Let's Stay Together is the fourth studio album by soul singer Al Green. Released on January 31, 1972, as the follow-up to his moderate success, Al Green Gets Next to You, it was recorded at Royal Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. A commercial success, it peaked at number eight on the pop albums chart and became the first of six consecutive Green albums to peak at number one on the soul album chart, where it held the position for ten straight weeks. Let's Stay Together is best-known for its title track, "Let's Stay Together", which became Green's signature song and his only number-one pop hit single. The third Green album produced by Willie Mitchell; Let's Stay Together marked the beginning of Green's classic period of critically acclaimed albums.

Critical reaction

The album's appeal was widespread among critics; Rolling Stone noted, "Green's voice is something to marvel at. He can croon, shout, scat, rise to the smoothest falsetto, and throw in the funkiest growls ... Let's Stay Together'' is, like its predecessor, an indispensable treat." In 1999, Q magazine wrote that the album "shows him as the authentic voice of love's pain and purity on such wonders as 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?'" and that "[H]is cover of the Bee Gees' [song] took the soul ballad to new levels of artistry and refinement."

List rankings

Track listing

All songs written by Al Green, except where noted

Side one

Side two

Reissue tracks

Bonus tracks on 2003 reissue

Personnel

Rhythm section Horn section Vocals Additional personnel