the rev'rend is gonna have a concert here in the minni-apple next monday night--if the tickets weren't so frickin expensive ($75!!! ) and if i weren't goin to see the simulcast of prince's tour opening with my friends, i would definitely go and see al. one of these days, i'll get to see 'im if he passes through here again (hopefully he will in the future). i loves me some al green, ya'll. on my list, prince is 2nd in line to this brotha.

anyway, here's the interview from today's issue of the strib:

Soul salvation: Al Green straddles the sacred and sexual worlds
Jon Bream, Star Tribune

March 26, 2004 MUS26

Al Green walks the line. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Between soul and gospel. Between performing and preaching.

His concerts are part seduction and part sermon. Does he consider them a soul performance or a spiritual celebration?

"It's both," said the greatest living male soul singer, who returns to the Guthrie Theater on Monday. "I have so much fun with what I get to do as a job. I'm blessed to do this."

Last time he came to Minneapolis in 1996, he turned the Historic Orpheum Theatre into the Church of Al Green, and the audience into the choir. He promises a wide range of material this time.

"They want to hear the whole Al Green. And that's what we're doing," said the reverend who is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. "Minneapolis is only our second or third date for the year. So we'll be fresh. We'll do 'I Can't Stop,' and a little bit of 'Sha-La-La' and 'Call Me' and 'Amazing Grace,' and then we'll do 'Let's Stay Together' and that's where the fun starts."

He erupted into gleeful laughter.

Last year, the Rev. Green, who has focused largely on spiritual music since the late 1970s, returned to soul music with the collaborator from his early '70s heyday, producer Willie Mitchell. "I Can't Stop," released last fall, was Green's first secular collaboration with Mitchell since 1976 and his first non-gospel disc since 1995's "Your Heart's in Good Hands."

He said an interviewer asked him, " 'How was it that you were able to go and pick up where you left off? It wasn't like you missed a beat.' I said, 'Oooooohhh. I don't know; Willie done that.' "

In interviews, Green can seem like a jive-talking street cat one moment and a parable-spouting preacher of Southern-fried mumbo jumbo the next. He often breaks into song -- one of his -- in the middle of a sentence to underscore a point or simply to spread a little joy.

Why did the 57-year-old singer reunite with the 75-year-old producer for the first time since 1985? (That one was a sacred CD, "He Is the Light.")

With Green, there's no simple answer. He tells the story of meeting three young guys in Baltimore.

"I'm standing on one corner incognito, and these kids are standing on another corner. They actually said this -- quoting -- 'Al, c'mon with the damn music. Man, you know everybody's waiting on the damn music.'

"I was so shocked. I was so outdone that someone had peeped my disguise, too. So I tore off my hat and my glasses and said, 'OK, man, we're working on it.'

"But I hadn't started working on it. One of them said, 'Our people grew up with your stuff, Al. I mean, when I was in college, I met my wife and now we got three kids. [Singing:] 'Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad.' Your music is just a part of what goes on in our house.'

"So I said, 'Maybe I should do a secular album.' And who better to do it with than Willie Mitchell?"

They worked in the same studio in Memphis (Royal Recording) where his hits were recorded, using some of the same microphones, many of the same sidemen and the same backup singers. They played the music for an executive from Blue Note Records, the jazz label best known recently for Norah Jones. And Blue Note released "I Can't Stop" to rave reviews.

Esquire called it "the record that years of comeback records will be measured against." Entertainment Weekly declared that "Green doesn't just straddle the sacred/secular divide, he joyfully demolishes it."

Soul man

From 1971 to '73, the Arkansas-born, Michigan-reared Green was a soul sensation, turning out seven consecutive million-selling singles, including "I'm Still in Love with You," "Tired of Being Alone" and "Love and Happiness."

His best-known hit, "Let's Stay Together," was not written as a love song.

"In '69, '70, our country was going through so much growth pain of pulling and burning and cities on fire and all those things," he said. "And I was trying to say whether times are good or bad, we gotta work it out. 'No' is not an option."

In 1977, Green became a preacher, founding his own church in Memphis and turning exclusively to gospel music. In '88, he returned briefly to pop by recording the tune "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" with Annie Lennox.

On most Sundays, he preaches at the nondenominational Full Gospel Tabernacle. And he draws a full house, even if some are soul-music fans.

"Most of them are tourists," Green said from his Memphis home, which is in the same neighborhood as Justin Timberlake's. "They come just to hear Al and 'I hope he sings one of them songs.' And they come to hear the church service because they have respect for that.

"They come from like Paris, and 'I just never been in a service with that much emotion going on. Our service is quieter, and no one says anything till the pastor is done. But this guy's service -- people are expressing themselves from the time he gets up to the time he sit down. And when he do sit down, the whole church is standing.' They just loooooved it. Oh man."

The reverend spoke to his congregation about his return to secular music. "They thought if you mean what you say and you're not lying -- they was very hung up on the lying part -- but 'if you telling me the truth, you got to put the CD out.' I have to be serious about this. Not only does it have to be for real, but it has to be a commitment."

Green, who has a four-CD boxed set, "The Immortal Soul of Al Green," due this spring, already has started working on another secular album with Mitchell.

"It's a little bit more refined on the Willie Mitchell production, a little more refined on Al's singing. Hip rhythm tracks. I got a couple hip-hop tracks by a kid called Ice I'm going to put in there, and let Al sing his regular style to the hip-hop music, and Willie's going to produce it and see how that sounds.

"The album's going to be called 'This Magic Road,' It's going to be magic."

He burst into laughter again.

IF YOU GO

Al Green

Opening: Debbie Duncan.

When: 7:30 p.m. Mon.

Where: Guthrie Theater, Vineland Place, Mpls.

Tickets: $75. 612-377-2224.

Web: http://www.algreen.com

Thanks for posting this. I was blown away by his performance on Letterman. AG sounds better than ever.

marcdeondotcom said:

he was on letterman?? when?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I missed that too!!!

psykosoul said:

i can't remember the exact date. i watch lettermen like most people watch the news so all the days kinda run together. it couldn't have been any longer than 2 months ago. he turned it out and he looked great.