The Perfect Beat: Arthur Baker's Baker's Dozen

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

12. Al GreenLet’s Stay Together

Al Green was my favourite singer, and ‘Let’s Stay Together’ was the first promo I got. I was working in my friend’s parents’ record shop over the Christmas rush, and they paid us in records. This was 72, I was 17, and this album just blew up. I got to work with Al later, so that was surreal. He was quite manic by the time I worked with him, which was like 89, and I had quit drugs. And you know, I’m not saying I ever saw him do drugs, but he had an energy that was quite up and down. We did a lot of really cool things together like the Johnny Carson show. There’s a chapter in the book that tells all those stories, but he really was my favourite singer, and then I got to write a song that he sang, so that was pretty amazing. 

Al could tell a story and sell a story, but you kind of feel his life. One of the best songs on this album is him singing, ‘How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?’, wow.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Cee Lo Green
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