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┌────────┐ ██▀▀
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Al Green
Title | I Can't Stop
Genre | Soul Format | Album
Source | CD Time | 53:25
Label | Blue Note Store | 2003
Catalog | 7243 5 93556 2 7 Rip | 2020
Bitrate | 942 kbps Size | 377.05 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. I Can't Stop 3:48
02. Play To Win 4:39
03. Rainin' In My Heart 4:46
04. I've Been Waitin' On You 3:44
05. You 4:30
06. Not Tonight 4:27
07. A Million To One 4:53
08. My Problem Is You 6:30
09. I'd Still Choose You 4:07
10. I've Been Thinkin' Bout You 4:06
11. I'd Write A Letter 3:54
12. Too Many 4:01
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Al Green was the first great soul singer of the '70s and arguably
the last great Southern soul singer. With his seductive singles for
Hi Records in the early '70s, Green bridged the gap between deep
soul and smooth Philadelphia soul. He incorporated elements of
gospel, interjecting his performances with wild moans and wails, but
his records were stylish, boasting immaculate productions that
rolled along with a tight beat, sexy backing vocals, and lush
strings. The distinctive Hi Records sound that the vocalist and
producer Willie Mitchell developed made Al Green the most popular
and influential soul singer of the early '70s, influencing not only
his contemporaries, but also veterans like Marvin Gaye.
Thomas Wolfe may have said you can't go home again, but he was
wrong. People go home again all the time. Usually when they do they
find that it just isn't the same. When musicians attempt to go back
home, it usually turns out to be a pale imitation at best and a
disaster at worst. On his 2003 album, I Can't Stop, Al Green
attempts to go back home. The album was recorded at the Hi studios
with old cohort Willie Mitchell behind the boards and helping write
the songs, with members of the Hi session crew providing the music
(right down to the same female backup singers).
I Can't Stop is certainly no disaster; it is a well-made, funky, fun
record that proves two things -- the Hi sound lives and Al Green
still has it ("it" being all the things that made him so great in
the '70s, things like charisma, style, and that amazing voice). He
whoops and hollers his way through I Can't Stop like a man
committed, fully alive, and excited by the chance to get old-school
funky. That joy translates to the listener; it is hard to stop
smiling and bopping along as the album plays. When Green lets loose
with his trademark falsetto burst, it's like the last 30 years never
happened.
As for the sound of the record, it is awesome to hear the Hi sound
as played by the real-deal guys who built it in the first place.
Expecting the record to sound exactly like a Hi record from the
early '70s is unrealistic and the recording process reflects the
technology of the age with a clean, well-separated sound. The drums
are far too loud and processed, with the cymbals too high in the
mix. Still, the combination of Green's voice and the replica Hi
sound will raise goosebumps, but not throughout the whole record as
some of the songs are kind of weak ("Play to Win" is a standard
modern blues shuffle and "My Problem Is You" is a pretty corny
Vegas-styled big-band ballad).
When the songs are strong, like the thrilling album opener "I Can't
Stop," the funky "You," the hard-rocking "I've Been Thinkin' Bout
You," the almost perfect "Million to One," and the weepy ballad "Not
Tonight" (which comes complete with classic Hi organ swoops), this
record is as good as could be hoped for. Green has brought it all
back home with style, class, and - most of all - total commitment.
For that Willie Mitchell deserves a world of credit. He and Green
make a perfect team; listeners can only hope they stay together.
┌────────┐
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└────────┘