Al Green
87 articles
Free articles
Al Green: Love, Happiness And Convictions
Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 29 April 1975
2008 introduction: Known as the "Prince Of Soul," Al Green had built up a strong audience thanks to a string of hit singles and best-selling ...
Take Me to the River: Al Green with Davin Seay
Review by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, November 2000
"Gen’lmen, we just havin’ church here." Six words which - directed at me and a fellow soul buff at the Full Gospel Tabernacle church by ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1 May 1988
Interviewed at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans after a storming performance at the Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Rev. ruminates on the conflict between the spiritual and the secular, his own return to the church, and the two Al Greens. Read a transcript of this interview.
File format: mp3; file size: 35.4mb; Interview length: 38' 39"; sound quality: ***
List of articles in the library
Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 10 September 1971
THE LAST time I talked to Al Green, he was riding high with his adaptation of the Temptations' 'I Can't Get Next To You'. Now, ...
Al Green: Now Green Smashes The Big Memphis Monopoly
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 16 October 1971
MEMPHIS HAS long been accepted as capital city of rock 'n' soul, but to the casual fan this means just Elvis on the rock side ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Beat Instrumental, December 1971
WITH AL Green's 'Tired Of Being Alone' Decca's subsidiary London label has notched its first chart entry in more than 18 months. It's quite a ...
Al Green: You're Never Alone With Al
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 December 1971
THERE WAS no chance of Al Green getting tired of being alone when Decca Records welcomed him to Britain with a turkey and Christmas pud ...
Willie Mitchell: Sounds like it's Memphis
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 December 1971
IF ANY one man personifies the solid beat of Memphis soul then surely it's Willie Mitchell. Not only has he turned out 14 hit albums ...
Al Green: Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 18 December 1971
DESPITE the counter-attraction of the Buddy Rich big-band downstairs there was a packed house for Al Green "Upstairs" at London's Ronnie Scott's including many big ...
Soul Brothers: Al Green, Sly Stone, Van Morrison
Review by Charlie Gillett, Cream, January 1972
IS THE REVIEWER supposed to come to each record as an objective analyst? Or, if he isn’t one, must he pretend he is? Impossible for ...
Al Green: Let's Stay Together (London)
Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 15 April 1972
WHILE SUPER Spade and Mighty Whitey have been down in the alley battling it out to see who has the most soul n' funk, Al ...
Al Green's Free Music: A Groove Instead of a Hustle
Profile and Interview by Bob Merlis, Words & Music, June 1972
AL GREEN is a rare commodity in today's music marketplace — he's a third (maybe fourth) generation bluesman, although he doesn't admit as much. A ...
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Al Green, the Whispers: Cow Palace, Daly City CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 17 June 1972
Smokey Fans Spoil Farewell ...
Report and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 30 June 1972
PROBABLY THE MOST eligible superstar to join our ranks over the past twelve months is Al Green, an unpredictable artist and an equally unpredictable man. ...
Interview by Phil Symes, Disc, 30 September 1972
AL GREEN is top of the American chart again. 'I'm Still In Love With You' makes it four in a row. ...
Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Interview, November 1972
GLENN O'BRIEN: You were a big hit at the Copa. How did you like playing there? ...
Al Green: Philharmonic Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Ian Dove, The New York Times, 20 March 1973
Green's Distinctive Soul Singing Avoids Reliance on Microphone ...
Al Green: Poll '72's Top Male Vocalist
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 30 March 1973
ALTHOUGH AL Green claimed to be a little surprised about being voted No. 1 Male Vocalist in our annual poll. I think that few other ...
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 22 June 1973
WILLIE MITCHELL. His name is synonymous with the rich brass sound that has become known worldwide as the Memphis Sound. For years, Willie as been ...
The Soft-Sell World of Al Green
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 15 July 1973
IT IS THE HOTTEST, most enervating Sunday in all creation. I am in Manhattan, and it is like a steambath. He is in far off ...
Interview by Vicki Wickham, Rock Scene, September 1973
NEW YORK — AL Green is the man who has put the word "sweet" back into soul music. He's the singer who in the space ...
Al Green, Laura Lee: Apollo Theatre, New York NY
Live Review by Dan Nooger, The Village Voice, 15 November 1973
I WONDER WHAT the regular Apollo Theatre audience thought when they saw a contingent of 20 or so white writers (limoed all the way from ...
Al Green: Livin' For You (import)
Review by Martin Hayman, Sounds, 12 January 1974
AL GREEN: ALIVE AND SO REAL ...
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 15 January 1974
WHILST THE Philadelphia Sound has undoubtedly been the top sound of 1973, the nearest rival to it has been the Memphis Sound as carried out ...
Profile and Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, February 1974
AROUND THE time 'Let's Stay Together' was becoming the biggest selling single of all time for London Records in the USA (beating the Stones' 'Satisfaction'), ...
Al Green: Call Me (London), Livin' For You (London)
Review by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 23 February 1974
THESE TWO ALBUMS have been released here in the last three months, in uncomfortably close succession, mainly because Decca procrastinated over issuing Call Me by which time Livin' ...
Al Green, Laura Lee: Apollo Theatre, Harlem, New York NY
Live Review by Vernon Gibbs, New Musical Express, 6 July 1974
Uptight Green holds it all back ...
Review by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 23 November 1974
CAN AL GREEN recover his credibility and save the world after all?, is the theme of today's programme. ...
Willie Mitchell: Memphis Maestro
Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, February 1975
Tony Cummings talks to WILLIE MITCHELL, man behind Al Green and that Memphis sound... ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975
Stylistics, Sweet Sensation, Chi-Lites — all top names in the world of sweet soul music. But there's only one boss — AL GREEN. And no ...
Al Green: Eaten Something Funny Al?
Interview by Bob Fisher, New Musical Express, 26 April 1975
"L.O.V.E. SPELLS LOVE," says Al Green on his current NME chart rider of the same name, while according to Jimmy Witherspoon's current US hit, it's ...
Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 October 1975
REMEMBER WHEN YOU were young, listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes by torchlight? ...
Al Green: Al Green Is Love (London SHU 8488)
Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 14 October 1975
IF YOU'RE an Al Green fan already, this album will certainly ensure that you stay that way because this talented creator has one of the ...
Al Green: Full Of Fire (London) ****
Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 3 April 1976
AL GREEN stands in the middle of the ring, caught in combat between an elastic rhythm section and a resilient horn section. Producer/engineer Willie Mitchell ...
Willie Mitchell: Changing Sounds In Memphis
Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 22 June 1976
Willie Mitchell's distinctive Memphis sound has been the driving force behind many golden hits over the years. Now he feels it's time for a change. ...
Al Green: Soul Minister Al Aims To Get Next To You
Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 13 July 1976
Right now, Al Green's planning his future lifestyle. He wants more than hit records. He aims to show folks the key to divinity. Heavy stuff? ...
Book Excerpt by Lenny Kaye, David Dalton, Rock 100, 1977
FINDING AN UNDISCOVERED TONE ON THE soul scale in the early seventies was almost like inventing a new color, but Al Green scanned the high ...
Review by Joe McEwen, Rolling Stone, 27 January 1977
IF HIS RECORDS ARE ANY indication, Al Green is a troubled, no, haunted man. ...
Al Green: Have A Good Time (London SHU 8505) ****
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, February 1977
AL, WE WERE told, would have a completely new sound for this album. Full Of Fire was a commercial failure; the last big single had ...
Al Green: The King Is Dead Long Live The King
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 14 March 1978
Al Green: the Logical successor to the title of King of Memphis... ...
Willie Mitchell: Gettin' Hi High Again
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 14 March 1978
Willie Mitchell has virtually forsaken his own career in favour of running Hi Records and putting the label back up there... ...
Al Green: The Belle Album (Hi)
Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, May 1978
Trust in the Lord and you too can have great looking hair. ...
Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 9 May 1978
HE'S NOW acquired the tag "Minister of Soul" and "Love And Happiness" continues to be his message. He's racked up several millions in sales world-wide ...
Al Green: Soulful Al's not so Green in the disco stakes, either...
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 2 January 1979
Mr. Green's first album in a year leans more towards disco than anything else he's released. But, he explains, it wasn't a deliberate move to ...
Al Green: The Record Mogul In The Sky
Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 25 August 1979
WHO CAN DENY that the Lord moves in mysterious ways? In this week of Mammon in hyperdrive – Quadrophenia, the rejuvenation of mods v. rockers ...
Al Green: Tired Of Being Alone
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
Al Green's London concerts last week were a puzzling mixture of the brilliant and the banal – and VIVIEN GOLDMAN discovered that his verbals are ...
Live Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 1 September 1979
FA FA fa fa love song! Al Green used to be a soul singer and now he's An Entertainer. Fa fa fa fa, goodbye! ...
Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 9 February 1980
The way I heard it, at the panty-creaming peak of his career, Al Green was so drunk on the cortical rush of his fame and ...
Essay by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore Sun, 14 June 1981
ON SATURDAY nights in 1956, transistor radios in the hands of eager teenagers all over America shuddered with the sensual sound of Elvis Presley's 'Hound ...
Al Green: The Lord Will Make a Way (Myrrh) **
Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 23 July 1981
ONE NIGHT, after listening intensively to the grand and ancient gospel groups (pre-psychobabble Staples Singers, the Soul Stirrers with and without Sam Cooke, Dorothy Love ...
In God He Trusts: Al Green reaches higher
Comment by James Hunter, The Boston Phoenix, 12 January 1982
IN THE '70s, in Memphis, Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell made quietly unstoppable soul music the world still hasn't gotten over. If at first ...
Al Green: Higher Plane (Hi/PRT)
Review by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 3 April 1982
OH, HAPPY man...You can tell Al Green is truly saved from a quick glance at the cover, from the way his Daz-white shirt blue-airbrushes its ...
Al Green: Sanctity & Sexuality on a Higher Plane
Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Musician, April 1983
LISTENING TO Al Green's three gospel albums for Myrrh Records is a disorienting experience. The songs are traditional hymns that have been sung in black ...
Al Green: "There are riders approaching"
Interview by James Hunter, Record, December 1983
THE CONTINUING TRANSFORMATION OF AL GREEN, MAN OF GOD ...
Audio transcript of interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1985
This is a transcript of Barney's audio interview with Willie. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
The Gospel According To Al Green
Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, January 1985
Al GREEN was the hottest soul singer this side of Stevie Wonder in the early '70s but don't expect to hear old hits like 'Tired ...
Overview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 12 January 1985
From the raw to the pure, from the sublime to the meticulous — BARNEY HOSKYNS sings the praises of 24 of music's most glorious voices. ...
Al Green: Trust In God (Demon/Hi)****
Review by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 16 February 1985
F*** GOD (Brando's first two words in Last Tango, actually), we're talking AL GREEN here. Quite simply, the best voice ever to co-exist with anything ...
The Pre-Godlike Genius Of Green
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 10 August 1985
Let's Stay Together (Hi)I'm Still In Love With You (Hi)Call Me (Hi)Precious Lord (Hi) ...
Al Green: He Is The Light (A&M)
Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, January 1986
AL GREEN'S gospel recordings never really turned on his pop following, in part due to their uneven quality, but also because hosannas, no matter how ...
Audio transcript of interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1 May 1988
This is a transcript of Simon's interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
“I May Be From Another Planet…”: Al Green
Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 16 July 1988
2005 note: I was in New Orleans in April/May 1988, filming items for German TV, when I heard that Al Green would be playing at ...
Heaven Up Here: Al Green: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
WHAT WAS I saying about letting the shiver do all the work? Just the other day? Oh me, oh my. Al Green, The Last Soul ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Blitz, September 1988
Al Green believes in the power of love. But most of all, he believes in the power of God. ...
Interview by Nick Coleman, Time Out, June 1989
"Sometimes I wonder if you love me the way you say you do... Sometimes I just fold my arms and say... weeeee-eeeeh awooooah!" ...
Overview by Colin Escott, Record Hunter, July 1991
Long in the shadow of Sun and Stax, Memphis based Hi Records finally hit the big time with Al Green and set the '70s soul ...
Willie Mitchell: Tell’Em Willie Boy Was Here
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, MOJO, June 1995
Willie Mitchell, maestro of the Memphis soul sound that gave the world Al Green, has his life’s work celebrated by the box set Hi Times: ...
Al Green: Still Spreading The Good Word
Interview by Amy Linden, New York Daily News, 31 October 1995
THE REVEREND Al Green is explaining why, after 18 years of singing sacred music, his gospel fans will understand why he has re-entered the world ...
Various Artists: Royal Memphis Soul – Hi Records
Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, July 1996
When Muscle Shoals went flabby and Stax couldn't pay their taxes, Hi Records took up the soul baton. Barney Hoskyns says hello to a collection ...
Sleeve notes by Robert Gordon, Hi Records, 1997
Al Green's voice is a beautiful musical instrument. Al Green's singing can create pictures, can loll in clover and tease birds. That man can sing ...
Higher Ground: Al Green Blends His Sacred and Secular Instincts When He Steps Onstage
Retrospective by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 17 July 2002
ALBUMS ARE NOT the only means of making great music any more than movies are the only means of doing great acting. Every time a ...
Al Green and Willie Mitchell: Let's Stay Together
Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 13 November 2003
Singer Al Green and his legendary producer Willie Mitchell try to make magic once again. ...
Review by Mac Randall, Rolling Stone, 27 November 2003
Al Green reunites with his partner from his greatest records, producer Willie Mitchell. ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2004
AND HE CAN'T (STOP). The Reverend Al Green (some of his Memphis flock have to be told he was once a pop singer before he ...
Profile and Interview by Andria Lisle, MOJO, April 2004
In the late '70s, Al Green was a troubled superstar who abandoned the stage in favour of the pulpit. Then last winter, after 25 years, ...
Al Green: Call Me/Explores Your Mind
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 29 June 2004
WHEN WRITER Toni Morrison said that black artists always seem to move with ease, she was talking about someone like Al Green. He sings from ...
Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Harp, March 2005
AL GREEN'S genius spans four decades, and during those often tumultuous years the man who is routinely referred to as the last great Southern soul ...
Profile by Terry Staunton, Notes for Live in '72 DVD, 2006
Terry Staunton profiles the life of Al Green for the sleevenotes for Revolver Entertainment's Live in '72 DVD ...
Al Green: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 30 June 2007
AL GREEN IS the last of the American southern soul giants of the 1960s and 70s, a survivor where Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam ...
Al Green: The Everlasting Great Soul Man
Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, August 2007
On the eve of his current UK tour, and with a new album due later this year, Al Green continues to spread the message of ...
Al Green Is Still in Love With You
Profile and Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, TONEaudio, June 2008
WHEN THE REVEREND Al Green decided to return to singing love songs, he did more than revive his pop music career. He may have saved ...
Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, November 2008
IT'S A TOUGH CALL for most legendary soul music artists: how do you make a new album that will appeal to a contemporary audience while ...
Al Green: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 10 November 2008
EVEN IF YOU didn't know that Al Green was an ordained minister, his concert performances would leave no room for doubt, in all senses of ...
Sunset Serenade: Saying Goodbye to Memphis Music Legend Willie Mitchell
Obituary by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 14 January 2010
AT 7:25 A.M. ON Tuesday, January 5th, 81-year-old producer "Poppa" Willie Mitchell died at Methodist University Hospital. An entire chunk of local music history died with ...
Ozzy Osbourne: Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone/Al Green: The O2, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 4 July 2010
Faint shades of Sabbath in Ozzy's addled brain — Considering all he's been through, Osbourne makes a decent job of resurrecting the old hits ...
Guide by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 20 April 2016
From a chequered career, the tussle between the religious and the secular is audible on all of Green's best songs – even the ones he ...
Let's Stay Together: Willie Mitchell on Al Green and Hi Records
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, January 2022
IT'S BEEN OVER a half a century since Al Greene & the Soulmates [sic], then based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, released their first album Back ...
see also Willie Mitchell
see also Hi Rhythm
back to LIBRARY
