In 1974 Al Green wrote the song ‘Take Me To The River’ with Teenie Hodges, the guitarist of his Hi Records studio band. His version was released as an album cut, not as a single. In the next few years the song was covered by Syl Johnson, Foghat, Levon Helm, Brian Ferry, and then, in 1978, by Talking Heads, whose version – produced by Brian Eno – became a massive worldwide hit.

This is the version most people are familiar with. It’s great, but so, not surprisingly, is Al Green’s. The differences between the two are interesting. Talking Heads kept the essence of the song, but took liberties with it too, in order to make it a more comfortable fit for a very different band and singer (David Byrne)…and market. Both versions groove, but in different ways.

This very satisfying song is worth taking a look at, as are the differences between the two versions. I’ll post the videos below so you can listen to both.

The song as written is built along classic lines:
* The Verse and Chorus are musically (not melodically – the Chorus melody rises a minor 3rd)) almost the same – a vamp on an Eminor chord.
* These two sections are broken up by a Pre-Chorus that provides some variety and build.
* There’s also a short Bridge after the second Chorus.

As you can hear, Green’s version is fabulous – funky in a bright and lively, almost casual way. Talking Heads slowed it way down and made it much more dramatic, and, in their own way, more gospelly, with a very catchy, simple bass line.

Here are some chordal differences:

* Pre-Chorus
Al Green: | C | G | D | A | A |2/4 A |
Talking Heads: | C | G | A | Eminor | Eminor |

* Bridge
AG: | C#minor | A | C#minor | A | G/D | B | B | B |
TH: | C#minor | A | C#minor | A | Eminor | Eminor | Eminor | Eminor |

Note that Talking Heads always go into the Chorus, which is in Eminor, from an Eminor chord… pretty interesting, because they still manage to get a lot of build out of it (which has a lot to do with landing on that bass line at the Chorus. It also fits into their ‘pop without being too pop’ style.)

TH simplify the Chorus vocal too. For them it’s pretty much two lines repeated (‘Take me to the river… Dip/wash me in the water’) – Al Green has more going on lyrically. This is one of the things that makes TH’ version more pop.

One of the ways TH bring out the drama in the song is by making a bigger deal out of the passing ‘D’ and ‘A’ chords that happen every two bars in the Verses… which they also use as an attention-getting intro into the downbeat of each Verse. Al Green’s band plays these chords as anticipations (before the beat); TH play them right on the beat – more majestic.

By focusing on Talking Heads’ version, I don’t mean to diss the deservedly legendary Al Green in any way. His is the original. Talking Heads changed it into the arrangement most people know today. I think both are terrific.. There are a lot of versions out there; it’s just a classic, a practically bulletproof song that is so solid it fits into almost any genre.

Never forget that Al Green is truly one of the all-time greats. His records really stand up (just listen below).

Incidentally, co-writer Teenie Hodges said the version from which he and Al made the most money in royalties was the ‘Big Mouth Billy Bass’ version. Yes… the fish who hung on the wall, turned his head, and sang ‘Take Me To The River’. So it appears the Singing Fish outsold the Talking Heads.

And that, my friends, is show business.

Please let me know your thoughts in the Comments section below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ar2VHW1i2w

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