From which decade is Al Green's classic soul hit "Let's Stay Together"? The answer is the 1970s. Al Green recorded the song in 1971, and Hi Records released it as a single in November of that year. It was written by Green with guitarist Al Jackson Jr. and producer Willie Mitchell, whose Memphis studio team helped define Green's warm, intimate soul sound.
The song became Green's signature recording and his only number-one hit on the U.S. pop singles chart. It also topped the Billboard soul chart for nine weeks. Although the single belongs to 1971, the song is often associated with the 1972 album Let's Stay Together, released on January 31 of that year. That album became Green's fourth studio album and began a particularly acclaimed period in his career.
A common mix-up is choosing the 1960s because Green's style draws on classic gospel and soul traditions, or the 1980s because Tina Turner had a major cover version in 1983. The original, however, is unmistakably an early-1970s recording. The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2010, and the recording entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.