Woo

Yesterday was a beautiful, easy pre-summer day, the sort that should be remembered before the air gets determined and thick.  Could there be anyone better to help hold on to this weather than Al Green (myspace), the man who can make the seasons change just by waving his hand?

Al Green with Corinne Bailey Rae - Take Your Time (mp3) (buy)

When Green leaned into "Let's Get Married" (capably selling the line "might as well" as romantic in that context, like you wish you could) at Coney Island a couple summers ago, a woman near me laughed.  "I don't wanna get married, Al," she screamed.  "I wanna get laaaaaid!"  The Reverend at his best - even at his most devoted -suggests a single destination, and it's not an altar.

?uestlove helmed the new Al Green record, Lay it Down, wisely made an old Al Green record of it.  It's steady and focused, it'll get you where you need to be.  If there's any serious criticism to be leveled, it's that there's no obvious standout track.  My personal favorite is the most demonstrative, "I'm Wild About You" ("I never talk about love.  I just like to show." Which he does.).  But that one's a little hot and sticky for what I've got in mind, today.

"Take Your Time" is airy and simple, its flute trills the line between perfection and corn.  Rae is a yawn - Al, you could do better - but a more aggressive partner would have trampled the vibe.  (There are other unnecessary intrusions on the album.  The equally dull John Legend proves a second-rate second banana; Anthony Hamilton fares better, but who invited all these people into your bedroom?)  Lose yourself in the song's conservative call if you'd like, letter-writers.  But it's more satisfying to listen past what they're saying to what they're singing.

You can see Green - and shell a lot of it out - at Carnegie Hall on June 27th.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - I'll Roll with You (mp3) (buy)

After catching him live, I'd been looking forward to the first full-length from Eli Reed (myspace).  Roll with You doesn't disappoint one smidge, a seriously solid collection of original retro soul numbers.  One of those cases where tried and true = just right.  Get yourself some.

Best track's still "Take My Love with You."  Tucked in the current muxtape, it travels well, it's got legs, it'll go straight on ‘til forever if you let it.  But I'm in love with that title track, too.  The trumpet and claves tap out keen 1964 high school formal magic.  Grab that gal you've been afraid to talk to all year and slow dance.

Reed and his True Loves will be opening for The Slackers at Irving Plaza on June 7th (tix); the following afternoon they'll be roastin' out of doors for free at the Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park.

tags: eli paperboy reed  al green  

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