Growing up in the sixties and seventies the sound of Al
Green coming through a radio was always there for me. I can remember hearing
his soulful strains coming over the air and enjoying every minute of those
songs. But music changes, performers come and go and after a while I stopped
hearing Green but never really noticed. That’s because his hits continued to
play for decades.
GOSPEL ACCORIND TO AL GREEN tells us what happened to Green.
He never really left, but his music changed. Why? Because Green found God. He
took his talents and focused them on God rather than being the pop/R&B
performer he had been.
Director Robert Mugge, known for his numerous documentaries
on music, takes on the task of telling us Green’s story. In the extras he tells
us of tracking down Green and talking to him, convincing him to talk about his
life. Fortunately he finally agreed and we now have this film.
Released in 1984 the movie combines an interesting mixture
of interviews with Green and others in his life. Sure, this is the normal
method used in most documentaries to present the life of the main subject but
there is a way that Mugge does it here that is different than most. While the
interview with Green, done at one time, is set in his recording studio it
doesn’t have that over lit preplanned look that most documentary interviews
seem to have now. Instead it is low key, low light and highlights Green in a
way that makes him more comfortable and reachable.
Greens life from the time he found he could perform until
the time this film was made are covered. He talks about finding a tune that he
just couldn’t get out of his head, one that his girlfriend at the time tired of
and that record execs were not thrilled with. He finally convinced them to push
the song. The song was “Tired of Being Alone” and was his first major hit.
He reveals what happened in his own words, which seem kind
of jumbled, about what happened when another girlfriend poured boiling hot
grits on him before shooting herself in his home. It was a story I was unfamiliar
with or had forgotten. You can tell in the way he discusses the matter that it
still bothers him and he still has trouble grasping what happened.
The movie talks about Green finding God, or I should say God
finding Green. Moved by the spirit that filled him Green left behind a hugely
successful performing career to begin his own church in Memphis. It wouldn’t be
until years later, after this movie was released, that he would go back to
singing his earlier hits. As he says here he didn’t feel he could serve that
lifestyle and God at the same time.
The interview material with Green is mixed with other
interviews with individuals like Willie Mitchell who discovered Green and
recorded his early albums and critic Ken Tucker talking about the impact of
Green and his music. There is also footage of a performance by Green and his
band at an NCO club. The last major portion of the film shows Green preaching
at the church he founded 7 years before this film was shot.
The film doesn’t look as polished and perfected as many
documentaries on musical performers do these days but then it was made over 30
years ago. That doesn’t detract from the subject matter. It may actually
enhance it, focusing more on Green and his change rather than on the images
that could have been brought into play. What we are left with is a historical
document of a man who found his calling, who left behind all that most would
think is the most important aspect of life and instead discovered what was
truly important instead.
The presentation is well done by MVD with a solid transfer.
But again, you have to consider the source material that it was made from. No
blu-ray or restoration technique can make a slightly grainy film look like a
completely shot on digital movie. The extras are limited but enjoyable as well,
especially an interview with Mugge about the making of this movie. Green fans
will find this movie a must have. Music fans will enjoy it start to finish. And
those who believe in God will find his story one that they will enjoy as well.
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