"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 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboard's R&B chart for nine weeks.[1]Billboard ranked it as the number 11 song of 1972.[2]
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".[4] The song went on to claim the number 1 position on the Billboard Year-End chart as an R&B song for 1972.
"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. Unlike Al Green's version, Turner sings verse 2 first, then verse 1 when the band starts playing.
At the time, the song was the most successful solo single Turner had released. 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.
Margie Joseph on her 1973 album Margie Joseph. She had also recorded in Memphis contemporaneous to Green, but offered a Philly-inspired version produced by Arif Mardin).[41]
Michelle Williams covered the song for the 2005 Coming of Age film Roll Bounce movie soundtrack Roll Bounce#Soundtrack. Her version also appears on 2005 various artists compilation album GAP – Favorite Songs (Fall 2005).[49]
The song has been featured in various television shows:
It was performed in an episode of Ally McBeal (1997–2002).
The song has featured twice in the UK version of Stars in Their Eyes. The first, notably by soul and swing singer George Anthony in 1998's episode 4 and also the series 9 Grand Final in the same year.
An instrumental version of the song appears in episode 23 of the anime adaptation of Monster (Japanese on September 8, 2004, and English on January 4, 2010).
It was parodied by The Fringemunks to recap Fringe episode 2.06, "Earthling" (November 5, 2009).[52]
It was played in the Parks and Recreation episode "Road Trip" (May 12, 2011). 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.
In 2011 Kermit Ruffins and his band cover the song in season 2, episode 9 "What Is New Orleans?" of the HBO series Treme.[citation needed]
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.[53] In the week following, sales of Green's recording of the song increased by 490%.[citation needed]
^Rolling Stone Staff (May 24, 2023). "Tina Turner: 15 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023. They signed Turner and put her back in the studio with Heaven 17's Martin Ware to cut a New Wave take on Al Green's classic "Let's Stay Together".