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Description
**Call Me**, the sixth studio album from soul titan Al Green, arrived in April 1972-released to the public in 1973-capturing a moment where gospel purity and secular ardor merged into something transcendent. Produced by the visionary Willie Mitchell at Hi Records' Royal Studios in Memphis, the album represents the apex of the "soulful" sound that would define an era. Mitchell's lush arrangements, featuring strings, brass, and the warm glow of the Memphis session players, provide the perfect backdrop for Green's impassioned vocal performances. The album's genre? Pure soul, though its country-tinged covers-Willie Nelson's *"Funny How Time Slips Away"* and Hank Williams' *"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"*-reveal Green's deep wells of musical literacy.
Critically, it's been hailed as one of the greatest soul albums ever made, ranking 70th on VH1's greatest albums of all time and 289 on Rolling Stone's list. The album spawned three top 10 singles: *"You Ought to Be with Me,"* *"Here I Am (Come and Take Me),"* and the title track *"Call Me (Come Back Home)."* Its impact was undeniable; it reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart.
What makes *Call Me* so special beyond the obvious? Well, for one thing, it's the last album to feature Al Jackson Jr. as a co-writer on the title track. Al Jackson Jr., the legendary drummer and co-writer on many of Green's greatest hits, would be tragically killed by an intruder just two years later in 1975. That makes this record somewhat of a time capsule in the best possible way. The album also showcased Green's willingness to experiment with covers-rare for a soul artist at the time-but he handled them with such sincerity and vocal gravitas that they sound as much like original Green compositions as they do anything else.
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