Al Green

The essential Al Green album. This 1973 release saw Green at the peak of his songwriting powers; the hits "Call Me," "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "You Oughta Be With Me" all came off this album. The production glimmers with organs, gently singing guitars and muted horns. You've never heard Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" delivered like this.

Willie Mitchell's production style continues to impress me with its consistency, restraint
and understanding of Al Green's special needs. Because the singer disdains most forms of
discipline, preferring to let his voice wander into every nook and cranny of the modest
melodies he writes, turning phrases inside out, and wreaking havoc with vocal structure in
general, he requires the leveling force of a steady band playing tight, clean arra... More >

I originally believed people would buy this only so they wouldn't have to get up and flip I'm Still in Love with You, and I was probably right. But no other album documents Green's genius for the daring nuance so thrillingly. "Stand Up" is the subtlest black identity song ever, "Jesus Is Waiting" a profession of faith you can believe in, and "Here I Am" an uptempo vehicle that sneaks up from in front of you. The interpretations of country weepers by Hank Williams and Willie Nelson are definitive. The vocals are tougher than on the two "classic" Green LPs that preceded it. And the rhythms are irresistible. Al Jackson's (and Henry Grimes's) thick third-beat 4/4 kicks in with all kinds of extra surprises, and as always it's only a frame for a music that moves as one sinuous body, with Green dodging and weaving at the head. (Grade - A+)