Let's Stay Together
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Album Summary
Jimmy McGriff's 'Let's Stay Together' came into the world in 1972, released on Groove Merchant Records — that independent New York label that knew exactly what it had in McGriff and gave him the room to do what he did best. This was a man deep in his creative pocket by this point, and the album reflects every bit of that confidence. Built around his signature Hammond B-3 organ work and framed by the kind of lush, street-wise soul arrangements that defined the early seventies, McGriff reached out and grabbed hold of the contemporary moment without letting go of his roots. The title track — Al Green's towering 1971 smash — announced right from the jump that McGriff wasn't living in the past. He was in the conversation, right there in the thick of the soul era, doing what the great organ men always did: taking the music of the people and running it through something deeper.
Reception
- The album found its most devoted audience within the soul-jazz and funk organ market, where McGriff had long cultivated a loyal and knowledgeable following, though it did not register significant mainstream pop chart activity.
- McGriff's instrumental rendering of Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together' drew favorable notice from critics who understood the Hammond B-3 tradition, with reviewers appreciating how naturally the song's emotional weight translated into organ-driven grooves.
- Groove Merchant Records' independent distribution network carried the record steadily through jazz and R&B retail channels, consistent with McGriff's reliable commercial presence during this era.
Significance
- The album stands as a vivid snapshot of the soul-jazz movement at full stride in the early 1970s, with McGriff using the Hammond B-3 as the instrument that connected hard bop tradition to the funk and R&B sounds then ruling the airwaves.
- McGriff's decision to interpret not only Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together' but also Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' and Isaac Hayes' 'Theme From Shaft' reveals a deliberate and culturally aware engagement with the defining Black music statements of the moment.
- The record endures as a testament to McGriff's mature artistic identity — an organ-led instrumental vision that would go on to seed the acid jazz and rare groove movements that came along to rediscover this whole beautiful era.
Tracklist
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A1 Let's Stay Together —
2:45
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A2 Tiki —
4:20
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A3 The Theme From Shaft —
4:00
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A4 What's Going On —
4:33
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B1 Old Grand Dad —
5:04
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B2 Georgia On My Mind —
6:42
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B3 April In Paris —
5:03
Artist Details
Jimmy McGriff was one of the baddest cats to ever lay his hands on a Hammond B-3 organ, a Philadelphia-born soul jazz maestro who came up in the early 1960s and built his reputation on a gritty, bluesy sound that sat right at the crossroads of jazz, R&B, and gospel — the kind of deep, churning groove that could move a whole room without saying a single word. His 1962 hit "I've Got a Woman" put him on the map and established him as a heavyweight in the organ jazz tradition alongside Brother Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith, earning him a loyal following that stretched from the supper clubs to the funkiest dance halls in America. McGriff's legacy runs deep because he helped keep the soul organ sound alive and evolving through decades of shifting musical trends, proving that the Hammond B-3 wasn't just an instrument — it was a whole conversation between the blues, the church, and the street.
