I'm thankful for every moment."
- Al Green
Many of you remember or know of Al Green. Al Green, the legendary R&B and soul singer who commanded the music charts in the early/mid 1970s. His genre-crossing songs like Let's Stay Together, Love and Happiness and Tired of Being Alone put him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Inappropriately named. It should be The American Music Hall of Fame). To me, he and Marvin Gaye are the two giants of the musical style.
Whatever happened to Al Green? Lots of people know, but some don't. Green was born in 1946 in Forrest City, Arkansas, right across the river from Memphis. He was one of ten children and grew up singing gospel music with his siblings. In his early 20s, he attempted to get a singing career off the ground but had only modest success. That changed in 1969 when he met Memphis musician and record producer, Willie Mitchell, who signed him to his label, Hi Records. In 1971 they released the album “Al Green Gets Next to You” that contained the hits, Tired of Being Alone and I Can't Get Next to You. Success continued with the release of two more albums and Green became fully immersed in all the trappings and excesses of 70s era music fame.
In 1974, at the peak of his power, he was at home one evening with his girlfriend. In a heated argument about their future together, she threw a pot of boiling hot grits on his back, locked herself in a bedroom and shot herself to death. This is the kind of thing that can make some people take stock in the direction their life seems to be going. That was the case for Al. In 1976 he purchased a church building, became an ordained minister and launched the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church where he has preached to a small congregation ever since. It's from this we get Marc Cohen's reference in Walking in Memphis:
“Reverend Green be glad to see you/When you haven't got a prayer”
For a time after he started his church, Green released exclusively gospel music. Later in the 1980s he returned to some involvement with secular recordings, including teaming with Annie Lennox on a cover of Jackie DeShannon's Put a Little Love in Your Heart.
The Full Gospel Tabernacle Church is located in south Memphis not far from Graceland. It's predominately an all black congregation but all are welcome. It's my understanding that curious tourists sometimes outnumber the parishioners on Sunday mornings. Over my years in Memphis, I toyed with going for a visit, but I was always uneasy about it. I thought it might feel like I was just there for the novelty of it, which would have been the truth, so I have no regrets about not going. I know I missed a good story, though.