Soul Full of Gospel
Monterey Blues Festival 2003
He might tell you that Gospel is more than just a musical style—it’s a part of life. “I was raised on it,” he once explained to an interviewer, “It was put into my cornbread” So goes the Gospel according to Al Green. The reverend Al Green. The right Reverend Al Green, pastor of Full Gospel Tabernacle, thank you very much.
Those who happened to be paying attention during the Eighties will tell you that back then, Al Green was going through some dramatic changes. One of the giants of soul music in the seventies was in the process of becoming a giant in the world of gospel music. Not only was he going through an artistic transformation but he was undergoing a spiritual one as well. And while it’s true that he bought the aforementioned church in Memphis Tennessee in1976, that’s only a snapshot of a bigger story.
It all begins in Forrest City, Arkansas, where on April 13 1946, Al Green was born to a family of sharecroppers. At the age of 9 he began touring with his siblings as the Green Brothers, performing at a few local Baptist churches. They eventually enlarged their circle of appearances to include stops throughout the South and Midwest on the gospel circuit.
The Green family moved to Grand Rapids Michigan and the Brothers continued to perform. But the lure of the R & B sounds of Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke were too much for Al to resist. In 1964 he formed his own R & B group, Al Green and the Creations.
The next three years brought the band some regional success, and a few local hits. After two of the band members decided to start a record company, Hot Line Music Journal, the group changed their name to Al Green and the Soul Mates.
In late 1967, the new group wrote and produced an R & B hit “Back up Train” that spent 12 weeks on the “Billboard Hot 100” reaching #41, and making it all the way to #5 on the R & B charts. But success was short lived for the Soul Mates. Unable to produce another hit, the group disbanded.
After a tough tour on the Southeast chitlin’ circuit as a solo performer, Al got his big break after a chance meeting with record producer Willie Mitchell. It would mark the beginning of a remarkable singing career. Throughout the Seventies the soul sounds of Al Green graced the Pop and R & B charts, bringing him a number of successive Gold albums and singles, including the #1 hit “Let’s Stay Together.” The man who used to sing gospel in his home town Baptist church was now being called a soul superstar.
In 1979, Green followed his stellar success with a major career move. He retired from secular music. It was an unconventional change of direction by ordinary show-biz standards. Yet for Green, it turned out to be a remarkable new breakthrough.
Al Green’s gospel revival of the Eighties not only produced a flurry of hits, but it brought him additional artistic distinction too. Now his work was earning him Grammy Awards. Eight to be exact. And with new acclaim came new opportunities. In 1982 he co-starred with Patty Labelle in the Gospel musical “Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.”
Again, the career of the reverend Green took on a new course, but in a most unexpected fashion. In 1994 he teamed up with Country star Lyle Lovett on a remake of the Willie Nelson song “Funny How Time Slips Away.” That song brought him yet another Grammy.
More accolades were to come. In 1995 Al Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And just last year he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 Grammy Awards.