Al Green: 'I can't stop' making soul music and praising God - Cover Story

Ebony, April, 2004 by Lynn Norment

IT'S a sunny afternoon in Memphis, and the Rev. Al Green is preaching his Sunday sermon at Full Gospel Tabernacle. His is a singing ministry. He preaches a while, then he sings. He preaches, he sings, blending it all so naturally. The reverend is simply attired in a black robe; around his neck hangs a long gold chain with a gold cross. He paces back and forth behind the pulpit, and up and down the few steps that separate him from the front pews. "Jesus will fix it," he sings.

"I wasn't looking for God, but God found me," he tells the congregation, referring to that day in 1973 when he was "saved" while in a San Francisco hotel room. "Success is not having a lot of money. I had a lot of money, but I was still lonely. I had a nice house, but a house is not a home."

Then he sings, repeatedly, "Praises go up, blessings Come down." The congregation joins in.

Worshipping at this mid-day service is a variety of people from all walks of life, some dressed in traditional Sunday attire, others in jeans and khakis. Blacks and Whites, senior citizens and young children. There are even visitors from other states and from Europe. Three hours after the service Begins, Rev. Green closes with Communion. Then, draped in an ankle-length mink coat, he hurries to the car waiting to take him home so he can eat dinner and rest before returning to church for a 4 p.m. service.

The following afternoon, Al Green is in high spirits as he recalls the previous day's two services. Despite the downpour outside his Al Green Music offices, it is not raining in his heart, as he sings in the bluesy song on his new CD. He is in a great mood, and he has every reason to be. As only Al Green can, he harmoniously has blended his worlds: the church, contemporary gospel music and his career as a soul singer. His new CD, I Can't Stop, is said to be among the best secular recordings of his career. That's a powerful statement, considering this is the man who defined soul in the late '60s and early '70s with hits such as "Tired of Being Alone," "Let's Stay Together," "I Can't Get Next To You," "I'm Still in Love With You," and "Love and Happiness."

With a unique gravelly voice that effortlessly slides into a silky falsetto, he sold millions of records and, say his fans, was inspiration for the conception of hundreds of children. Some were stunned when in 1976 the soul singer announced he had undergone a life-changing experience, that he was "born again," had been ordained as a minister and founded a church. (During that same period, a woman at Green's home poured hot cereal on Green while he was bathing, then killed herself.) In the ensuing years, he released only contemporary gospel albums. And he won a string of Grammy Awards, an honor that had eluded him earlier in his career.

Early in 2003, Green was inspired to record a secular album by his longtime friend, the legendary Memphis producer Willie Mitchell, who had worked with him on his R&B hits and whom Green credits for helping to find his "voice" and consequently stardom. "I told Willie I wanted to do the CD, and he said, 'I've been asking you about doing this CD for 18 years. You jiving me.' I met him at the studio and we started writing at the piano. Willie said, 'I want your blood, sweat and tears in the mix of the lyrics and music.'"

The collaboration resulted in a recording that captures the unique sound they created decades ago, a wonderful blend of Memphis soul, down-home blues and contemporary gospel. When the CD was released, debate raged on Memphis radio concerning whether the reverend should have recorded R&B music. Green had asked his church for permission to record secular music. "My church said that if you are talking about the kind of love you talk about every Sunday, the kind of love you talk about here at church, then that's okay," Green says. "It should be the kind of love that lasts. If that's what you're singing about, you've got to put the CD out.

"I hear people saying, 'Well, he's gone back to R&B, he's switching sides.' My idea about being faithful to my calling is that on Sunday, I'll be here in the service, but I've also got to deal with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That's what I'm singing about."

During concert performances, Green effortlessly blends his repertoire of music. "I do gospel, contemporary Christian music, R&B," he says. "Everybody wants to see the total Al. They know that I've been preaching for 25 years. The fans want me to show them everything. I do 'Amazing Grace' on the show, and I do 'Let's Stay Together.'"

True to the lyrics of his hit single "I Can't Stop," Green says he's already writing songs for a follow-up to this Blue Note success. He also is writing a contemporary gospel album and a jazz album. "I want to follow the art," he says. "It's not that I'm trying to be unfaithful, but I'm following the art. This is what I do: paint canvasses with songs, it's what I've been doing since I was a kid."

Al Green is one of 10 children born to former Arkansas sharecroppers. When he was a kid, the family loaded up the pickup truck and moved to Michigan. Green says he was always a loner, always an "introvert." In shop class one day, wearing protective glasses and earmuffs, he began singing to himself. "I looked around and the whole class was gathered behind me," he recalls. "And everybody was going, "Hey, man, that is fantastic.' That was the first time that I ever heard that I could sing."