Post by petrolino on May 17, 2019 23:09:48 GMT
Al Green's Spiritual Reawakening
'Al Green Gets Next To You' (Released: August, 1971)
Al Green was tired in 1970; tired of trying to reason, tired of compromise and tired of being alone. As the frontman for outlaw unit Al Greene And The Soul Mates, Green revealed a sly, slinky timbre that could wrap itself around any section of the fretboard. He'd been raised on gospel as a southern boy, but stood corrupted during time spent in the midwest, absorbing the sinful sounds of Jackie Wilson and Wilson Pickett. With his solo career stuttering, Green needed back-up and he found it in songwriter and bandleader Willie Mitchell, who was now overseeing productions at Hi Records. With a new band in tow, Green unleashed his gift for melodic songwriting, penning hits with various members of his band, as well as Mitchell, though often going it alone. If Green worked with 'B3' bandit Charles Hodges, he'd knock out a joyful, old time with the organist. His experimental side gained free reign writing with sideman Mabon 'Teenie' Hodges', the guitar wizard known as 'Bam Bam' who could weave rhythms through rhythms. Green and Mitchell knew their way around an emotional ballad. Green's own songs ranged from intuitive and personal, to empathic and political. Mitchell and the band lifted Green up to become the undisputed King of Hi in the 1970s, while elevating Ann Peebles to become Queen of Hi. There were plenty of bumps in the road but Green navigated them, leading to his eventual rebirth following a brief period of stagnation. Personal demons plagued him but nothing could prevent the Reverend from carrying out his musical duty.
Born in Forrest City, Arkansas, Green understands the state's proud history of musical innovation. Be it Florence Price or Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Louis Jordan or Johnnie Taylor, Arkansas has always had the answer. Musicologist Bill Clinton noted the music of the Orzaks (Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States of America) holds a peculiar kind of mysticism.
"Al Green was born in Forrest City, AR, where he formed a gospel quartet, the Green Brothers, at the age of nine. The group toured throughout the South in the mid-'50s, before the family relocated to Grand Rapids, MI. The Green Brothers continued to perform in Grand Rapids, but Al's father kicked the boy out of the group after he caught his son listening to Jackie Wilson. At the age of 16, Al formed an R&B group, Al Green & the Creations, with several of his high-school friends. Two Creation members, Curtis Rogers and Palmer James, founded their own independent record company, Hot Line Music Journal, and had the group record for the label. By that time, the Creations had been re-named the Soul Mates. The group's first single, "Back Up Train," became a surprise hit, climbing to number five on the R&B charts early in 1968. The Soul Mates attempted to record another hit, but all of their subsequent singles failed to find an audience.
In 1969, Al Green met bandleader and Hi Records vice president Willie Mitchell while on tour in Midland, Texas. Impressed with Green's voice, he signed the singer to Hi Records, and began collaborating with Al on his debut album. Green's debut album, Green Is Blues, showcased the signature sound he and Mitchell devised -- a sinewy, sexy groove highlighted by horn punctuations and string beds that let Green showcase his remarkable falsetto. While the album didn't spawn any hit singles, it was well-received and set the stage for the breakthrough success of his second album. Al Green Gets Next to You (1970) launched his first hit single, "Tired of Being Alone," which began a streak of four straight gold singles."
In 1969, Al Green met bandleader and Hi Records vice president Willie Mitchell while on tour in Midland, Texas. Impressed with Green's voice, he signed the singer to Hi Records, and began collaborating with Al on his debut album. Green's debut album, Green Is Blues, showcased the signature sound he and Mitchell devised -- a sinewy, sexy groove highlighted by horn punctuations and string beds that let Green showcase his remarkable falsetto. While the album didn't spawn any hit singles, it was well-received and set the stage for the breakthrough success of his second album. Al Green Gets Next to You (1970) launched his first hit single, "Tired of Being Alone," which began a streak of four straight gold singles."
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Apple Music
'LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Bill Clinton, once famously described by author Toni Morrison as "our first black president," is being inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame as an honorary member.
The former president will be the first non-black recognized in the hall's 10-year history. He is expected to attend the Saturday night event.
"It is this community's way of saying thank you to him for the work that he has done," Charles Stewart, the hall's chairman and founder.
Clinton and black Arkansans have long had a relationship of mutual admiration.
The honor is in recognition of Clinton's appointment of blacks to high levels in both state and federal government, Stewart said. The group's selection committee also voted for Clinton in part to honor him for the work he has done in his post presidency to combat AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean, Stewart added.
Morrison made her reference to Clinton as the nation's first black president because of what many regard as his understanding of the black condition and because of his upbringing. He grew up poor and was raised for a time by a single mother.
Darren Peters, a former White House staffer during the Clinton administration, said Clinton took a number of black Arkansans, including himself, to Washington.
"During his administration as governor, as well as president, Bill Clinton provided tremendous opportunities for African Americans through his appointments and giving African Americans roles in nontraditional positions," said Peters, who now works for Entergy Arkansas.
"He didn't give handouts but he helped provide the opportunities to give African Americans exposure," Peters said.
The honorary induction "is not in any way an effort to say that Clinton is an African American ... I think it's just a way to honor someone whom African Americans respect and hold in high regard," he said.
Slated for induction into the hall this year are R&B and gospel singer Al Green of Memphis; Dr. Edith Irby Jones of Houston, the first black graduate of the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Al Bell of North Little Rock, the driving force behind Stax Records; award-wining poet Haki Madhubuti of Chicago; Faye Clarke of Long Beach, Calif., co-founder and executive director of the Educate the Children Foundation; and the late Bishop Charles H. Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ Inc.
Former inductees to the hall include poet Maya Angelou; Ebony and Jet magazine publisher John H. Johnson Jr. and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, who was appointed by Clinton.'
The former president will be the first non-black recognized in the hall's 10-year history. He is expected to attend the Saturday night event.
"It is this community's way of saying thank you to him for the work that he has done," Charles Stewart, the hall's chairman and founder.
Clinton and black Arkansans have long had a relationship of mutual admiration.
The honor is in recognition of Clinton's appointment of blacks to high levels in both state and federal government, Stewart said. The group's selection committee also voted for Clinton in part to honor him for the work he has done in his post presidency to combat AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean, Stewart added.
Morrison made her reference to Clinton as the nation's first black president because of what many regard as his understanding of the black condition and because of his upbringing. He grew up poor and was raised for a time by a single mother.
Darren Peters, a former White House staffer during the Clinton administration, said Clinton took a number of black Arkansans, including himself, to Washington.
"During his administration as governor, as well as president, Bill Clinton provided tremendous opportunities for African Americans through his appointments and giving African Americans roles in nontraditional positions," said Peters, who now works for Entergy Arkansas.
"He didn't give handouts but he helped provide the opportunities to give African Americans exposure," Peters said.
The honorary induction "is not in any way an effort to say that Clinton is an African American ... I think it's just a way to honor someone whom African Americans respect and hold in high regard," he said.
Slated for induction into the hall this year are R&B and gospel singer Al Green of Memphis; Dr. Edith Irby Jones of Houston, the first black graduate of the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Al Bell of North Little Rock, the driving force behind Stax Records; award-wining poet Haki Madhubuti of Chicago; Faye Clarke of Long Beach, Calif., co-founder and executive director of the Educate the Children Foundation; and the late Bishop Charles H. Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ Inc.
Former inductees to the hall include poet Maya Angelou; Ebony and Jet magazine publisher John H. Johnson Jr. and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, who was appointed by Clinton.'
- Associated Press (Fox News)
'Angry Republicans would doubtless claim that there is no more fitting Hollywood director to shoot a movie about Bill Clinton than Wes Craven - the creator of such horror-fests as Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street and Last House on the Left. For them, the past eight years have indeed been the nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue.
But Craven was presumably in a more respectful mode when he trailed Bill Clinton around the White House during the former president's last week in office just over a fortnight ago. The resulting documentary will become a centrepiece at the Clinton presidential library currently under construction in Little Rock, Arkansas.'
But Craven was presumably in a more respectful mode when he trailed Bill Clinton around the White House during the former president's last week in office just over a fortnight ago. The resulting documentary will become a centrepiece at the Clinton presidential library currently under construction in Little Rock, Arkansas.'
- Excerpt from 'Nightmare On Pennsylvania Avenue', Associated Press Release (The Guardian)
'I'm A Ram' - Al Green
'Let's Stay Together' (Released: January, 1972)
"When Al Green recorded “Let’s Stay Together” — arguably his masterpiece, definitely his sole #1 hit, generally one of the greatest soul singles of all time — he was singing to a roomful of drunks. The producer Willie Mitchell, who had discovered Green and who had helped Green discover his own voice, knew that Green did his best work onstage, when he was able to play to an audience. So that’s what Mitchell gave him. Mitchell rounded up a few dozen neighborhood drunks, bought a bunch of wine for them, and got them all to sit quietly and watch Al Green record “Let’s Stay Together.” Decades later, Mitchell still had a gleam in his eye when he remembered it: “All the winos, they’re drinking wine, laying on the floor while we cut the record.”
Whatever Mitchell did to get that performance out of Green, it worked. It’s possible that Mitchell understood the miracle of Al Green’s voice better than Green himself did, and “Let’s Stay Together” is a pure showcase of that voice, of the feats it can accomplish and the feelings it can evoke."
Whatever Mitchell did to get that performance out of Green, it worked. It’s possible that Mitchell understood the miracle of Al Green’s voice better than Green himself did, and “Let’s Stay Together” is a pure showcase of that voice, of the feats it can accomplish and the feelings it can evoke."
- Tom Breihan, 'The Number Ones'
"Rather unexpectedly, one of the first lessons in my ‘Guitar Guidance sessions’ involves one simple suggestion, that is – Go listen to Al Green. Whether it be one of his more well known songs – Let’s Stay Together, Tired Of Being Alone, Take Me To The River or I’m Still In Love With You, or a lesser known album track, Al Green epitomizes ‘Feel’ and for me that’s what it’s all about."
- Marty-Willson Piper, In Deep Music Archive
"To a greater extent than even his predecessors Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, Al Green (née Albert Greene) embodies soul music’s mix of sacred and secular."
- Reuben Tasker, Al Green Scholars
Al Green & Willie Mitchell
'So You're Leaving' - Al Green
'I'm Still In Love With You' (Released: October, 1972)
"Born in 1946, Al Green is a living legend. He has had a long and prolific career spanning soul music to gospel. His early 70s work is still considered by may as his finest hour. Although Al Green' second long player of 1972 has the distinct sexy style of his preceding album, I'm Still In Love With You is exceptional as it finds Green developing a suave romantic tone and becoming more ambitious with his song writing and selections.
Covers of Kris Kristofferson's For The Good Times, and Roy Orbison's Oh Pretty Woman find Green exploring country music and bravely reinterpreting classics with some wonderful results. Alongside these covers, the album harbours some of Greens most inspirational moments songs such as Simply Beautiful and Love And Happiness. The consistently high quality maintained throughout the album has led some critics to argue that I'm Still In Love With You rivals Call Me as Green's masterpiece."
Covers of Kris Kristofferson's For The Good Times, and Roy Orbison's Oh Pretty Woman find Green exploring country music and bravely reinterpreting classics with some wonderful results. Alongside these covers, the album harbours some of Greens most inspirational moments songs such as Simply Beautiful and Love And Happiness. The consistently high quality maintained throughout the album has led some critics to argue that I'm Still In Love With You rivals Call Me as Green's masterpiece."
- David O'Donnell, The British Broadcasting Corporation
"Being the record geek that I am, in my bedroom, above my bed, are mounted four album covers. They represent a mix of both my favorite and most influential LPs in my young musical audiobiography and are my way of not-so-subtly saying to those who visit -- "Hey, Oliver really must like these LPs since he has them framed. In his room. Above his bed. Where one of them could fall and crush his skull in his sleep."
Just to retain some mystery, I won't reveal what all four LPs are though I will share that the album that begins the quartet is Al Green's I'm Still In Love With You, undoubtedly one of all-time favorite albums and more importantly, my so-called "desert island disc". In other words, if I were forced to spend eternity listening to one album, I would, without hesitation, select Green's 1972 classic to be my musical companion until the end of days.
I first discovered Al Green in a Berkeley flea market. Of course, I had heard "Let's Stay Together" on the radio -- loved the song -- but never managed to follow-up on that piqued interest to listen to his albums. And then one day, probably in 1994 or '95, I heard the most gorgeous soul songs coming out of a boombox at the Ashby Flea Market. A budding entrepreneur had recorded his own "best of" compilations of different soul and reggae artists and he was playing selections from Green's Let's Stay Together and I'm Still In Love With You LPs. I purchased one for $10 and promptly wore the tape to static, playing it over and over and then making dubs for friends, assuming that they probably had never heard an Al Green album simply because I hadn't (this was likely a poor assumption but I was so eager to share what I thought was an amazing discovery that I never stopped to think -- hey, this guy's probably really popular).
I also went out and purchased Green's holy triumphirate of Hi Records albums: Let's Stay Together, I'm Still In Love With You, and Call Me. I realize that the latter is the critics' favorite and Let's Stay Together is probably one of his best sellers but I instantly -- and permanently -- gravitated to the songs on I'm Still In Love With You.
On a basic level, the album simply boasts superior songwriting and arrangement/production but it probably took me years to really even appreciate it on an analytical level. Instead, what I was so taken with on that first listen -- and what takes me every time I play it -- is how it evokes moments of beauty so intense that I lose my consciousness in them. As a music critic forced to listen to music 24/7, it's hard for me to lose myself in very many albums these days, but I'm Still In Love With You never fails to envelop me into the crushed velvet sound of Willie Mitchell's production and plaintive edge of Green's wails, cries, and croons."
Just to retain some mystery, I won't reveal what all four LPs are though I will share that the album that begins the quartet is Al Green's I'm Still In Love With You, undoubtedly one of all-time favorite albums and more importantly, my so-called "desert island disc". In other words, if I were forced to spend eternity listening to one album, I would, without hesitation, select Green's 1972 classic to be my musical companion until the end of days.
I first discovered Al Green in a Berkeley flea market. Of course, I had heard "Let's Stay Together" on the radio -- loved the song -- but never managed to follow-up on that piqued interest to listen to his albums. And then one day, probably in 1994 or '95, I heard the most gorgeous soul songs coming out of a boombox at the Ashby Flea Market. A budding entrepreneur had recorded his own "best of" compilations of different soul and reggae artists and he was playing selections from Green's Let's Stay Together and I'm Still In Love With You LPs. I purchased one for $10 and promptly wore the tape to static, playing it over and over and then making dubs for friends, assuming that they probably had never heard an Al Green album simply because I hadn't (this was likely a poor assumption but I was so eager to share what I thought was an amazing discovery that I never stopped to think -- hey, this guy's probably really popular).
I also went out and purchased Green's holy triumphirate of Hi Records albums: Let's Stay Together, I'm Still In Love With You, and Call Me. I realize that the latter is the critics' favorite and Let's Stay Together is probably one of his best sellers but I instantly -- and permanently -- gravitated to the songs on I'm Still In Love With You.
On a basic level, the album simply boasts superior songwriting and arrangement/production but it probably took me years to really even appreciate it on an analytical level. Instead, what I was so taken with on that first listen -- and what takes me every time I play it -- is how it evokes moments of beauty so intense that I lose my consciousness in them. As a music critic forced to listen to music 24/7, it's hard for me to lose myself in very many albums these days, but I'm Still In Love With You never fails to envelop me into the crushed velvet sound of Willie Mitchell's production and plaintive edge of Green's wails, cries, and croons."
- Oliver Wang, Pop Matters
"In my white turtleneck, white patent leather shoes with the stacked heels and just a touch of diamond and gold, I was as cool and in control as the music between that cover."
- Al Green, 'I'm Still In Love With You'
'Love And Happiness' - Al Green
'Call Me' (Released: April, 1973)
"Willie Mitchell’s production style continues to impress me with its consistency, restraint and understanding of Al Green’s special needs. Because the singer disdains most forms of discipline, preferring to let his voice wander into every nook and cranny of the modest melodies he writes, turning phrases inside out, and wreaking havoc with vocal structure in general, he requires the leveling force of a steady band playing tight, clean arrangements. Mitchell and Co. provide the latter, unafraid of the criticism that he and Green are repeating themselves. If something is good they stay with it.
And — if the lovely “You Ought to Be with Me” is another chapter in the “Let’s Stay Together” book, it’s a damn good chapter and I enjoy it all the more for the similarities it shares with the earlier song. In fact, I wouldn’t mind hearing a 40-minute album made up of the basic Al Green riff, but that is, no doubt, a minority taste."
And — if the lovely “You Ought to Be with Me” is another chapter in the “Let’s Stay Together” book, it’s a damn good chapter and I enjoy it all the more for the similarities it shares with the earlier song. In fact, I wouldn’t mind hearing a 40-minute album made up of the basic Al Green riff, but that is, no doubt, a minority taste."
- Jon Landau, Rolling Stone
"It's odd how completely Al Green avoids one of pop and soul music's most popular conventions, the "She Done Me Wrong" song. It doesn't matter if you're Marvin Gaye or Axl Rose, at some point in career, and more likely many points, you are going to record a song about some woman who did you wrong, and how either you hope she's happy in the arms of her new man (but not really meaning it) or else plan to hunt her down and kill her like the dog she is. There are pop acts like ELO and Hall & Oates who do nothing but these songs, and country and soul music have their purveyors of this thematic staple as well.
So what's with Green? He not only never seemed to record a song like this, he didn't even come close. Like on this record, you start with two anthems of breakup heartbreak, but the titles tell the whole story, "Call Me" and "Have You Been Making Out O.K.?" These are both songs of winning craft and subtlety, especially the latter with its multi-tracked vocals and clear message it's really the singer asking himself: "Can you make it on your own." He doesn't mean his old love any harm, he's sorry she's moved on, but will always treasure the times they shared. I didn't think men could think this way without drugs."
So what's with Green? He not only never seemed to record a song like this, he didn't even come close. Like on this record, you start with two anthems of breakup heartbreak, but the titles tell the whole story, "Call Me" and "Have You Been Making Out O.K.?" These are both songs of winning craft and subtlety, especially the latter with its multi-tracked vocals and clear message it's really the singer asking himself: "Can you make it on your own." He doesn't mean his old love any harm, he's sorry she's moved on, but will always treasure the times they shared. I didn't think men could think this way without drugs."
- Bill Slocum, Starling
"Call Me is considered by many to be the definitive soul album of the 1970s; spare, sparse, funky, and razor sharp."
- Conor O'Shea, '70s Soul Explosion'
Rufus Thomas, Ann Peebles & Al Green
'Here I Am (Come And Take Me)' - Al Green
'Livin' For You' (Released: December, 1973)
"Al Green and Willie Mitchell developed their style long ago. The superb house band lays down steady, tight and uncluttered rhythm tracks, while Green sings around the arrangement, feinting vocal jabs here and there, and landing solidly in the groove only at moments of greatest intensity. The contrast is most evident in the play-off between his free-flowing singing and the rock-steady, spare drumming of Al Grimes and Al Jackson, Jr., the latter the cornerstone of the now defunct and sorely missed Stax rhythm section.
Livin’ For You contains no dramatic departures from the approach. But Green’s decision to write most of the material and serve as co-producer has resulted in a subtly more personal work. He sustains a new level of intensity and has redeveloped the art of soul dynamics almost as if it hadn’t existed before."
Livin’ For You contains no dramatic departures from the approach. But Green’s decision to write most of the material and serve as co-producer has resulted in a subtly more personal work. He sustains a new level of intensity and has redeveloped the art of soul dynamics almost as if it hadn’t existed before."
- Jon Landau, Rolling Stone
'Free At Last' - Al Green
'Al Green Explores Your Mind' (Released: October, 1974)
"When writer Toni Morrison said that black artists always seem to move with ease, she was talking about someone like Al Green. He sings from the side of his mouth, seemingly straight from the heart — his every sigh, mutter, trill and moan worth 100 twenty-dollar words — yet it seems like he’s just being Al. Which isn’t to say that 1973’s Call Me, now remastered to full luster, isn’t about amazing singing, from phenomenal falsetto hollers to deep-throated innuendoes. Green delivers the seductive come-on “You Ought to Be With Me” with the righteousness of a holy man, and in “Jesus Is Waiting,” he cries out like a man trapped in an ecstatic experience that’s both spiritual and carnal. Explores Your Mind is earthier: The great soul singer revels in zipperless sex (the almost whimsical “One Nite Stand”) and longs for innocence (the doo-wop-haunted “School Days”). The most poignant moment is “The City,” wherein Green, who in 1974 was already quite world-weary, rapturously describes the bright lights and fame awaiting him in a distant metropolis. When he was singing about it, even ambition sounded like an act of faith."
- Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone
Al Jackson Jr.
'One Nite Stand' - Al Green
'Al Green Is Love' (Released: August, 1975)
"As Al Green Explores Your Mind was the peak of Green's insouciance, Al Green Is Love finds a starker reality -- the majority of the tracks here are ruminative but not always coherent. The first track, the propulsive "L-O-V-E (Love)," would be even more believable if Green didn't sound so ambivalent. Other up-tempo tracks, "I Gotta Be More" and "Rhymes," are edgy and dark, with great riffs from guitarist Mabon Hodges. The heart of Al Green Is Love is the ballads, though Green's not very happy, and those looking for heartwarming thoughts on romance won't find it here. "The Love Sermon" and, even better, "I Didn't Know" are spare, dirge-like songs that give Green great opportunities to turn in raw and emotional performances. "I Wish You Were Here" and "Could I Be the One" have producer Willie Mitchell offering suitably bleak arrangements to go with Green's airy vocals. The best track here, "There Is Love," strikes a balance between the customary production grace and the album's pervading sorrow. Al Green Is Love might be too depressing for some, but his fans will find Green's truthfulness appealing and some of the songs among his best."
- Jason Elias, Allmusic
'Love Ritual' - Al Green
'Full Of Fire' (Released: February, 1976) / 'Have A Good Time' (Released: November, 1976)
Al Green could never put his troubles behind him and violence was never far from the truth. His friends and fellow musicians often ran into trouble and Green went off the rails on numerous occasions. He became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976, and his two albums released in this year lacked his trademark tension and pinpoint focus. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy them, but not in the way I enjoy what had come before.
As a result of this artistic malaise, Green abandoned the band and moved on to new challenges.
"I see it's drum celebration day. Here's two i trust are receiving their just hosannahs. Al Jackson & Howard Grimes. They created a sound that has pulsed throughout my life..."
- Danny Baker, Twitter
Hi Rhythm
'Somebody's On Your Case' - Ann Peebles / 'You Can't Hold A Man' - Ann Peebles
..
'The Belle Album' (Released: December, 1977)
"The gospel aesthetic is the cornerstone of soul music. Artists such as Solomon Burke, Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin grew up singing in church choirs and went on to build secular careers that drew from those gospel roots. Al Green belongs to this illustrious group.
Green has been called an heir to Otis Redding. Like Redding, he is a formidable singer-songwriter, but that’s where the similarities end. Green’s voice can be as gritty as Redding’s, but he’s never been a shouter. His voice is smoother, offering red-hot embers instead of sizzle. His songs are a virtuoso display of emotion peppered with sweet pleadings, swooping falsettos, and passionate growls. Green’s singular vocal timbre made him a constant presence in the early seventies with chart-topping hits such as Tired Of Being Alone, Livin’ For You, and Let’s Stay Together.
Come the mid-seventies, and all was not well. By his own account, Green’s spiritual beliefs were in conflict with the life he was living. His womanizing, drinking and drug consumption were leading to stress and mental anguish. It all came to a head on October 18, 1974 when an ex-girlfriend dumped boiling grits on Green while he was bathing, then killed herself with his gun. The incident was a wake-up call for Green to change his life. He decided to devote himself to the church, becoming an ordained pastor for the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976.
The three secular albums that followed his religious conversion were uninspired and sales were starting to sag as disco gained a stronghold in the charts. It seemed Green was still a man torn in two. He took time to regroup, building a studio and working on the songs that appear on The Belle Album.
The album marked a turning point in Green’s career. For the first time, he was working without the guidance of longtime producer Willie Mitchell and the familiar backup of the Hi Records’ rhythm section. He decided to handle the production alone and even played a great deal of the guitar parts. This was to be a personal album, and there would be no room for second-guessing.
Green has been called an heir to Otis Redding. Like Redding, he is a formidable singer-songwriter, but that’s where the similarities end. Green’s voice can be as gritty as Redding’s, but he’s never been a shouter. His voice is smoother, offering red-hot embers instead of sizzle. His songs are a virtuoso display of emotion peppered with sweet pleadings, swooping falsettos, and passionate growls. Green’s singular vocal timbre made him a constant presence in the early seventies with chart-topping hits such as Tired Of Being Alone, Livin’ For You, and Let’s Stay Together.
Come the mid-seventies, and all was not well. By his own account, Green’s spiritual beliefs were in conflict with the life he was living. His womanizing, drinking and drug consumption were leading to stress and mental anguish. It all came to a head on October 18, 1974 when an ex-girlfriend dumped boiling grits on Green while he was bathing, then killed herself with his gun. The incident was a wake-up call for Green to change his life. He decided to devote himself to the church, becoming an ordained pastor for the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976.
The three secular albums that followed his religious conversion were uninspired and sales were starting to sag as disco gained a stronghold in the charts. It seemed Green was still a man torn in two. He took time to regroup, building a studio and working on the songs that appear on The Belle Album.
The album marked a turning point in Green’s career. For the first time, he was working without the guidance of longtime producer Willie Mitchell and the familiar backup of the Hi Records’ rhythm section. He decided to handle the production alone and even played a great deal of the guitar parts. This was to be a personal album, and there would be no room for second-guessing.
The Belle Album is secular, but it barely fits that category. Green walks a tightrope between the soul music of the day and his spiritual concerns. Take for instance a song like Chariots of Fire, which has a tight funk groove in the style of James Brown. Your feet start tapping and you forget the song’s about gaining a path to heaven. Yet Green is aware he can’t have it both ways. This is a man who is no longer torn. He’s made his choice, and the title song makes a bold statement: “It’s you that I want, but it’s Him that I need”. Belle engages us as a sweet soul ballad, but in feel and delivery it’s pure gospel. By the song’s end Green’s testifying leaves no doubt that this is a love song to the Lord. This new-found joy permeates the pop-oriented Loving You, the breezy, piano-tinged Feels Like Summer, and the uptempo I Feel Good; all lavished with subtle arrangements and delicate shadings learned from Willie Mitchell.
In contrast, Georgia Boy has a simple bass and hi-hat groove. Green’s voice seems to ride over it as he extols being true to his country roots. All In All should have been a single; it has a great vocal performance, a pulsing Motown beat, and an infectious horn arrangement. Dream rounds off the album with a lazy, late-night feel that gives room for Green to improvise around the melody.
The title song climbed up to number nine on the R&B charts, but it didn’t rescue Green from slipping sales. In the carnal days of 1977, The Belle Album sounded out of time; the worshipers of Baal wanted none of it. Green would record one more secular album (Truth ‘N Time) before deciding to devote all his energies to gospel singing and pastoring his church. The decision was spurred by a bad fall from a stage in 1979, which Green took as a sign."
In contrast, Georgia Boy has a simple bass and hi-hat groove. Green’s voice seems to ride over it as he extols being true to his country roots. All In All should have been a single; it has a great vocal performance, a pulsing Motown beat, and an infectious horn arrangement. Dream rounds off the album with a lazy, late-night feel that gives room for Green to improvise around the melody.
The title song climbed up to number nine on the R&B charts, but it didn’t rescue Green from slipping sales. In the carnal days of 1977, The Belle Album sounded out of time; the worshipers of Baal wanted none of it. Green would record one more secular album (Truth ‘N Time) before deciding to devote all his energies to gospel singing and pastoring his church. The decision was spurred by a bad fall from a stage in 1979, which Green took as a sign."
- Angel Aguilar, No Ripcord
"Al Green and Willie Mitchell dissolved their partnership in 1976, and with it went the Hi Records band and access to the cinema studio. Green built a new studio and recruited new players; he also bought a church – the Full Gospel Tabernacle, in Memphis – and became its pastor. The Belle Album was his first after the split with Mitchell, and the last for decades that would include anything but gospel material. Parts of it have weathered better than others: where Mitchell had introduced strings, Green’s production prefers a thin synthesiser, a sound that occasionally sits ill amid the classic AG sound. Georgia Boy, however, remains a delight.
Perhaps even more so than his covers of Hank Williams or Willie Nelson, the song takes us back to the rural south of Green’s childhood, and reveals him as a country singer, just one who’s operating in a different genre. The textured throb of Ruben Fairfax, Jr’s bass and Green’s own guitar work recall the acoustic funk of Bill Withers, while the spacious, open production conveys both relaxation and urgency, as well as a sense of mysteries lying just below the surface. You’re reminded of the story Green told in his book when, shortly after relocating to Memphis, he took a drive into Arkansas to try to find the village he’d grown up in, only to realise everyone had left and barely a trace of it remained.
By the time The Belle Album was released, Green was a few months into a marriage with former backing singer and church administrator Shirley Kyles: a relationship his autobiography omits to mention. In later interviews and in court filings, Kyles described beatings, violence and abuse that began the day after their wedding. There were numerous incidences requiring stitches, and one that took place when she was five months pregnant. In November 1979, she tried to shoot him, but missed. In divorce depositions, Green admitted to the abuse. Their relationship more recently appears at least cordial: in a 2014 profile, the Washington Post’s Chris Richards noted her presence at a Full Gospel Tabernacle service Green was leading."
- Angus Batey, The Guardian
"Of course, musical taste is highly subjective. Until the countertenor renaissance in the second half of the 20th century, the high male voice was largely considered a freakish aberration. "Now for a novelty!" read the title card for a 1932 performance by the British soprano Frank Ivallo. "The man with a woman's voice!"
It's just as well that pop musicians didn't let such attitudes stop them. Imagine how the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive would sound if the Gibb brothers had sung an octave lower - or what Al Green's voice would be like devoid of its cries, hums and yelps. Green, for one, understands the orgasmic power wielded by a man singing up high. Talking about his most recent album, Lay It Down, he told an interviewer earlier this year: "Baby, there's love in it, out it, on the side of it, on top of it, on the bottom of it. It's basically to evoke emotion - and love, love, love".
- Chloe Veltman, The Guardian
It's just as well that pop musicians didn't let such attitudes stop them. Imagine how the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive would sound if the Gibb brothers had sung an octave lower - or what Al Green's voice would be like devoid of its cries, hums and yelps. Green, for one, understands the orgasmic power wielded by a man singing up high. Talking about his most recent album, Lay It Down, he told an interviewer earlier this year: "Baby, there's love in it, out it, on the side of it, on top of it, on the bottom of it. It's basically to evoke emotion - and love, love, love".
- Chloe Veltman, The Guardian
'Georgia Boy' - Al Green
'Truth N' Time' (Released: March, 1979)
"Reports that Al Green was no longer writing all his own material worried some supporters, but in fact composition has counted for very little in Green's recent work and is generally improved here. Truth N' Time is his most careful and concise music since Livin' for You; in fact, it's too damn concise, clocking in at 26:39 for eight cuts, although the sustaining 6:07-minute disco disc version of "Wait Here" would have put it over half an hour. None of the originals are quite up to "Belle" or "I Feel Good," but every song is solid, and two audacious covers of songs heretofore recorded exclusively by women are his best in five years. The intensity of the 2:12-minute "I Say a Little Prayer" (dig that male chorus) is precious in a time of dance-length cuts, and although I know Green devotes "To Sir With Love" to his dad, I'm glad Proposition 6 was defeated before its release."
- Robert Christgau, Dean Of American Rock Critics
"Al Green is so charismatic he could make you wonder about the taste of Guyanese Flavoraid. There’s an element of danger about everything he does, a sense that at any moment he could be revealed as a complete charlatan—and that it wouldn’t matter. If he hadn’t been a great musician, he might have become a master street politician or a preacher (he’s dabbled with the latter anyway). What saved him was his vision.
While Truth n’ Time, Green’s second self-produced and mostly self-written LP, lacks the monumental peaks of last year’s The Belle Album, it has much more focus. Al Green is now involved in the full-scale exploration of black musical forms, and he takes on a wide variety here: gospel (“King of All”), disco (“Happy. Days,” “Truth n’ Time”) and pop (“To Sir with Love,” “Say a Little Prayer”) are only the most obvious. These genres shift and overlap, so that Green preaches during the most danceable cuts and dances through the most preachy. In “Wait Here,” he even explores the blues. “Going down to Memphis/See what I can see,” he sings in the second verse, echoing Ma Rainey’s primordial “See See Rider,” then later adds: “Gonna wait here till my rider comes.” The surface of “Wait Here” is just modern dance music, but underneath it, there are about four hundred years of black cultural history. The message is still inchoate: Is Green aiming to make his listeners restive or disruptive?
Maybe both. Al Green isn’t only a visionary, he’s something of a mystic, too. Truth n’ Time views these two concepts as inseparable, and if Green is enough of a rationalist to contend that all we need is time, he’s also sufficiently adept at metaphysics to view time as a very elastic concept. He has to see it that way. Otherwise, how could he control the tempos of his records so beautifully?"
While Truth n’ Time, Green’s second self-produced and mostly self-written LP, lacks the monumental peaks of last year’s The Belle Album, it has much more focus. Al Green is now involved in the full-scale exploration of black musical forms, and he takes on a wide variety here: gospel (“King of All”), disco (“Happy. Days,” “Truth n’ Time”) and pop (“To Sir with Love,” “Say a Little Prayer”) are only the most obvious. These genres shift and overlap, so that Green preaches during the most danceable cuts and dances through the most preachy. In “Wait Here,” he even explores the blues. “Going down to Memphis/See what I can see,” he sings in the second verse, echoing Ma Rainey’s primordial “See See Rider,” then later adds: “Gonna wait here till my rider comes.” The surface of “Wait Here” is just modern dance music, but underneath it, there are about four hundred years of black cultural history. The message is still inchoate: Is Green aiming to make his listeners restive or disruptive?
Maybe both. Al Green isn’t only a visionary, he’s something of a mystic, too. Truth n’ Time views these two concepts as inseparable, and if Green is enough of a rationalist to contend that all we need is time, he’s also sufficiently adept at metaphysics to view time as a very elastic concept. He has to see it that way. Otherwise, how could he control the tempos of his records so beautifully?"
- Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone
