- Al Green has been many things in his storied career: soul crooner, loverman pin-up, gospel singer and reverend. Now, with House of Jezebel's latest you can go ahead and add Chicago house muse to his resume. "Love and Happiness" swallows whole one of Green's most recognizable tunes and spews it back up as a retro-analog floor killer.
Genre mash-ups are a tricky business but when they work it's straight Reese's-pieces magic. Fortunately House of Jezebel totally nails it here, providing big Juno-y half-time bass and military snare to undergird a stellar guest vocal replete with back-up chorus. The lyrics take a slightly darker tinge once they get all Chi-town'd up—becoming as much urban lament as spirited paean. There's also an instrumental version on tap here...in case you want to revel in this ode-to-Larry Heard beatdown or if you just can't stand beautiful singing.
The original, though, is the product of a super-simple formula that might be phrased as something like "Mr. Fingers covers Al Green," although admittedly there's a difference between just coming up with a great pop-art concept like that and being able to pull... Wait a second: House of Jezebel is another pseudonym of Danny Wolfers, AKA Legowelt. Jeez, is there anything this guy can't do? Just another day at the office, I guess.
Tracklist A Love & Happiness
B Love & Happiness (Instrumental Mix)