Take Me to the River

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Written by: Green, Mabon Hodges
Produced by: Willie Mitchell
Released: Nov. '74 on Hi
Charts: Non-single

Al Green and Hi Records house guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges wrote "Take Me to the River" not by a river but by a lake: They holed up in a rented house at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for three days in 1973 to come up with new material. "I was trying to get more stability in my life at the time," Green said. "I wrote, 'Take me to the river/Wash me down/ Cleanse my soul.' " When it became the first Top Forty hit for Talking Heads in late 1978, "River" gained a whole new audience.

Appears on: Al Green Explores Your Mind (The Right Stuff)

Next: Shout (Parts 1 and 2)

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