success. It peaked at No. 8 in the US and ranked at enviable positions on several lists of top albums.
In 1998, the album was placed at No. 335 on the list, “Top 1000 album list” by Virgin Megastores. In the same year, Q magazine included it on their “Best Soul Albums of All Time” list. This album was included in a 1994 album poll for top 1000 albums by Guinness World Records.
