In addition to making music and writing books, I also spent fifteen years interviewing some of the world’s greatest artists for various publications. I’d like to share some of my favorite things they told me.
There can be no discussion of the greatest singers of all time without Al Green. He can knock you over with the power of his voice and sing so softly you almost have to crawl into the speaker to hear him. His falsetto is a national treasure. But what truly sets Al Green apart is his complete immersion in the music.
Let me try to explain what I mean. He came from the greatest era of singers in music history. Marvin Gaye. Aretha Franklin. Ray Charles. Wilson Pickett. James Brown. The list can go on for days. The point is, each of those singers sang the songs. They sang them so well, it can make you see God. But Al Green is the song. The music tells him what to do. The only singer who gets close to Green’s total immersion, his Zen-like oneness with the moment, is James Brown, but Brown was immersed in the rhythm. Al Green is immersed in the feeling.
Maybe this doesn’t make sense. Maybe the only way to understand what I mean is to listen to the man sing. And I must say, there’s nothing quite like listening to him sing right into your ear over the phone. He can’t help himself. Every time I merely mentioned a song during our interview, he immediately burst into it. And I got to sit there while Al Green sang to me. Not a bad way to earn a living.
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