B-side "Tomorrow's Dream" Format Vinyl Genre Soul
R&B | Released November 1971 Recorded 1971 Length 3:16 | |
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"Let's Stay Together" is a song by American singer Al Green from his 1972 album of the same name. It was produced and recorded by Willie Mitchell, and mixed by Mitchell and Terry Manning. Released as a single in 1971, "Let's Stay Together" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboard's R&B chart for nine weeks. Billboard ranked it as the number 11 song of 1972.
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It was ranked the sixtieth 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.
Appearance in other media
The song was used in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction (1994), the John Singleton film Higher Learning (1995), the 2004 film Hellboy and the 2005 film Munich. It was also used in the 2003 romantic comedy film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and can be heard in the films Down to You (2000), Jersey Girl (2004), and the 2012 romantic comedy Hope Springs features the song.
On television, the song was featured in various shows. It was played in the Parks and Recreation episode "Road Trip". During Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt's road trip, as assigned by Chris Traeger, they listen to a series of unusual songs, until Let's Stay Together plays. It is later confirmed that Ann Perkins had burned the song in order to get them together. It was parodied by The Fringemunks to recap Fringe episode 2.06, "Earthling", and performed in an episode of Ally McBeal. 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.
United States President Barack Obama performed a brief phrase of the song during an appearance at the Apollo Theater in New York City on January 19, 2012, for a campaign fundraiser that included Al Green as an opening act. In the week following, sales of Green's recording of the song increased by 490%.
Cover versions
"Let's Stay Together" has also been covered by Margie Joseph (who had also recorded in Memphis contemporaneous to Green, but offered a Philly-inspired version produced by Arif Mardin), Al Jarreau, Billy Paul, Roberta Flack, Ms. Marilyn Marshall (Club version), Donny Osmond, Jimmy Smith, Seal, Michelle Williams, Ian Moss, Boyz II Men, Bobby Ross Avila, Big Mountain, Isaac Hayes, Robin Thicke, Brian Kennedy, Maroon 5, Terry Manning, 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. Organist Ronnie Foster also recorded an instrumental version for his studio album The Two Headed Freap. Saxophonist Eric Alexander recorded a jazz instrumental version for his studio album Alexander the Great. The song has been performed on American Idol by Justin Guarini. On December 15, 2010 on The Sing-Off, it was performed a cappella by season 2 winners Committed. It has also been covered by Trenyce, Leah LaBelle, Joseph Murena, and Elise Testone. Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian recorded a cover version on his covers album The Memphis Album. British singer 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, 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 "Let's Stay Together". Eric's version was from the album Night on the Town. Lynda Carter covered this song for her 2011 album Crazy Little Things. American pop singer Katy Perry performed the song at Barack Obama Fundraising Concert in Best Buy Theater, New York City on October 7, 2012. This song was also covered by former Hong Kong singer Yvonne Lau Man-Kuen (Chinese: 劉文娟) under the title "Don't leave gaps when young" (Chinese: 年輕不要留白) in 1991.
Tina Turner version
"Let's Stay Together" was later covered by Tina Turner, her second collaboration with the British Heaven 17 and British Electric Foundation production team after "Ball of Confusion" in 1982, and served as her comeback single in late 1983, charting at number 26 on the US Hot 100. It placed number 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 number one 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. The music video was directed by David Mallet. The cover photography was by Norman Seeff.
Formats and track listings
Worldwide 7" single
- "Let's Stay Together" (Edit) – 3:36
- "I Wrote a Letter" – 3:24
Worldwide 12" single
- "Let's Stay Together" – 5:14
- "I Wrote a Letter" – 3:24