fine albums: Al Green

Showing posts with label Al Green. Show all posts

2026/08/08

al green: i'll rise again

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

Gospel and soul gospel. I'll Rise Again is a gospel album by Al Green that demonstrates the same vocal authority and interpretive warmth of his secular Hi Records catalogue applied to devotional material, moving between contemporary gospel compositions by Arthur Baker, traditional hymns such as "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," and Clara Ward's "I Just Can't Make It By Myself".

Release

Released on July 8, 1983, by Myrrh Records, a division of Word, Inc., Waco, Texas - the leading contemporary Christian music label of the period. The album was produced for Hi Records. It was Green's fifth consecutive gospel album since his retirement from secular music in 1980.

Production

Produced by Al Green for Hi Records. Recorded at American Music Studio, Memphis, Tennessee - the studio Green had built himself in 1977. Green played lead vocals, backing vocals, and contributed string arrangements; session musicians included Jesse Butler on keyboards.

Reception

The album peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. During the 26th Annual Grammy Awards in 1984, Green won the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male. The New York Times listed I'll Rise Again among the ten best albums of 1983. AllMusic awarded it a score of 80, describing it as "a warm and skilled effort that can stand with some of Green's best work".

Al Green

Al Green (born Albert Leornes Greene, April 13, 1946, Forrest City, Arkansas) is an American soul singer, songwriter, and ordained pastor. After his celebrated secular run with producer Willie Mitchell at Hi Records between 1971 and 1977 - which produced landmark albums including Call Me (1973) and Al Green Explores Your Mind (1974) - Green built his own American Music Studio and gradually devoted himself to gospel, following a personal crisis in 1974 and a stage accident in 1979 he interpreted as a divine sign. Between 1980 and 1987 he released seven consecutive gospel albums, winning six Grammy Awards for Best Soul Gospel Performance in the process. He returned to secular music with the celebrated Don't Look Back (1993) and achieved a commercial revival with Lay It Down (2008), co-produced by Questlove, his first top-ten album since 1973. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016), and the Kennedy Center Honors.

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ocean blue (i'll rise again)

jesus is coming (back again)

off-album track

in the holy name of jesus

from the album the lord will make a way

2026/04/16

al green explores your mind

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre

Memphis soul and smooth soul. The album typifies the Hi Records sound of the early 1970s: Willie Mitchell's lighter, more introspective production touch setting Al Green's signature falsetto against the locked-in grooves of the Hi Rhythm Section, anchored by James Mitchell's lush string arrangements.

Release

Released on October 2, 1974, by Hi Records.

Production

Produced by Willie Mitchell and Al Green. Recorded at Royal Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee.

Reception

Al Green Explores Your Mind received highly positive reviews for its smooth production, emotionally nuanced performances and the sophisticated interplay between Al Green’s vocals and Willie Mitchell’s arrangements. Critics particularly praised the album’s balance between sensual ballads and rhythm-driven soul material. The album reached number one on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart — Green's fifth consecutive number one — and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200. The single "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's principal legacy rests on "Take Me to the River," ranked number 117 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004.The album is widely regarded as one of the strongest releases from Green’s celebrated mid-1970s period.

Al Green

Al Green (born Albert Leornes Greene, April 13, 1946, Forrest City, Arkansas) is an American soul singer, songwriter, and ordained pastor, widely regarded as one of the greatest figures in the history of soul music. He signed with Hi Records in 1969 and, in partnership with producer Willie Mitchell, built a remarkable run of hit albums and singles between 1971 and 1974, including Let's Stay Together (1972) — his signature song — and the platinum albums I'm Still in Love with You (1972) and Call Me (1973). He returned to gospel music in the late 1970s following a personal crisis and spent the 1980s recording exclusively religious material, earning multiple Grammy Awards in the gospel category.He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and has won eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors.

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take me to the river

hangin' on

2026/02/21

al green: call me

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre

Memphis soul and smooth soul. Widely regarded as Al Green's masterpiece, the album achieves a unique balance between original Green compositions and two reimagined country classics — Hank Williams's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" — entirely recast in the warm, introspective Hi Records sound, with "Jesus Is Waiting" foreshadowing the gospel devotion that would define Green's later career.

Release

Released in April 1973 by Hi Records, distributed by London Records. Recorded in 1972 at Royal Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA.

Production

Produced by Willie Mitchell and Al Green. The Hi Rhythm Section provided the instrumental core.

Reception

Call Me peaked at number two on the Billboard Soul Albums chart and number ten on the Billboard 200. The album produced three top-ten hits: "You Ought to Be with Me" (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 3), "Call Me (Come Back Home)" (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 10), and "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" (Soul No. 2, Pop No. 10). AllMusic gave it a perfect score, describing it as the most inventive and assured album of Green's career. Rolling Stone called it a "dizzying peak." VH1 ranked it the 70th greatest album of all time in 2003. Rolling Stone ranked it number 156 in its 2023 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Al Green

Al Green (born Albert Leornes Greene, April 13, 1946, Forrest City, Arkansas) is an American soul singer, songwriter, and ordained pastor. Signed to Hi Records in 1969, he and producer Willie Mitchell forged between 1971 and 1974 one of the most celebrated partnerships in soul music history, producing a series of albums — Let's Stay Together (1972), I'm Still in Love with You (1972), Call Me (1973), and Livin' for You (1973) — that collectively define the Memphis soul sound of the era. Following a personal crisis in 1974, he gradually devoted himself to gospel, recording exclusively religious material through the 1980s. He returned to secular music in 1988 and has continued performing and recording. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and has won eleven Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016).

This text was generated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.