Absolute Best

Product Description:

Producers: Willie Mitchell, Al Green.

Recorded between 1971 & 1989. Includes liner notes by Colin Escott.

In many ways, this excellent two-disc 2004 Al Green anthology is similar the 2000 double-disc compilation, TAKE ME TO THE RIVER. Both collections focus on Green's glorious tenure at Hi Records under the stewardship of Willie Mitchell, and there's a great deal of overlap in song selection. It's most useful, then, to focus on the differences. While both releases contain the bulk of Green's '70s hits, ABSOLUTE BEST is a little less concerned with high-profile material, and geared a bit more towards deep cuts. It also features a couple of previously unreleased mid-'70s tunes ("Sweet Song," "Love Is Real") that rival any contemporaneous album tracks, and the notes boast commentary from Green and his musical cohorts.

It will forever be a joy to hear both the familiar strains of Green's singles (the evanescent "Simply Beautiful," the silk-sheets intimacy of "Let's Stay Together") and the lesser-known material (the stirring, intense "Strong as Death, Sweet as Love"). To hear Green's voice float transcendently through these 34 tracks (four more than TAKE ME...) is to be reminded that divinity is accessible right here on Earth. It's doubtful that one would need both this and TAKE ME TO THE RIVER, but each is a masterful collection, definitive in its own right.