Quote Originally Posted by Philles/Motown Gary View Post
Me, too, Boogie. Back in the day, that's what inspired me to check out some of the other HI Records artists like Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles, and O.V. Wright. As it turned out, I love all of them. They've all got the same Willie Mitchell "sound". If you like Al Green's sound, you'll like the others. Their lead vocalists could have been pretty much interchangeable with each other's albums [[same producer, same musicians, all with Rhodes-Chalmers-Rhodes on back-up vocals) just like Philles artists were interchangeable, as were Motown's, '70s Philly Soul, or any other specialized "sound". To me, that's a good thing, not a detriment. Here are some examples:

SYL JOHNSON - "We Did It"
https://youtu.be/5cPY77fJTEk

SYL JOHNSON - "I'm Yours"
https://youtu.be/gPw-7-0P3RQ

SYL JOHNSON - "Back For A Taste Of Your Love"
https://youtu.be/X6gSqGrf7SQ

O.V. WRIGHT - "Trying To Live My Life"
https://youtu.be/WkmiokUIXFw
Very interesting , listening to those Syl Johnson tracks. Vocally, I'd call him sort of a poor man's Al Green.

Looks like Al Green was already at Hi and working with Willie M. when Syl came on board in the early seventies. I wonder what Al thought of that , and if the two were friends or rivals?
Al Green definitely had the advantage of being ten years younger with all that goes with it.

Green is one of the few artists I pursued each new release of. I even bought the retro BACK UP TRAIN LP recorded before his HI times when it came out.


from it: