Let's Stay Together

[MissDave120363]

Fabulous! Seeing Patti Austin back there too! this is a great funky version!! Paul Schaefer is a genuis

[7855waldo]

2:02 TITO!

[7855waldo]

Love AG, but as far as I'm conerned, the song ENDS at 0:37!

[7855waldo]

Al Green at the very top of his game. All else vanishes.

[idigyoubaby]

Toni has such a distinctive voice which is why I love it. It commands, emotes, crosses gender and cultures. And Al is just just such a welcoming presence for her and all the top notch musicians on this magic night.

[rasdorje]

simply LOVE you always Toni!!!!!!!!!!!!

[imselecta]

omg so great artists

[craiggolfer1]

2nd saxaphonist from the left is Euge Groove, accomplished smooth jazz soloist today. Took over when Richard Elliot left to pursue a single career in the same genre.

[MrDamo123]

Boris Johnson on percussion

[kole051]

when i was a kid this is all my mom would listen too, this song and others like it.. im now 26

[rdpharris]

I hope Paul puts together another great group performance for Daves 30th anniversary show in 2012.

[Kalverweide28]

This is The shit!

[HunnahFrancis]

My wife and I remember seeing this live...

THIS...is real music!!!

John Francis

[ireltrac]

@HunnahFrancis Toni Childs, one of my greatest musical loves, is launching a new track and trying to establish a revolutionary new recipe for artistic integrity and independence in the music biz. If you love her like I do, check it out toni childs dot com

[dbassmd]

AMAZING ALLSTAR BAND!! The bassplayer carries the whole tune. Can't get a clear look at him, but the style (& blonde hair) sounds like Vail Johnson.

[extrasouth]

@dbassmd I am pretty sure it is Will Lee.

[pcstench]

Paul Shaffer put together this great crew to perform Let's Stay Together for the Late Night 7th Anniversary show in 1989. Al Green, Toni Childs, Carlos Santana, Tito Puente, David Sanborn, Melissa Etheridge and more.

but no, we have morons here posting that childs ruined it. Right, so Shaffer who is an idiot? or, you are an idiot? you be the judge. MORONS YOUR BUS IS LEAVING!

[salamander4019]

David Garfield & friends did a superb version for the Jeff Porcaro tribute album, but definitely, nothing beats the original. Al Green...the man.

[superbaim]

who play the bass ?

[Loudbottom]

@superbaim Will Lee.

[extrasouth]

@superbaim I am pretty sure it is Will Lee.

[lutely69]

Fabulous!!!!!

[edsweb7]

Also, in the band isd Tower of power horns &, David Sanborn>

[bbigheadd]

I've heard of Toni Childs but never knew what she did. I still don't know. Seriously...I'm not trying to clown.

[framang]

..un capolavoro assoluto!!1......se la musica fosse sempre questa.......

[WoodyFocker]

No matter how many times I watch this, I get the same buzz.. I sent the link to my kids, who are in their 20s, and they're now Al Green fans. What a fucking lineup, doing my alltime favorite song!

[braud357]

In reference to the 2 trumpet players - that was Tower of Power's horn section - plus David Sanborn on alto sax. The trumpet players were Greg Adams and Lee Thornberg

[SWPAMBA]

I'd forgot about this star-studded performance! The band and background singers were all my favorites and stars in their own right!

[mami3794]

@bigblueplanet u were there, on stage, with these people who have their varied gifts, whose names are known around the world sharing their gift as one wave of ?, for u.

[eab01907]

who are the 2 trumpet players ???

[1ok4u]

How can one room hold that much talent

[adelicias]

Apart from Al green, I see Carlos Santana and Tito Puente, a magnificent compilation, :D

[adelicias]

Aparte from Al green, I see Carlos Santana and Tito Puente, a magnificent compilation, :D

[MaybeWeAintUs]

A rare treat to see/hear!

[Mariekesone]

Ecstatic!!!...:-)

[ns0710]

@KennySherman Yep! It's her, along with Patti Austin and Darlene Love! This is truly an all start band!

[Pinillano74]

guau, está de p.m. qué energía!

[jimi08jam]

"Awesome!"

[EddieLandsberg]

Tower of Power horns ! They used to be on his almost every Friday until the p.o'd Dave by going on Arsenio !

[mudhens4ever]

MissTheKriss is seriously right....this IS seriously brilliant! Who is singing backup with Melissa Ethridge?

[edubuys]

Este vídeo será o nosso - Blog do Varejo - hini pelo CARLINHOS pró menor , em nossa campanha pelo CARLINHOS PRÓ NOBEL, na campanha deste grande cidadão do BRASIL pelo NOBEL da PAZ => VAMOS ESTAR JUNTOS! nesta batalha!

@edubuys

midel tsunami- mídia eletrônica!

[carreterovip]

This is a song of Al Green....one of the best voices in the world!! This is a classic!!!

Electrifying!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you are brushing up your heair to go out, listen it!!!

[MrTap50]

excellent rare video clip thank you for sharing

[msonj]

How can anyone not like this video? Toni is amazing and together with all those people, its absolutely brilliant! I realize not everyone is going to like the same things but just because you don't know Toni Childs and her amazing voice, you don't have to knock it. Was that Melissa Ethridge doing backup vocals?

[rdpharris]

Excellent! I hope Dave puts on some quality entertainment like this for his 30th anniversary in 2012

[7855waldo]

@rdpharris - Almost impossible. He's outed himself / been outed as a common gutter sleeze. What musicians would want to perform under this sort of sad aegis?

[dodgerdude32]

does anyone have a year guess on this gem of a clip? Paul still had hair and Rev Al going with the jerri curl. What a hell of a lineup. Even the background singers are A-listers!!!! Whoooo. Nice.

[garyp2727]

Always amazed by people who take pride in ignorance.

So what if you never heard of this person?Educate yourself.

[dan2007rs]

Very Good! Charm, cool and different version! Love this music, and despite not knowing Toni Childs until now, already loves! Sorry English, but what matters are soul.

[WhataGemIam]

LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

\

[lueisadude]

so much soul in this song..love it!!

[Tripp718]

whos that weird white woman? she ruined it!!

[barrabye]

@Tripp718

I agree.

With respect, this Toni Childs is totally out of her depth.

Before I ever watched this video, I had never heard of this woman.

How can anyone say that she is brilliant ?

She does ruin it !!!!

[Vamp1963]

@barrabye Since Toni sings with her soul, something you have no clue about, you might consider going back to listening to your Bieber and Lady Gaga.

[pcstench]

@barrabye u r out of yer depth

[MaidenOfMara]

@Tripp718

Because you don't know her, you don't know her voice and proberly think it's the background singers

watch?v=q2NZd78oQ7E

[mmmmiiiirrrroooo]

such composure al has...brilliant!

[chaplan76]

Damn you see those horns? Pretty greasy and white!

[werebott]

Great Vid!

[nergvol]

This oldtimer moving and grooving with this all star band. Funky White Dude

[Mrginguel]

se nota a tito nieves en la percucion , que banda dios mio!!!!! y al green ::::perfecto

[tomatuyocota]

@Mrginguel

Creo que qusisite decir TITO PUENTES...god bless motown!!

[Marcoasilva]

@tomatuyocota Es Tito Puente, sin la "s".

[Marcoasilva]

@tomatuyocota

Es Tito Puente, sin la "s".

[eab01907]

anybody know who the 2 trumpet players are ????

[gsman5828]

@eab01907 Lee Thornburgh and Greg Adams. Tower of Power trumpet players at the time of this performance.

[nergvol]

Horn section from Tower of Power. Greg Adams, trumpet player from TOP co-arranged this song with Paul Shaeffer and received Emmy award in process. Assume he is playing with the band for this number.  Funky White Dude

[nergvol]

posted info on recent comments

[AJMora]

Are you kidding me? Kidding me?  Wooooow!!!!! I never knew about this. Thanks to Al Green! Carlos! David Sanborn! Mr. Paul Shaffer!!!!! Love you man!!!!!

[1111GENESIS]

Does anyone know who wrote " you want to walk & talk with angels?".

[TheJuliusJT]

she is SO ANNOYING!!!!! but he is great and what a band, man! sound amazing. funky shit.

[HunterMann]

Thanks to Paul Shaffer for bringing so many of his music friends together for this historic concert, and such a brilliant arrrangement! It must be a real challenge considering most of those people's own touring schedules, personal lives...reminds me of what a major production it was to get people together for the We Are The World project.

[HunterMann]

What an amazing live performance!!!!

Rest In Peace Willie Mitchell, who produced & arranged this tune for Al Green(and many other classics). Jan.11, 2010

[andreghouse]

@KennySherman Yes it is! How cool!!

[TheBboh61]

maybe the best live performance on american tv ever! what a great crew!!!

[pezcueso1]

Toni Childs does a great duo with Al Green.

Memphis soul!

[alterschwedenochmal]

great crew...

[Amyls64]

How exciting! Anyone know who is playing bass on this?

[blakevickrey]

Will lee

[TheBboh61]

It's Will Lee from Letterman's Orchestra from Day 1 - he's still there.

[Soul74]

You can barely see him, but that's McCoy Tyner (who played with John Coltrane) on piano.

[kerkyraisland]

Ansolutely fantastic!!!

[rdpharris]

Got my years mixed up; still in the 90s :)

Yes it is a great idea

[PaolaNotsosure]

let's stay together

[rdpharris]

Since this has been 10 yrs from this performance, it would be great fun to get all of the artists back together again to celebrate Dave's 17th. Just a thought... I'd like to see how they are now :)

[KewazingaBabinga]

Love the horn-section...Toni is fantastic, wish she does some jazz standards

[twedell]

Just a little bit chezzy but a great collaboration.

[marcelo123tattoo]

This is a Celebration!!!! AWESOME!!!!

[hideyoshi999]

Very good indeed, I wander where you could get to download this piece

[idigyoubaby]

Well, this performance just made my afternoon. I've got my second wind now!

[ScooterNerd]

Apparently Al thought enough of her to sing with her...that's enough for me.

[rdpharris]

My favorite song, I remember watching this 20 yrs ago ( wow, that long ago?).

Al Green always looks so joyful

Rock on Pastor Al!

[annamaria73]

I've loved this song since forever! I never knew Al Green did this song with Tito Puente ( MY FAVE ) and Carlos Santana! WOW! I LOVE IT!!!!!!! BRAVO BABY!!! Thanks for posting! :D

[rebeccabromell]

Loving the whole arrangement,

Go Carlos, Love the Red suit.

Brilliant..

More. More.

[blackpanthers1968]

No comment !!!!! je suis esbrouffée, on dit que la musique tourne, il me tarde que cette musique là revienne !!!!!!

[shazcat23]

Lets stay together jh/mk xoxox

[Pudgiefan1]

one of tha best performances of "lets stay together"!!!

only the pros can recreate such brilliance!

[JBRIENZA711]

late night with david letterman had some of the best musical talent during its anniversary shows.....something that will never be recreated!...

[dakotajim11378]

Hey what an awesome song by some of the legends of the music world and with Al Green doing the lead spot like always still pouring out his heart. This is music history in the making, thanks for sharing!!

[rdpharris]

Again.....I Love this... amazing... can watch it over and over. I wish I had seen this in the studio; would have been a fabulous experience, Also this was done 20 yrs ago; my, time surely does fly by.

[snkydevil222]

Hoopskidoodle that crazy bitch has more talent in one finger then you have in your hole body !! do some looking in to some of the gifts of song she has given us and look at the life time she spent in Africa helping that crazy bitch is BRILLIANT as missthekriss put it. by the way your just sad. no more need said.

[DJRckwl]

snkydevil222,

I wouldn't have called her a name, but I have to agree with Hoopskidoodle that she took away from Al's performance of this song, that's all.

However talented she may be, she didn't suit this song on that night.

Her voice was crackling and off-key several times.

Her intro was terrible.

Al walked in and saved the day.

His performance was effortless.

His voice, powerful.

[Hoopskidoodle]

This is great, but it would have been better without that obscure crazy bitch.

[Vamp1963]

@Hoopskidoodle And YOU are?  ROFL

[MissTheKriss]

THIS is seriously BRILLIANT!

and the video is really rare! we can see there legends together! Al, Toni, Carlos.. wow!!

respect!

[edsweb7]

@MissTheKriss I searched for this since the night I saw it live. This IS the only place on earth, lol, and I'm blessed to find it. THANKS- HOWEVER....

[fericire7]

"I'm so in love with you" "There's a whole lotta things you and I could do" from simply beautiful.. Maybe love could be great if could be expressed like this "whether whether" without all the made-up drama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.. Great tune.. I was just saying a feeling.. mine, nothing wrong with that I hope...

[cal5755]

good

[PharcydePhreak]

wow! magic.

[pinchegatobarbie]

I watched this when it first came on TV and recorded it on my VCR, I wore the hell out of this tape, playing all the time. Thank You! THANK YOU! for posting this. It has all my favorites.

[ptaaku]

awsome

[bliss4jules]

Better than antidepressants. Go Tito!

[radiogoddess2]

TY bigblueplanet! This is one of my favorite songs. Al is so happy when he sings...you can't help but feel good when you watch this. Carlos just blazes, doesn't he?

[teenonator]

Out of freakin' sight!!

[slimshaddytn]

Damn... Toni, Al, Carlos, Tito, Patti, TOP & I'm sure there's someone else who is somebody in the crowd... How n the world did I miss this ONE..!! Thanks 4 posting bigblueplanet...

[rdpharris]

I could watch this over and over all day long.....Reverend Al Green is the best!

[VomitLick]

Wow

[tantrashaman]

great song! what a band though! Toni and Al smokin'

[rdpharris]

The golden oldies are always the best. This song will never get old. Fabulous; it rocks!!

[nickokas]

This is the dogs bollocks!!!!!

[snjmom]

Wow.

[onefodderunit]

Came to hear Childs and received big surprise.

Thanks

[pkabel66]

Time was on the Letterman show that when Tower of Power played NYC, they would come on the show. This would be typical of Dave's band to put together an extravaganza and all-star performance. You can't see this anywhere else on television. I can't remember the last time T.O.P. did the Letterman show in NY. Time to bring them back. (featuring Larry Braggs, of course)

[colonense90210]

Simply one of the best versions of the song ever done.

[Forsythie]

pretty cool! Makes a lot of fun to watch it and listen to it! (: Great!

[sogroovynow]

this is awesome

[blackcatrichie]

Toni Childs is probably one of the most understated female vocalists of our age. She has a dynamic voice!!!!!!

[cgaylej]

can't watch this without smiling!

[JTGMAG1981]

To LNC4112. I believe the blonde wearing white is Will Lee, the Bass player with the CBS Orchestra.

[davidjeanallard]

Who is the female singer with Al Green? She twists her voice in an unusual way...

[LNC4112]

It's Toni Childs. What a voice!!

[fenderles]

awesome great song !!!!!

[blackycrawford]

Awesome! Had me dancing in my chair!

[id2mario]

I have just noticed as well that the guy in the timbales (sorry, don't know the word in english) is the great Tito Puente. A legend in the LatinAmerican music. Excellent version.

[id2mario]

I think the guitarrist looks like Carlos Santana! doesn't he?

Check the version at the Apollo Theatre. As good as this one.

[jibjab144]

yes, that is carlos, good eye!

[LNC4112]

Who is playing guitar, standing next to the piano? Is it Pete Cetera? Kinda looks like him, but never get a close up to actually get a good look at his face.

Thanks to whomever posted this video. What a great group.

Letterman always had an all-star band on his anniversary shows (don't know if he still does). One year he had Cyndee Lauper, Billy Joel, Arthur Connelly (?) along with others I can't remember singing "Sweet Soul Music."

[stillnotaphase]

yea, the guitarist is Carlos Santana

[funksoullistener]

Hey there, are you kidding, you don't recognize Carlos Santana? Yes, I agree, this is truly a gem of a jam!

[LNC4112]

I recognized Carlos Santana. I asked about the guitarist standing next to the piano on an elevated platform. The blonde wearing white...I don't get a clear picture of him, but I thought it might be Pete Cetera, formerly of Chicago.

[1401d]

I've been around long enough to have seen lots of musical/variety shows (Sonny & Cher, Carol Burnett, Tonight Show w/Johnny Carson) and have NEVER seen anything this good EVER, and I remember Santana, George Benson and Van Morrison doing "Moondance" on the Midnight Special!

Thanks bigblueplanet.

[tulaniu]

i want the guitarists red suit... lol

[MissTorrance]

haha at melissa's hair. this is amazing, where has the talent gone?

[elymay13]

OMG! I have this VHS taped from The David Letterman Show somewhere in my memorabilia archives. Never knew I would find it on Youtube?! Best version of this song ever!!!

[irishintellguy]

Toni was fantastic...and I only say "was" because she-for whatever reason- hasn't recorded anything in years. At ;east that I can find. What we can agree on is we are at a loss without her beautiful vocals!

Nonetheless....many months ago- after listening to "Angels Talk"- I took a stb at You-Tubing "Toni Childs." This was the end product.

There will NEVEr be an assembly of this much talent ever again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hotblondie111]

I love toni's voice!

[bliss4jules]

what became of Toni Childs????

[jeansbass]

Great version, very 80's New-York funk !! Paul Shaffer still has the best damn band on late night television for over 26 years.Thanks for posting.

[sef2seph]

now if they would just release toni's cover of "take me to the river" from the "boys on the side" soundtrack....

[bovienzo]

The best! Great players, great song. It does NOT get ant better than this,

[nothinglikeamuffin]

toni childs is brilliant!

[bornradical]

yeah

[dale46metz]

....ignore some of the crap below...it just doesn't get any better than this line up! Let the people say....AMEN!

[nekoochie]

that was a beautiful rendition of lets stay together. I loved it!

[lidianasd]

Adorei essa versão!

[mieong]

What a line-up!

[Forsythie]

I could eat Al Green's voice! :D

[MasterAJDubya]

Sorry but as legendary as this line up may be and as brilliant as the song is do you think this smacks of let's GET together and 'tribute' you Mt Green by 'popping up' your sweet sweet love song. I think someone slipped uncle Al some ecstasy. He looks a little too happy singing. Why can't people just leave 'legendary' alone...?

[liliodine]

I completely agree. LOL.

[tucedwin2]

damn, that woman got dwarfed by the rev.

[hotmama3924]

holy shit that woman sucks.

[gsman5828]

Anybody know who the little sax player is next to Emilio Castillo is? I saw him play live in the 80s and although I am a trumpet player, the guy was unbelievable. Always wondered what happened to him.

[VitaminseaFL]

The guy to his left, our right is David Sanborn

[pkabel66]

Steve Groves on Sax...early 90s horn section. Lee Thornberg on Trumpet...both phenomenal talents.

[dosulliv1]

In a word brilliant. Paul Shaffer must be given a lot of credit for the arrangement and keeping it so tight - he even kept Carlos on a leash.

[Juliotree]

Amazing. Many Many Many Thanks for posting.

[Procopius]

Who is the guitarist next to Carlos Santana?