Al Green

Renowned for his R&B prowess, Al Green crafts a polished soul sound that unites bodily passion with sacred themes. His silky falsetto meshed seamlessly with the crisp, refined Memphis funk guided by Willie Mitchell, president of Hi Records, who recruited the Grand Rapids, Michigan vocalist once “Back Up Train” expanded past its initial regional success in 1967. Under Mitchell’s production, Green issued albums that highlighted his growth into a masterful interpreter of contemporary standards—their earliest major success arrived via a reworking of the Temptations’ “I Can’t Get Next to You” in 1970—and an original composer who created or co-created enduring works such as “Tired of Being Alone,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “I’m Still in Love with You,” “Call Me (Come Back Home),” and “Here I Am (Come and Take Me).” These tracks shaped the era’s steamy soul and laid groundwork for the quiet storm style that followed. A series of turbulent personal events abruptly ended Green’s strong run in the late 1970s, prompting him to abandon secular music and train as an ordained minister. He concentrated on gospel material through much of the 1980s yet reentered R&B in 1988 by pairing with Annie Lennox on a version of Jackie DeShannon’s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” a Scrooged soundtrack contribution that marked his first Billboard Top Ten appearance since 1974. Green quickly followed with I Get Joy, launching a steady sequence of fresh releases that extended through Lay It Down on Blue Note in 2008. Co-produced by Questlove, that project became his first Billboard Top Ten album since 1973, crowning a career sustained by live shows that regularly incorporated sermons at the Memphis church where he continues as pastor.

Born in Forrest City, Arkansas, Green assembled the gospel quartet the Green Brothers at age nine. The group toured the South in the mid-1950s before the family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Although the Green Brothers kept performing locally, Al’s father expelled him after discovering his interest in Jackie Wilson. At sixteen, Al formed the R&B outfit Al Green & the Creations with high-school peers. Two members, Curtis Rogers and Palmer James, established the independent Hot Line Music Journal label and recorded the act; by then the Creations had become the Soul Mates. Their debut single, “Back Up Train,” surprised everyone by reaching number five on the R&B charts in early 1968. Later Soul Mates releases failed to connect with listeners.

While touring in Midland, Texas, in 1969, Al Green encountered bandleader and Hi Records vice-president Willie Mitchell. Impressed by the singer’s voice, Mitchell signed him and began shaping his debut album. Green Is Blues, issued in early 1970, introduced the sinewy, seductive groove they developed—emphasized by horn accents and string layers that allowed Green to display his extraordinary falsetto. Though it produced no hits, the album earned praise and paved the way for the breakthrough of Al Green Gets Next to You (1970), which yielded the first hit “Tired of Being Alone” and started a run of four consecutive gold singles. Let’s Stay Together (1972) marked his initial authentic pop-chart success, climbing to number eight; the title track became his first number-one single. Issued months later, I’m Still in Love with You achieved even greater heights, peaking at number four and spawning “Look What You Done for Me” and the title track.

By the arrival of Call Me in 1973, Green enjoyed recognition both as a consistent hitmaker and as an artist whose albums remained compelling, often outstanding, and widely acclaimed. Hits persisted through the next two years as “Call Me,” “Here I Am,” and “Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)” each reached the Top Ten as gold singles. At peak popularity, former girlfriend Mrs. Mary Woodson entered Green’s Memphis residence in October 1974, poured boiling grits over him while he bathed, causing second-degree burns to his back, stomach, and arm, then ended her life with his gun. Green viewed the episode as divine direction toward ministry. By 1976 he had purchased a Memphis church and become pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle. Although he pursued religious work, he continued releasing R&B, issuing three additional Mitchell-produced sets—Al Green Is Love (1975), Full of Fire (1976), and Have a Good Time (1976)—yet these grew formulaic and sales declined by late 1976 as disco eroded his audience.

Seeking to escape the downturn, Green parted from Willie Mitchell in 1977 and constructed his own American Music studio to helm his productions. The resulting Belle Album offered an intimate, critically lauded statement that never crossed over. Truth and Time (1978) likewise yielded no major R&B hit. During a 1979 Cincinnati concert, Green fell from the stage and narrowly avoided serious injury. Reading the mishap as another sign from God, he withdrew from secular performance and dedicated himself to preaching. Throughout the 1980s he issued gospel albums on Myrrh Records. In 1982 he joined Patti LaBelle in the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. He reunited with Willie Mitchell for 1985’s He Is the Light, his debut for A&M Records.

Green made a cautious return to R&B in 1988 by performing “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” with Annie Lennox for the Bill Murray film Scrooged. Four years later he recorded his first complete soul album since 1978 with the U.K.-only Don’t Look Back. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, he also released the urban-contemporary Your Heart’s in Good Hands that year—his first secular American album since Truth and Time—though it earned favorable notices without commercial traction. Eight years later he achieved broad acclaim with Blue Note debut I Can’t Stop. One and a half years afterward came Everything’s OK. His third Blue Note project, 2008’s Lay It Down, updated his classic soul approach while preserving its essence and became his first Top Ten album since the 1970s.

After Lay It Down, Green largely withdrew from the studio, adding occasional tracks to other projects such as a duet with Heather Headley on the 2009 release Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration and a 2018 cover of Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” for the Produced By series. He maintained visibility through touring and continued delivering sermons into the 2020s.