Green Is Blues – AL GREEN***

One Woman/Talk To Me/My Girl/The Letter/I Stand Accused/Gotta Find A New World/What Am I Gonna Do With Myself/Tomorrow’s Dream/Get Back Baby/Get Back/Summertime

Green Is Blues was distinctive American soul artist Al Green's first album on the Hi label. His innovative musical approach would result in a huge surge in popularity during the early seventies. (US:19)

“Very nice and gritty Hi debut. This has some original songs along with lots of soul. I just love this sound with the groovy Memphis horns. His hits would appear on later albums, but this album here is just as great as those.”

“I'm probably being a little hard on him here, but Al Green is not yet Al Green, rather a pretty strong soul singer putting himself through the paces, emulating his heroes and covering a wide variety of material. The stylistic shifts tend to show off his incipient skills as well as those of producer Willie Mitchell, but it's clear they're both trying to emulate the Stax sound and have yet to find Green's true calling. Nevertheless, this is a nice early disc, worthwhile for admirers of his ’70s sound.”

“While it wasn't Green's best release, 1969's Green Is Blues deserved notice as the true start of what would be an amazing partnership with producer/writer Mitchell, The Memphis Horns and The Hi Rhythm Section. The album has more than it's share of treasures and is well worth checking out. It doesn’t sound anything like the silky smooth 'love man' persona Green rode to mega sales in the mid-1970s.”

“This album has got some stylish interpretations of classics like My Girl, Get Back, Summertime, The Letter and Talk To Me that truly put a fresh spin on them. The other material is pretty decent Motown like arranged soul songs and all sound nicely performed. Definitely some interesting choices for the way things are arranged and they pretty much all work really well. Obviously Al's awesome voice is the reason for tuning in here, and considering this is one of his first releases it's pretty competent. It's just that compared to the personality that he developed on his follow up or even his classic works, this just doesn't quite measure up.”

“A grittier side of Al, before the slinky Philly sound gelled. This sounds like Al fronting the Stax house band. The covers are so-so, but overall, this is Al with some edge. A refreshing taste of the emerging artist, just before the hit machine kicked in.”