Al Green Explores Your Mind is the eighth album by soul singer Al Green. This album had only one major hit, "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)," which reached No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the week of December 21, 1974. The album also included the original version of "Take Me to the River," a song that later reached No. 26 on the Billboard chart when covered by Talking Heads in 1978. In 2004, "Take Me to the River" was ranked number 117 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
This was Al Green’s fifth album in a row to reach No. 1 on the Soul Albums chart, and it reached No. 15 on the Pop Albums chart.
Track listing
All songs on this list were composed by Al Green, except where noted.
- "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" – 3:01
- "Take Me to the River" (Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges) – 3:45
- "God Blessed Our Love" (Green, Willie Mitchell, Earl Randle) – 3:57
- "The City" (Green, Charles Hodges) – 3:25
- "One Nite Stand" – 2:26
- "I'm Hooked on You" (Green, Mitchell) – 3:22
- "Stay with Me Forever" (Green, Anne Sanders) – 3:15
- "Hangin' On" (Green, Michael Allen) – 4:21
- "School Days" – 3:14
Personnel
- Al Green – vocals
- Mabon "Teenie" Hodges – guitar
- Leroy Hodges – bass guitar
- Charles Hodges – Hammond organ, piano
- Howard Grimes – drums, congas
- Archie Turner, Michael Allen – piano
- Charles Chalmers, Donna Rhodes, Sandra Rhodes – backing vocals
- Andrew Love, Ed Logan – tenor saxophone
- James Mitchell – baritone saxophone, string arrangements
- Wayne Jackson – trumpet
- Jack Hale, Sr. – trombone
- The Memphis Strings – strings
- Glenn Ross, Richard Kriegler – art direction, design
- Bob Levy, Buddy Rosenberg – photography