Al Green: Balancing the Sacred & The Secular
Coming off his tenure with the exclusively gospel Myrrh Records, Green turned out three powerful albums for A&M.
In my latest for UDiscoverMusic, I took a look at Al Green’s three most popular albums of the eighties, which he recorded for A&M Records between the years of 1985 and 1989. You can read that article here.
For this week’s newsletter, I want to share a few of my favorites from Green’s catalog before and after “the A&M years” to give a deeper view into what those albums were a pathway from and towards, ultimately, as he describes in the interview below, becoming “one person.”
“I Feel Good” from The Belle Album (1977)
After his 1973 conversion, Green began to integrate gospel music into the “secular” albums he was recording for Hi Records. His disco reimagining of “I Feel Good,” a congregational song, is a prime example of why the fusion of gospel and disco was not the major leap that many thought that it was. In 1978, it was promoted to discos via a 12” single that stretched the song to eight minutes of glory.
“In The Holy Name of Jesus” from The Lord Will Make A Way (1980)
When Green made the decision to exclusively record gospel music in 1980, the only thing that really changed was that he’d eliminated love songs from his repertoire—for the moment. He told Billboard in 1981, “What we want to do on the new album (The Lord Will Make A Way) is set a good basic format and foundation for what we want to do in the future. The music will be more about love and life. There will be more music and more albums, but very contemporary, very up-to-date and live.”
At Word Records’ Myrrh imprint, he maintained the horn-driven Memphis sound that had been at the core of his 1970’s hit. “In The Holy Name of Jesus” from his gospel debut shows just how similar and serious the groove was. (This song would be covered by Green’s label mate, Maria Muldaur, two years later.)
“God Loves You (And So Do I)” with the New York Community Choir from The Gathering (1981)
When the New York Community Choir’s contract with RCA Records ended in 1979, they signed with Myrrh Records, a label that had built their success in the contemporary Christian music field, but was working to expand into gospel music. The label paired Green with the choir for this composition written by Arthur Freeman, Benny Diggs and Joseph Joubert. Green would also co-produce the choir’s second Myrrh album, Reachin’ Out, in 1983.
The choir that caused an outrage when they went into the discos was a good pairing for Green, whose performances as a gospel artist sometimes made some of the stauncher gospel listeners walk out of his performances. “I can’t help the way I move,” he told Musician in 1983. “I can’t help the message I carry. It’s something that’s assigned for me to do. I can’t explain about how to reach out and touch somebody without the extension of your hand. I love roses. I give the roses, yeah, and I bless the people.”
“Up The Ladder to the Roof” from Trust In God (1984)
The first indication that Green was softening on his exclusivity to gospel music came with 1984’s Trust in God, where he covered two mainstream tunes that had an inspirational bent, but were not directly gospel tunes. “Up the Ladder to the Roof” had been a Top 10 hit for The Supremes in 1970, their first single with Jean Terrell as the lead vocalist. Green would sign with A&M Records the following year and begin recording songs in this vein, which signaled to critics and fans alike that a return to mainstream music might be in the works.
“Love is a Beautiful Thing” from Your Heart’s In Good Hands (1995)
Green returned to Word in 1992 for the critically-pummeled Love is Reality (produced by Tim Miner). While it failed to capture Green’s fire, it did completely remove him from the Memphis sound that he’d been identified with for his entire career—something he’d flirted with on 1989’s “As Long As We’re Together.” After eighteen years, he took the leap and returned to mainstream music with Your Heart’s In Good Hands, released on MCA Records. He told Newsweek, “It talks about love between a man and a woman, but we’re from a standpoint that love between man and God, love between husband and wife, love between boyfriend and girlfriend, all love comes from God. We have a wonderful creator, He’s blessed us with these things, and we know where our hope lies.”
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What a treasure you have helped uncover for me. As always! Loved listening to Al Green in the Church of the Good Groove this week. Love the whole mix!