Al Green | "Love and Happiness"
Aug 24, 2016 18:26:06 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2016 18:26:06 GMT -5
One of Al's best-known songs (from 1972's classic I'm Still In Love With You), despite not originally being released as a single.
This is a classic. Love it.
#98 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Also #28 on Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1970's:
This is a classic. Love it.
#98 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Also #28 on Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1970's:
There are few love songs more essential to soul music than Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” because it so naturally communicates the thrills of romance, the enviable bliss of knowing someone intimately. Originally released on Green’s 1972 platinum album I’m Still in Love With You, and overshadowed by its title track, “Love and Happiness” was later released as a single in 1977, presumably as an attempted patchwork fix for waning record sales. The song didn’t hit as big as other Green standard-bearers—chart-toppers like “Tired of Being Alone” or “Let’s Stay Together”—but it had an equally wide impact on American pop culture.
Composed with Teenie Hodges—the writer and guitarist behind several of Green’s hits—and produced by Hi Records soul maestro Willie Mitchell “Love and Happiness” builds a bridge between the two emotional states, examining their shared sway over the human spirit. Its very title presupposes that the two go hand-in-hand. The song’s beauty lies in its clarity, with lyrics as brilliantly simple as, “Happiness is when you really feel good about somebody” conveying the harmony in human coupling. But the real magic is in that voice, a velvety, comforting timbre that glides into the upper octaves without even the slightest strain. Its powerful sorcery has been used in films countless times to help sell fairytale romance, that moment when soulmates find each other and you’re sure it’s The Real Thing. –Sheldon Pearce
Composed with Teenie Hodges—the writer and guitarist behind several of Green’s hits—and produced by Hi Records soul maestro Willie Mitchell “Love and Happiness” builds a bridge between the two emotional states, examining their shared sway over the human spirit. Its very title presupposes that the two go hand-in-hand. The song’s beauty lies in its clarity, with lyrics as brilliantly simple as, “Happiness is when you really feel good about somebody” conveying the harmony in human coupling. But the real magic is in that voice, a velvety, comforting timbre that glides into the upper octaves without even the slightest strain. Its powerful sorcery has been used in films countless times to help sell fairytale romance, that moment when soulmates find each other and you’re sure it’s The Real Thing. –Sheldon Pearce
