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By J. MATTHEW COBB
HIS VOICE IS GOLDEN and filled with a kind of heavenly blessing that is special to the music universe. Any music genre would be eternally grateful to have the kind of gutsy, raw, emotional and soulful stuff that completes the legend of Reverend Al Green. Remarkably, after all these years, he is somewhat of an enigma to today’s generation. Still ablazing in rich decor and embellished with vocal spark at 62, Green continues to make his mark in the music world with stellar album releases like I Can’t Stop, Everything’s OK and the newly-released and highly-acclaimed Lay It Down on the legendary jazz record label Blue Note. And the mighty soul legend shows no sign of stopping or slowing up. And why should he? Bolstering with sweat and vigorous stamina, Al Green works a stage like an artist painting his life away on a canvas. And his portrait, from his early recording years at the Hi studios in Memphis to his elevated platform of being an exceptional soul survivor in the new millennium, has always been to preach the universal message of love. Love has been the core of his efforts and sacrifices - an obvious key ingredient in his pop hits like “Let’s Stay Together” and “I’m Still In Love With You.” He continues to walk in the shadows of the cross; bringing about a message of hope and encouragement that can only come from the Most High. And Green’s bold recognition of both the secular and sacred still bother modern pop’s historians and afficionados, but it doesn’t matter to Green. He’s not ashamed of his pop life nor his faith in God and that is why Al Green remains one of the most consistent and highly-respected music icons of our day. Plus with all of that raw, kinetic talent Born in Forrest City, Arkansas, Albert Greene toured the south as a young boy singing gospel with the Greene Brothers in the mid-1950s (the “e” was later dropped during his solo career). The Greenes later moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and continued to make their rounds in touring until Al’s father, disturbed by him finding his son listening to records by Jackie Wilson, kicked him out of the group. This propelled Green to swim deeper into the musical waters as he began experimenting with soul music by developing AL Greene & the Creations; a high-school group whom went on to record an album on the Hot Line record label as Al Greene & the Soul Mates. It failed to generate any serious attention; ultimately sending Green back to the drawing board. Success didn’t come easy for the talented crooner in his early years, but a meeting with Hi Records’ musical director Willie Mitchell in 1969 changed all of that. With extensive training and some intense advice on finding his own unique voice from Mitchell, Green found his sound and hit it hard on 1970's Al Green Gets Next To You. The album yielded a number of Memphis-bluesy R&B grooves like “Tired Of Being Alone” (#7 r&b, #11 pop) and a churning remake of the Temptations’ “Can’t Get Next To You.” During this time, Green began to work on his songwriting craft and vocal strengths; prepping him for the immaculate LP Let’s Stay Together in 1972. The album went on to climb the pop charts to number eight and sped immediately to number one on the R&B charts that same year. Songs including the classic title track and the soulful take on the Bee Gees’ ballad “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” made Al Green arguably the quintessential R&B singer of the 1970s. His reign on the charts continued with I’m Still In Love With You (1972) and Call Me (1973). Both albums defined Green’s zenith in soul music - giving him a number of pop and R&B Top 10 hits including “Look What You’ve Done For Me,” “I’m Still In Love With You,” “ Call Me” and “Here I Am (Come and Take Me).” But the talented soul singer, on top of his game, would make one of the major sacrifices of his recording career to start recording and performing religious music through the medium of gospel music. And for over a decade, Green sliced his renowned bluesy-meets-Memphis soul sound into lyrics that were simply bread from heaven. To some, the decision to perform gospel music surrounded the mystical drama that circulated around Green’s confrontation with Mary Woodson and that infamous bowl of grits. Film producer/writer and actor Tyler Perry has turned that incident into a laughing matter - and an iconic event in black history - in his popular movies and stage plays, but for Green it served as a wake-up call to his faith in Jesus Christ. But Green goes on the record to state that a near-death experience during a tumble off stage experience in Cincinnati, Ohio led to the musical transformation. For the most part, the transition into gospel wouldn’t be as difficult as most could have imagined. The music scene in the late ‘70s had changed drastically to cater to pop-disco tunes. And with the wake of a new decade arising, disco music - which accounted for 80% of record sales in the late 70s - began to fade away into the shadows of the immediate public. At this point of time in music history, there really wasn’t a secure outlet for the kings and queens of soul music. But Green found higher ground with gospel - a genre that included everything that summed up his sweaty, vibrant and charismatic style of R&B. In 1976, he became an ordained minister, founded the nondenominational Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis and began to exclusively record gospel music on the Myrrh music label - the black gospel division at Word Records. Let it be said that gospel was never a stranger to Green’s vocabulary and vast music catalog. He wrote and recorded “Jesus Is Waiting” in 1973 and sweetly executed the Kenneth Morris’ hymn “My God Is Real” on the follow-up LP, Livin’ For You. And the 1976 album Full of Fire finds Green cunningly sneaking religion into most of the lyrical content, unlike any of his previous works. It was evident that a gospel record would give birth from Green’s musical loins, but no one expected a full decade of gospel music. In 1980, Al Green recorded The Lord Will Make A Way and featured a number of classic remakes and traditional-flavored originals - yielded by Green’s aggressive soul appeal - including the poignant title cut, “Saved, “In The Holy Name of Jesus,” “Pass Me Not” and the Alex Bradford classic “Too Close.” Produced by Green entirely, the album contained that familiar Willie Mitchell trademark normally associated with his Hi recordings, and gave his loyal fans what they were looking for. While his gospel records didn’t match the sales of his prominent releases of the ‘70s, the album was met with critical acclaim and gave Green his very first Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album in 1981. The sexy organic sounds of Green’s early recordings became even more visible on the 1981 gospel follow-up, Higher Plane. His sensuality, witty humor and a healthy dose of spiritual excitement lit up tracks like “Where Love Rules,” “People Get Ready,” the title cut and the all-too-familiar standard of “Amazing Grace.” The latter selection is still highly used in his modern live sets. This earned Green yet another Grammy and even scraped the R&B charts at number 62. Other albums on the Myrrh label followed including 1982's Precious Lord (another Grammy winner, but stale in comparison to Higher Plane due to its Nashville-country musical direction), 1983's I’ll Rise Again (another Grammy winner with one foot resting in progressive ‘80s R&B and the other in traditional gospel eventually rising to number four on the gospel charts) and 1984's Trust In God. Green also appeared in the gospel musical Your Arms Are Too Short To Box With God with Patti LaBelle in 1982 and also recorded with Word Records’ labelmate Shirley Caesar on thr Grammy-winning “Sailin’ On The Sea of Your Love” in 1984.
After five albums with Myrrh, Green was picked up by A&M Records and continued onward with his career in gospel music. On He Is The Light, Green reunited with longtime friend and producer Willie Mitchell and placing the singer back in a more familiar and comfortable territory. The sound uniquely merged the styles Green began to experiment with in the eighties while highlighting the infamous Hi sound Green’s fans had grown to love and appreciate. Even though the album never bolstered a big hit, songs like “Going Away, “True Love,” a playful version of “Be With Me Jesus” and a cover of the Clark Sisters’ “You Brought The Sunshine” kept the album afloat in gospel music circles. In 1987, Green reached a huge milestone with Soul Survivor; catapulted by the crossover success of the hit single “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” Neither too preachy or too sappy, the song featured a gorgeous groove and a familiar Isley/Jasper/Isley production that made the song an instant favorite on R&B radio. The single went to number 22 on the R&B charts, won a Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Performance and sent the album into the Top 20 on the R&B charts. It was Green’s biggest charting success since his reigning period in the late seventies and it was a breakthrough for crossovers in the world of gospel music. Since then, Green returned once again to recording mainstream soul music while continuing to pastor his church in Memphis. In a 2004 interview with the Boston Globe, Green stated, “I wouldn't sing, `Let's Stay Together,' I wouldn't sing `Love and Happiness,' I wouldn't sing `For the Good Times...but after I grew and learned what God is doing, and what He's designed, I felt like if God did it, it's got to be good. I can sing, `Baby I love you,' and feel good about it." Anyone who finds any conflict between a minister who preaches on Sundays and urges screaming fans to shake their thangs the rest of the week, doesn't understand the curative and unifying power of music, Green says. Besides, he maintains, he's not singing about "some little one-night stands." "People think I'm singing these things about some girlfriend, and that's not the case. I'm singing it because I'm married, have three kids, and I'm getting grandkids now," he says. "It's a family thing. Green’s resurgence back to the soul frontier surrounded the sweet success that came from two duets: one with Annie Lennox in 1988 on the hit pop song “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” (#9 pop/#2 adult contemporary) for the film Scrooged and the R&B Top 40 hit “Put It On Paper” with gospel-R&B sensation Ann Nesby in 2002. Both songs were instrumental in leading Green back to the studio to satisfy his devoted fans; even allowing him to return back to the Hi studios to record with Willie Mitchell in 2003 on the legendary jazz juggernaut label of Blue Note. Currently, Green is touring the U.S.; promoting his highly-acclaimed new release Lay It Down - a project featuring hip-hop producer Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson of the Roots and duets with John Legend, Corrine Bailey Rae and Anthony Hamilton. And no, he is definitely not ashamed of the gospel...not at all. And each and every concert he gives, you are bound to hear him proclaim his praises to the Most High using a few verses of “Amazing Grace” and encouraging the world with the words of “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” The Reverend Al Green’s actions may be a bit misunderstood by the cynical bunch, but they are never underrated or undermined. He is still the legend to the world universal and to the people of God. He’s just not afraid of telling his whole story - the music that made him and the God that loves him and us all. It’s a hearty combination worth shouting about. OTHER VALUABLE RESOURCES TO LOOK INTO:
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