Al Green - musicforasong

Has anyone else picked up the Al Green Anthology box set as a cutout from musicforasong?

I received mine today. Haven't played it yet but it looks great.

The service at musicforasong is excellent. They replied promptly to all my emails and even kept items on hold for me for a week while I activated a paypal account.


I have a question about LETS STAY TOGETHER. I have several CD versions of it. All except one run for approx 3.15. I believe this is the original single and album version length.

However I also have an old CD compilation called Hi Life issued in the late 80s (english import I think) which has an extended version. Just over 4 minutes. Same recording, but it just continues on longer, or possibly an extended instrumental break in the middle.

Does anyone know where this came from.....and why on earth haven't they put it on the box set?

 

Thanks Steve

Is there such a thing as too much Al Green?!

 

Never enough,The DCC gold is a true gem. Al never sounded better!

 

I have the LP of Al Green's GH, but not the gold disk. I also have the LPs of Doobie Bros., Van Halen, the two Jethro Tulls, LA Woman, Strange Days and a startling number of others.

These LPs sound great, but it is hard to listen to them in the car. I don't have an M Audio Delta 1010 Digital Audio Card in my computer to create good CDs with.


Steve, will any of those gold disks be re-issued once the company is flush with cash? I am gonna guess with CDs, you can use the original glass masters and there will be no need to make a new digital master. If that last guess is not correct, please let me know.

 

I just ordered a copy of it, that's great to know. It seems like just about every compilation that has "Let's Stay Together" including most copies of the Hi LP have the single edit. Then I found the long version on a Collectibles 45 reissue and burned it on CD. I've always loved the long version of that song and I'm looking forward to hearing it the way it was intended.

 

No, you don't need a soundcard at all to copy a CD on a computer! Copy the things and enjoy them in the car, for Pete's sake!

 

Grant,

I think he meant copying from analog. Can it be done without the souncard as well?

 

No but a good soundcard isn´t terribly expensive. Check out the Terratec EWX 24/96. It is one of the best soundcards around and works well for me. Should be around 150$. It also has optical SPDIF in- and outputs; I am going to transfer some DATs to my computer with this.
If you wanted even more, you would need a good external AD/DA section and connect it to the computer digitally.

http://www.terratec.com

 

Why do you call it a single edit? It's the same length as the one on the original Lets Stay Together album, isn't it?

That's the reason for my original question. Does anyone know the origin of the longer version?

 

I received my copy yesterday in the mail and it is great . I had bought the commercial release two years ago and found that it adds some extra harshness that just isn't needed

Frankly it made the music unlistenable and I rarely played the disc

LETS STAY TOGETHER isn’t the only track that is longer. I have already given my old copy away so I can not say which ones, but I compared the two discs before I gave it away and noticed that a few tracks were longer. I also notice that the two individuals that mastered the commercial release were thanked by Steve in the DCC booklet. Not really sure what for

 

I've now had the opportunity to listen to the Anthology 4CD box on the home system. Mastered by Dan Hersch, tape research/supervision Bill Inglot.

Granted I haven't heard Steve's disc, but the sound on the box is excellent. Big improvement on the mid 90's single disc Right Stuff reissues.

The bass is beautifully extended but tight.

Sure, quality is always more important than quantity, but for the same price as a DCC disc you can get this great box from musicforasong.

 

I would like to have a good reasonably priced A/D converter or sound card to make CDs from LP transfers for car listening. I would like to make CDs with some control over SCMS. I am not looking to bootleg. I want to create good CD transfers, but not be limited to having to store the data on a hard drive to make good copies. Most programs I know stick SCMS onto the disks and thus limit the number of copies to one.

Using the recordable CD players to make transfers doesn't work well for me. I am not impressed with the results.

A few music people I know like the M Audio Delta 1010 to make digital transfers, but it is pricey ca. $1000.00.

 

Peter, the long version of "Let's Stay Together" is 4:50 and I believe was on the original pressings of the "Let's Stay Together" album. When the single was released they simply faded it much earlier. The most commonly heard version clocks in at 3:15. Repressings of the album including the CD reissue use the single version.

 

I just want to add an enthusiastic vote of support for the Al Green box set. It is well put together, sounds great, and has some unreleased/rare stuff that you wouldn't want to be without. I love the lengthy "We've Only Just Begun/Let's Stay Together" live medley, as well as the version of "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?". It really is a first class package and while I am biased as a huge fan, I can't see stopping with just a single disc greatest hits.

In my world, the only vocalists who could touch the natural gifts that Al Green has were Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, and Al might get my nod on many days of the week.

 

Thanks Jeff. I didn't know that. Why on earth would they reissue the album in an incomplete form? Strange!


TO CM WOLFF:
If we were to add a white voice to that list I'd add Van. How about you?

 

Peter - I wholeheartedly agree. He has soul to burn, just like Sam and Marvin and Al and Otis and Wilson. Thirty-five years ago, Van started out imitating the original soul and blues men, but he definitely transcended that. Just off the top of my head, I can't think of a better and/or more soulful white singer than Van.

 

Speaking of Wilson, lets add the other Wilson........Jackie. Maybe not strictly a "soul" singer except in his later years, but a singer with soul to burn nonetheless. For that matter, we'll have to add Ray as well.

 

FWIW, the 1982 edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide notes that the 1975 Greatest Hits LP has "a small but delightful bonus: two extra minutes of Let's Stay Together." This would suggest that the version of the song on the "Let's Stay Together" LP was actually the short version and that the long version didn't come out until a few years later. But I'm just guessing...

 

YES! I knew I read that somewhere!

So in summary the longer version is only on Greatest Hits and presumably the occasional compilation like the one I have "Hi Life".

Then again the Rolling Stone Record Guide isn't infallible!

 

That's interesting, considering that both the Motown and Right Stuff label versions of Al Green Greatest Hits, both LP and CD used the shorter version. I wonder why they didn't use the same master as the original Hi LP?

 

The Quad Reel of GH has the 4:50 version!

:-jon