Australian singles charts:
Take Me to the River entered the Kent Music Report on 19 February 1979 and peaked at #58.
Album:
The song is on More Songs About Buildings and Food which entered the Kent Music Report album chart on 6 November 1978 and peaked at #46.
Songwriters:
Al Green, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges
Producers:
Brian Eno, Talking Heads
Record label of Australian release:
Sire
Songfacts:
Written by Al Green with his guitarist, Teenie Hodges, Take Me to the River first appeared on Green’s 1974 album Al Green Explores Your Mind. It wasn’t a hit, but attracted lots of cover versions. Talking Heads’ was the highest charting version of the song.
The song is about a baptism, a topic that jelled with Al Green, who later became an ordained minister. You wouldn’t think a New York City-based art-rock band could pull off a gospel-tinged song by a Southern soul singer, but Talking Heads kept the spiritual feel of the song while putting their own spin on it.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/talking-heads/take-me-to-the-river
Wikipedia:
Take Me to the River was released as a single from the 1978 album More Songs About Buildings and Food. It was the first of three albums produced by collaborator Brian Eno, and saw the band move toward an increasingly danceable style, crossing singer David Byrne’s unusual delivery with a new emphasis on the rhythm section composed of bassist Tina Weymouth and her husband, drummer Chris Frantz.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Songs_About_Buildings_and_Food
Lyrics:
I don′t know why I love her like I do
All the changes you put me through
Take my money, my cigarettes
I haven’t seen the worst of it yet
I wanna know, can you tell me?
I′d love to stay
Take me to the river, drop me in the water
Take me to the river, dip me in the water
Washing me down, washing me down
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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