Let's Stay Together (song)
Encyclopedia
"Let's Stay Together" is a song by Al Green
on his 1972 album of the same name
. Released as a single in 1971, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboard
' s R&B
chart for nine weeks. It was ranked the 60th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone
magazine on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was selected by the Library of Congress
as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry
, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The song went on to claim the number-one position on the Billboard Year-End
chart as an R&B song for 1972.
by Tina Turner
, her second collaboration with the British Heaven 17
/B.E.F.
production team after "Ball of Confusion
" in 1982, and served as her comeback single in late 1983, charting at #26 on the US Hot 100. It placed #6 in the UK (one place higher than Al Green's original) and became the third time she reached the UK top ten, the first two being with former husband Ike Turner
on "River Deep, Mountain High" and "Nutbush City Limits
". Tina Turner's version also hit #1 on the US Dance Chart. At the time, the song was the most successful solo single she had released and it was included on her multi-platinum selling album Private Dancer
, released a few months later in the spring of 1984.
Versions and mixes (Tina Turner version)
(who had also recorded in Memphis contemporaneous to Green, but offered a Philly-inspired version produced by Arif Mardin
), Roberta Flack
, Michael Bolton
, Ms. Marilyn Marshall (Club version), Donny Osmond
, Jimmy Smith
, Michelle Williams
, Boyz II Men
, Big Mountain
, Isaac Hayes
, Robin Thicke
, Brian Kennedy
, as well as by At Last
on the first season of America's Got Talent
, who performed it a cappella
. It has also been covered by soul singer Lemar
. Shirley Bassey
covered the song on her 1995 album Sings the Movies
. An instrumental version very close to the Al Green original was recorded by The Memphis Horns
. The song has been performed on American Idol
by Justin Guarini
, Trenyce
, Leah LaBelle, and Joseph Murena. Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian
recorded a cover version on his covers album The Memphis Album
. UK R&B artist Craig David covers his very own version of the song on his album "Signed Sealed Delivered". Michael Bolton
covered the song on his 1999 album Timeless: The Classics Vol. 2. In 1989, a group by the name of The Rippingtons
released an album titled "Tourist in Paradise", on that album is featured the song "Let's Stay Together". In 2004, saxophonist
Eric Darius
performed a rendition of the "Let's Stay Together". Eric's version was from the album Night on the Town.
film Pulp Fiction
and the 2005 film Munich
.
The song was parodied by The Fringemunks
to recap Fringe
episode 2.06, "Earthling".
The song was performed in an episode of Ally McBeal
(in which Al Green guest starred).
The song was also used in the 2003 romantic comedy film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
.
The song can also be heard in the film Down To You
.
Kermit Ruffins and his band cover the song in Season 2, Episode 9 of the HBO series, Treme
.
Likewise, an instrumental version of the song appears in episode 23 of the anime adaptation of Monster
.
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
on his 1972 album of the same name
Let's Stay Together (album)
Let's Stay Together is a 1972 album by soul singer Al Green, and is the follow-up to his moderate success Al Green Gets Next to You. It was recorded at Royal Recording Studio, 1320 S...
. Released as a single in 1971, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart for nine weeks. It was ranked the 60th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was selected by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The song went on to claim the number-one position on the Billboard Year-End
Billboard Year-End
Billboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November...
chart as an R&B song for 1972.
Tina Turner version
"Let's Stay Together" was later coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, her second collaboration with the British Heaven 17
Heaven 17
Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating from Sheffield in the early 1980s. The trio comprises Martyn Ware , Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory...
/B.E.F.
B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation)
B.E.F. are a band/production company formed by former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh who later became Heaven 17 .-History:Ware and Marsh's first release as B.E.F...
production team after "Ball of Confusion
Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)
"Ball of Confusion " is a 1970 hit single for The Temptations. It was released on the Gordy label, and produced by Norman Whitfield....
" in 1982, and served as her comeback single in late 1983, charting at #26 on the US Hot 100. It placed #6 in the UK (one place higher than Al Green's original) and became the third time she reached the UK top ten, the first two being with former husband Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
on "River Deep, Mountain High" and "Nutbush City Limits
Nutbush City Limits
"Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical rock and roll song written and originally performed by Tina Turner in which she commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush, Tennessee. Released June 1973, shortly before her separation from then-husband and musical partner Ike Turner, "Nutbush City...
". Tina Turner's version also hit #1 on the US Dance Chart. At the time, the song was the most successful solo single she had released and it was included on her multi-platinum selling album Private Dancer
Private Dancer
Private Dancer is the fifth solo album by Tina Turner, released on Capitol Records in 1984, which became her breakthrough solo album. Turner's success with the album came after several challenging years of going solo after a public divorce from husband and performing partner Ike Turner. It is her...
, released a few months later in the spring of 1984.
Versions and mixes (Tina Turner version)
- 7" edit – 3:38
- Extended 12" Mix/Private Dancer album version – 5:14
Other cover versions
"Let's Stay Together" has also been covered by Margie JosephMargie Joseph
Margaret Marie "Margie" Joseph is an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. Her greatest success came in the 1970s, with her biggest hits being her version of Paul McCartney's "My Love", her version of The Supremes' "Stop! In the Name of Love" and her duet with Blue Magic...
(who had also recorded in Memphis contemporaneous to Green, but offered a Philly-inspired version produced by Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
), Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Ms. Marilyn Marshall (Club version), Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
, Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (singer)
Tenitra Michelle Williams , commonly known as Michelle Williams, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress...
, Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
, Big Mountain
Big Mountain (Band)
Big Mountain is an American reggae/pop band, most famous for their cover version of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way," which became a Top 10 hit single in the U.S...
, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, Robin Thicke
Robin Thicke
Robin Charles Thicke is an Award-winning American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. Thicke's albums, which he previously released under the moniker Thicke, are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B sound. Robin Thicke has penned hits for popular artists such as...
, Brian Kennedy
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...
, as well as by At Last
At Last (band)
At Last was a hip hop a cappella group from Los Angeles, California. They first gained national recognition as finalists on the first season of America's Got Talent, having won their spot through viewer votes. The members of the group are Hans Cho, Michael H. Lee, Justin Fong and DJ Say...
on the first season of America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...
, who performed it a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
. It has also been covered by soul singer Lemar
Lemar
Lemar Obika , professionally known simply as Lemar, is an English recording artist. Obika has had a run of chart success in the UK, Europe and Australia...
. Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
covered the song on her 1995 album Sings the Movies
Sings the Movies
Sings the Movies is a studio album from Shirley Bassey released in 1995.In 1995 Shirley Bassey signed a deal with the PolyGram TV label, she recorded and released two albums with the label. The first was a themed album of movie songs...
. An instrumental version very close to the Al Green original was recorded by The Memphis Horns
The Memphis Horns
The Memphis Horns are an American horn section made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. They have been called "arguably the greatest soul horn section ever." Originally a sextet, the Memphis Horns gradually slimmed down to a duo, Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor...
. The song has been performed on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
by Justin Guarini
Justin Guarini
Justin Guarini is an American singer/songwriter and actor who rose to fame in 2002 as the first runner-up on the debut season of the television show American Idol.-Background:...
, Trenyce
Trenyce
Lashundra Trenyce Cobbins , known professionally as Trenyce, is an American singer and was a finalist for the second season of American Idol in 2003, finishing in fifth place.- Biography:...
, Leah LaBelle, and Joseph Murena. Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
recorded a cover version on his covers album The Memphis Album
The Memphis Album
The Memphis Album is a cover album of Memphis soul songs by Australian singer Guy Sebastian released in Australia by Sony Music on 10 November 2007. The album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Steve Potts , and Lester Snell...
. UK R&B artist Craig David covers his very own version of the song on his album "Signed Sealed Delivered". Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
covered the song on his 1999 album Timeless: The Classics Vol. 2. In 1989, a group by the name of The Rippingtons
The Rippingtons
The Rippingtons are a contemporary group mainly relating to the genres Smooth jazz, Jazz pop, and Crossover jazz. Formed in 1986 by guitarist and band leader Russ Freeman , their career has spanned two decades...
released an album titled "Tourist in Paradise", on that album is featured the song "Let's Stay Together". In 2004, saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Eric Darius
Eric Darius
Eric Darius is a smooth jazz saxophonist and composer. He is a native of New Jersey who grew up in Tampa, Florida.- Biography :Darius began his performing career at the age of 11 when he toured with the youth-based Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band. The tour's final performance was held...
performed a rendition of the "Let's Stay Together". Eric's version was from the album Night on the Town.
Appearance in other media
The song was used in the 1994 Quentin TarantinoQuentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
film Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (soundtrack)
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul...
and the 2005 film Munich
Munich (film)
Munich is a 2005 historical fiction film about the Israeli government's secret retaliation attacks after the massacre of Israeli athletes by the Black September terrorist group during the 1972 Summer Olympics. The film stars Eric Bana and was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg...
.
The song was parodied by The Fringemunks
The Fringemunks
The Fringemunks are a music group created by Seattle musician David Wu in 2008 consisting of three "cloned" anthropomorphic chipmunks: Feebo, Notchy and Pie. They are known mostly for recapping all episodes of Fox television series Fringe with song parodies...
to recap Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
episode 2.06, "Earthling".
The song was performed in an episode of Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
(in which Al Green guest starred).
The song was also used in the 2003 romantic comedy film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a 2003 romantic comedy film, directed by Donald Petrie, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It is based on a short cartoon book of the same name by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long.-Plot:...
.
The song can also be heard in the film Down To You
Down to You
Down to You is a 2000 romantic comedy film about losing a first love. It was directed by Kris Isacsson. The main characters are Alfred 'Al' Connelly Imogen and Cyrus...
.
Kermit Ruffins and his band cover the song in Season 2, Episode 9 of the HBO series, Treme
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
.
Likewise, an instrumental version of the song appears in episode 23 of the anime adaptation of Monster
Monster (manga)
is a seinen manga written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, published by Shogakukan in Big Comic Original between 1994 and 2001, and reprinted in 18 tankōbon volumes. It was adapted by Madhouse as a 74-episode anime TV series, which aired on NTV from April 7, 2004 to September 28, 2005...
.
Al Green (1972)
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK | 7 |
| US Hot 100 | 1 |
| US R&B | 1 |
Tina Turner (1983)
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia | 19 |
| Germany | 18 |
| Ireland | 15 |
| Netherlands | 5 |
| New Zealand | 4 |
| Switzerland | 28 |
| UK | 6 |
| US Hot 100 | 26 |
| US R&B | 3 |
| US Dance | 1 |
See also
- Billboard Year-EndBillboard Year-EndBillboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November...
- Hot 100 number-one hits of 1972 (United States)
- Number-one dance hits of 1984 (USA)Number-one dance hits of 1984 (USA)These are the Billboard magazine Hot Dance Club Play number one hits of 1984.-See also:*1984 in music*List of number-one dance hits *List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart...
- R&B number-one hits of 1972 (USA)R&B number-one hits of 1972 (USA)These are the Billboard magazine R&B singles chart number one hits of 1972:See also: 1972 in music, List of number-one R&B hits -Chart comparisons:...