Backtracking Forward: Desert Island Disc Vol. 2

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When someone like me is up to their eyebrows in vinyl, a collection of top-selling commercial LPs doesn’t elicit the same excitement as stacks of unknown rarities that received minimal distribution before fading away. In my previous “Desert Island Disc” post, I spotlighted an LP by Danser’s Inferno that is achingly difficult to find in today’s market and is finally being reissued after 30 years in hiding. This time around, a familiar voice with a slew of hit singles steals a space in my desert island suitcase. When preparing a selection of LPs to be stranded with for the rest of my life, Al Green’s enormously successful, chart-topping record Gets Next To You would be placed side-by-side with John Danser’s obscure masterpiece.

Upon first picking up this monumental LP, a colorful and captivating portrait of the singer graces the cover and broadcasts an inviting pose to all who choose to listen. Dissecting the album jacket though provides very little information about the recording”there in no biography, no list of musicians and not even a mention of the famed Hi- Records producer Willie Mitchell. Clearly the album is all about Al Green: nothing is meant to distract the listener from who they are listening to. This proves to be difficult though because of the other ingredients coexisting on the disc. The most proficient horn section from the Southern soul circuit, the drummer that provided Booker T’s funky backbone in the 1960’s, and sultry smooth backup vocals by an uncredited lineup of female singers all share the stage with Green. LP inner sleeves and jackets are usually bastions of information about the musicians but in this case, without further research, little can be ascertained. The only guarantee one can be assured on is the Memphis Sound logo hiding in the top right corner of the jacket”Willie Mitchell’s personal seal and a guarantee that the album is of the highest quality.

Despite this being Green’s third LP as a solo singer, it truly feels like a debut record. His two previous LPs,  Back Up Train and Green Is Blues, were much grittier and softer as they featured a vocalist still navigating his chords. Gets Next To You was the absolute perfect disc to catapult a fledgling, twenty-six-year-old performer into the spotlight, and Willie Mitchell knew just how to coach Green into being comfortable with his own God-given voice.

The album springs to life with a down tempo cover and prepares the listener for the journey through the many grooves on this vinyl disc. Despite the title of the record, the opening cut is a cover of the Temptation’s track I Can’t Get Next To You”insinuating that Green needs to warm up to his audience before convincing them to enter into his soulful realm. The strong drum kicks and blaring horns that open the track are a welcoming introduction to the rest of the crisp production and tight rhythms contained within.

The remainder of Side-A is packed with a generous amount of incredible soul music. Songs like “Are You Lonely For Me Baby” and “I’m A Ram” capture Green and Mitchell in an upbeat tone while they layer the recordings with well-timed Ooohs and the subsequent Ahhhhs to complement the singer’s groove. The B-side opens hard with the funky “Driving Wheel,” a cover of an old Roosevelt Sykes number. The increase in tempo applied to this slow bluesy song from 1934 is a stark contrast to the original and truly exemplifies the creative force behind this amazing record. Switching gears, Mitchell and Green took the classic Doors single, “Light My Fire,” and whittled it down to a smooth and buttery consistency that let Green stretch his notes to peaks of epic heights. The subtle organ, laid back guitar and various growls and grunts from the singer help crafted an absolutely beautiful recording that couldn’t be further from Morrison’s original 1967 smash hit.

Gets Next To You is a masterpiece that can be listened to from beginning to end with no interruption or skipping around between tracks. In fact, the LP is flawless” heavy words to toss around when referring to a disc whose contents are half cover songs. It’s these covers though that gave the album its strength to stand out in 1972 amongst a sea of thousands of other soul and R&B platters released by Motown, Atlantic, Curtom and Stax. After repeated exposure to these renditions, one feels that it was always an Al Green cut and nobody could have ever performed it better.

Riding on the adrenaline from making a hit record, Green recorded 5 more albums in a 3 year period”all produced by Willie Mitchell. This point in Green’s career was his most creative and productive as he captivated the R&B and soul scene domestically and abroad. By 1976, his music became influenced by religion as he explored his faith and became an ordained minister. Though his material during this exploratory time undeniably rang with his signature sound, these efforts paled in comparison to his formative years. Green continued to record sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s but reunited with Willie Mitchell in 2003 for the non-religious album I Can’t Stop. Ensuing albums continue to thrust Green back into the limelight where he has regained his status as an icon of soul and R&B music.

This post is dedicated to the late Willie Mitchell, who passed away on January 5, 2010 in Memphis. Your influence on not only Al Green’s career, but American soul and R&B as a whole, is immeasurable.

Keep Digging!
-Gregorious-