Al Green

The Seventies are back, and in a big way. Not only does disco diva Donna Summer have a new album on the shelves, but so does Al Green, that soul crooner par excellence. While Lay It Down comes to us courtesy of Blue Note, a jazz label, make no mistake. This is hot buttered soul all the way. The Reverend Al Green has reached back into his own musical past, to produce a top-notch collection of rarified tracks. Admittedly, the music is overproduced in places and the lyrical content can sometimes fall flat. But, on the whole, the effort is both solid and coherent.

Although Al Green is best remembered for a string of top ten hits the early 1970s, the majority of his career has actually been spent recording gospel music. Despite his early commercial success, Green turned away from secular soul in the latter half of the decade. In 1976, he became the presiding minister of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis’ Whitehaven community. His transition is understandable, though, given the circumstances. You’d probably get religion too if an unbalanced woman came into your house, dumped a pot of boiling hot grits all over you, then fled from the room and shot herself.

Be that as it may, Green has gradually been staging a comeback. Lay It Down is his fourth album since 1995, and is easily the best of the bunch. In fact, it just might well rank up there with his masterpieces from the early seventies, but it’s too soon to tell just yet. Green’s later albums, while certainly enjoyable in their own rights, have largely been attempts to find his voice again. Efforts like I Can’t Stop and Everything’s O. K. were necessary, I suppose, in that they enabled him to fine-tune his sound. Despite the lackluster sales and the mixed critical reviews, though, Green has stuck with it, and thankfully so.

Now the Rev is back and with a real showstopper of a collection. Lay It Down features the kind of music that once made him great and will probably do so again. For the first time in decades, here is a real soul album, the kind that lovers of the genre have been yearning for. It features all the tempos, grooves, and layered horns of an early seventies masterpiece, but resonates with a freshness of its own. This is no mere copycat effort, either. These songs are genuine and heartfelt. He’s not the seductive lover anymore, but his mellowed persona suits him well. After fumbling around and looking for his own distinctive sound, Green has suddenly found it, and he’s basically back where he began.

There are, however, a few minor pitfalls along the way. The record’s primary producer is Ahmir Thompson of The Roots, a hip-hop maven whose recording techniques sometimes produce a sound that is too clean and crisp for a soul album. There’s something raw and dirty about soul music, a quality that’s largely missing here – maybe because Mr. Green is still preaching? These songs could generally benefit from better lyrics as well. Indeed, an abundance of clichés and overused rhyme schemes populate the album. “Early in the morning/ Smile on your face,” Green sings on “No One Like You,” “Late in the midnight hour/ No one can take your place.” Those are fairly boring lyrics, on the whole, and don’t stand up to the meatier songs of yore. Given such bland lyricism, however, it’s surprising to see that most tracks sport the names of four – or even five – songwriters. What gives? Is there not a lyricist among them?

Whatever the album’s shortcomings may be, though, Green more than makes up for them with his artful delivery. Sure the horns are sweet and the organ grooves, but the real star here is Green’s signature falsetto, a vocalizing style that immediately distinguishes him from the also-rans and the wannabes. From the warm glissando of the opening title track to the Sly Stone-inspired “Standing in the Rain,” Green’s easy touch is the polish on the Benz. You may find a better album this year, but you won’t find a truer one. Now if we could just get Isaac Hayes back into the studio…

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