TONY ENGELHART: AL GREEN AT THE QUEEN >>>

Like most people, my introduction to the soulful sounds of Al Green was via his classic hit, “Let’s Stay Together.” I could listen to it a million more times. Green is a legend in every sense of the word. His voice is unmistakable, his life is well documented, and his place in music history is cemented.

He had to work a bit on his status. While his debut, Back Up Train â€" when he was still Al Greene â€" went relatively unnoticed, it showed real promise for the then 21-year-old singer as he began collaboration with producer Willie Mitchell who worked on the Green sound. His second release, Green is Blue, was quite a bit smoother than his debut. After the release of third album, Gets Next to You, the twosome perfected their unique timbre on Let’s Stay Together. The titled track held the number one spot for an impressive nine-week run. The success of the song catapulted the next album, I’m Still in Love With You, even higher on the charts and spawned two hit singles.

Disco took the wind out of Green’s hit-making sails during the mid ’70s, but like all of us, he recovered. He just released a new disc titled Lay It Down on Blue Note Records.

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