It Ain't No Fun to Al, But It's Fun to Me!

Al Green - It Ain't No Fun To Me

Al Green's early Hi 45s are interesting to listen to, as Al and producer Willie Mitchell hadn't worked out the silky soul style that would catapault Green to immense success. These recordings find Al doing a lot of hard soul singing in a brassy tone and the Hi musicians matching his crackling energy. Some of that energy exists in "Tired of Being Alone," but most of his hits afterward were smoother (although that energy always rumbled beneath the surface and peeked through in places). The fact that Hi was not committed to the older Al Green sound can be found with today's selection. "It Ain't No Fun to Me" is a hard-hitting mid-tempo number on which Al adds a little gospel stylings to a blues-based song. Al's singing hard, and the Hi band is borrowing a page or two from Stax in its accompaniment, with great results. It was one of the first Al Green songs I ever heard, as my mother preferred it over the A-side of the 45, which was Al's 1973 hit "Livin' For You," which featured the smoother sound. "It Ain't No Fun" was not included in the Livin' For You LP but eventually was comped on a reissue of Let's Stay Together. It's one of the better non-LP B-sides out there.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - "(You) Got What I Need," from yesterday's post, was the fastest-downloaded song I've put on here so far - 97 downloads in one day. Thank you all for your continued interest in this site; it's gratifying to know that people are enjoying this stuff!)