A Musical Interlude...
May 29, 2020 6:30 AM   Subscribe

In 1972 Al Green wrote and recorded Love and Happiness. The Reverend C.E. Hodges was manning the Hammond B-3 (previously). After the intro, listen for co-author and guitarist Teenie Hodges to set the tempo by tapping his foot on a cardboard box...
posted by jim in austin (8 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love his appearance on Soul Train with this song. It's very live, and ragged, and Rev Green digs all the way in to gospel stylings. It starts at 16:20 on this video.
posted by wotsac at 7:13 AM on May 29, 2020 [6 favorites]


one of those tracks that's pretty much always been on my personal playlist
posted by philip-random at 9:14 AM on May 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


Love And Happiness is one of the songs I never can hear enough. That swelling B-3, the understated yet essential guitar, the supremely tight horns... All the rest come together for some perfection.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


Every music anyone makes ever should have hammond organs in it.
posted by aubilenon at 9:51 AM on May 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


"Love and Happiness" is one of the most emotionally nuanced songs ever to be a hit in America. There's a tension between the lyric and the music, with its foreboding bass line and etherial organ. Love will make you do right, BUT, it will also make you do wrong. You could destroy yourself for love, or it could make you whole. Love is as powerful and indifferent as a force of nature, to be both revered and feared.

I live in Memphis, and Al Green is an institution around here. In 2018, he sang at the MLK50 ceremony, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was an all-day affair, and it was in turns tense (the Mayor got booed mercilessly), boring, and inspirational. Rev. Al comes on at the climax and does "Love and Happiness" with a choir. Rev. Jesse Jackson is standing right next to him. Al finishes the song, and then calls an audible to the band, who launch into "Take Me To The River". The choir has only rehearsed one song, but of course everyone knows "Take Me To The River", so after a little confusion, they join in. Then Al keeps playing! Somebody official tries to take his mic, but Jesse Jackson stops them—nobody is taking the mic from Al Green in Memphis. He played on for about twenty minutes before they finally cut the sound system and thanked everyone for coming. It was magical.
posted by vibrotronica at 10:10 AM on May 29, 2020 [18 favorites]


That opening run on the organ gets me every time...
posted by jim in austin at 12:36 PM on May 29, 2020


Every music anyone makes ever should have hammond organs in it.

And if you can't get a B-3, settle for a funky clavinet.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:51 PM on May 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


Al Green should be celebrated, as the Love and Happiness links make clear. To broaden the celebration a bit, I'll chip in a sweet live version of Belle.
posted by Lyme Drop at 2:04 PM on May 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


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