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Al Green biography
AL GREEN BIOGRAPHY
Lush strings, great arrangements and sexy vocals with wild moans and wails all contributed to Al Green becoming the most influential soul singer of the '70s. His falsetto vocal love songs blended gospel elements with a deep Southern soul sound that would influence artists like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. But in the 80s Green put the bump 'n' grind on the backburner as he discovered religion and became ordained as a Church Minister, operating under the Cluedo aping name, the Rev Green.
Al Green was born in Forrest City, Arkansas on 13 April, 1946. The son of a sharecropper, by the age of 9 Green was singing in a gospel band together with his brothers Robert, Walter and William. But his father dropped him from the group during a tour of the South after he was caught listening to the raucous soul of the secular Jackie Wilson. By the time Green was 16 he had formed his own outfit, Al Green & The Creations with high school friends. Their 1967 single Back Up Train, released under the name Al Greene and the Soul Mates, was a hit on the US R&B chart.
Soon after his decision in 1969 to begin a solo career, Al Green met producer Willie Mitchell, the renowned bandleader, arranger, trumpeter and vice President of Hi Records. Mitchell signed Green to the label and the partnership seemed to gel effortlessly. Mitchell took Green under his wing, coaching him to find his own, unique voice at a time when Green had previously been trying to sing like his heroes Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Sam Cooke.
Green's incredible falsetto voice blended with Mitchell's template of lush horn and string arrangments that helped to establish Green's 'love man' persona. Green's debut album, Green Is Blues, was released in 1970. It was a slow, horn-driven album that allowed Green to show off his powerful and expressive voice.
But it was Green's second album, Al Green Gets Next To You, that would launch his career. The album spawned the classic Tired Of Being Alone. Follow up single, Let's Stay together, taken from the album of the same name, was a US No.1 bringing Green international success. Between 1972-1973 Green would achieve another six consecutive Top 10 singles including Look What You Done For Me, I'm Still In Love With You and Here I Am (Come and Take Me).
But Green's life underwent a dramatic change in October 1974 when his girlfriend, Mary Woodson attacked Green, pouring boiling food over him (after he had rejected her marriage proposal). Woodson then killed herself with Green's gun. Green, who suffered second degree burns in the attack, began to re-evaluate his life and career. He came to believe that the attack was a sign from God and he decided to follow a life in the Church. By 1976 he had become pastor of the Full gospel Tabernacle in Memphis. Green's popularity on the charts also started to wane. 1977's Belle Album was critically acclaimed but did not regain his former mass audience. In 1979, Green accidentally fell off the stage during a concert. Although not seriously injured, he took it as another heavenly sign that he should follow a career in the church. From 1981 to 1989 Green recorded self-produced religious music, released through his own studio, American Music. The albums met with mixed critical acclaim and negligible sales.
Green returned to pop briefly in 1988 for a duet with Annie Lennox, Put A Little Love In Your Heart, taken from the Bill Murray film, Scrooged. The song became a Top 10 UK hit. Green's 1994 duet Funny How Time Slips Away, with country music singer Lyle Lovett, blended country with R&B, earning him his ninth Grammy of his career, this time in a pop music category. Green released his first secular album in years in 1995 with Your Heart's In Good Hands. The album received positive reviews but poor sales. In the same year Green was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Of Fame. The Grammys presented Green with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.
In 2003 Green reunited with Willie Mitchell for the album I Can't Stop. The album re-captured much of his mid-70s soul heyday and was hailed as a return to form by critics.
Despite his career turns, Al Green's classic 70s recordings still retain their power and have set the benchmark for any smooth soul performers who follow in his wake.
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