Balancing life, love and the Lord
It doesn’t take much to get Al Green -- the Rev. Al Green, that is -- up on his pulpit. Especially when the subject is love.
The most acclaimed soul singer since Ray Charles has seen love, experienced it and sung about it from many perspectives: as an R&B; sex symbol in the 1970s, as a reborn gospel singer and preacher in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and lately as a man who has struck a balance between the secular and the spiritual.
When Green decided last year to reunite with his longtime songwriting partner and producer Willie Mitchell -- with whom he created some of the most enticing, sensual soul records ever in “Let’s Stay Together,†“Tired of Being Alone†and “You Ought to Be With Me†-- his first stop was his mother’s house. Then he took their first secular album in 27 years, “I Can’t Stop,†to his church congregation.
“I played my album for them first, to see if there was any disapproval of it,†Green, 58, says from his Memphis home. “They said, ‘Al, you’re singing about love,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’m singing about love between a man and a woman, a husband and wife, a girlfriend and boyfriend.’ â€
That starts the 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee on a roll, one that joins his inner preacher to his outer singer, the one who excels at bringing a song up, down and back up again emotionally through a masterful combination of instinct, craft and exceptional vocal dexterity.
Although for many years he rejected secular music as part of the hedonistic past that led him to devote himself to his church after a remarkable string of pop and R&B; hits in the ‘70s, now he’s tempered that view in a way that allows him to explore themes of love.
“I’ve been a minister and preacher for 28 years, so it’s not that I don’t know how to be faithful to my calling,†he says. “But I understand that people got to love life and love also, therefore it’s all right to live, and it’s all right to love, if you’re doing it with the right intention. And the intention is to make something of your love, make it genuine, make it real, make it a covenant.
“Every day can’t be Sunday,†he says, with a chuckle that gives way to a buildup of emotional intensity and tempo as he continues. “There’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday too. You’ve got to sing about life, and life has its ups and downs. I see couples who’ve been together for a couple of years and one of them starts thinking ‘I can walk away; I ain’t got much time invested in this.’
“So I’ll sing ‘Let’s stay together, through times good or bad,’ †he says. “Just because you burned the pancake doesn’t mean I have to get in the Mustang, spin the tires and peel away. We’re singing about all that.â€
“I Can’t Stop†is up for two Grammy Awards -- R&B; album and traditional R&B; vocal performance (for the title track) -- and seems to have let loose the floodwaters for Green and Mitchell. Their next album, “Everything’s OK,†is finished, though it won’t be released until March 15, which is why Green says he won’t play much from it Friday during his New Year’s Eve concert at the Grove in Anaheim.
He sounds like a thoroughbred at the starting gate, champing at the bit as he’s waiting for the new album to be released.
“ ‘I Can’t Stop’ was the bridge to connect Willie and me, because we hadn’t cut any secular R&B; for [so many] years,†he says.
“It has done that real well, it’s selling good, and that’s fantastic. But what we’re really up in arms about is ‘Everything’s OK.’ â€
That album reaffirms his status as the greatest living soul singer, one capable of gossamer silkiness one moment, searing raw emotion the next; deep raspy chest tones while sputtering out an apology, a velvety falsetto for reassurance that love is here to stay.
“Everything’s OK†was finished in November, spurring Green to note: “We’re five months ahead of ourselves. I’ve got four songs written for the next album. We’re already working on album three and album two ain’t out yet.
“But,†he adds, the preacher coming to the fore once again, “you have got to have the highs and the lows, the good and the bad. That’s what makes the world.â€
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Randy Lewis can be reached at [email protected].
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Al Green
Where: The Grove Theatre, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim
When: 10 p.m. Friday, with Nysa Shenay
Cost: $130 to $180
Contact: (714) 712-2700
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