On the plus side there are plenty of opportunities to watch Al Green perform on this disc and whether he's delivering a sermon praising God or singing there's no denying the man is an amazing performer. His voice has an incredible fluidity that allows it to slide up and down the scale with ease and sound equally full and expressive no matter how high or how low he goes. You can also see how he must have been a magnet for women when he was a pop performer, for although he lacks the unbridled sexuality of a James Brown, he has a smooth charisma that is nigh on irresistible.
Ironically it was only a short while after the release of this movie twenty-five years ago that Al Green started to return to performing secular music with the release of his duet with Annie Lennox, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart," for the 1988 film Scrooge. Since then he has gradually eased back into performing popular music again. His achievements in both pop and gospel music haven't been unrecognized either as he's been inducted into both the Rock And Roll and Gospel Music Halls of Fame as well as receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
While some of the footage in the documentary is a little grainy, the sound quality, especially for Green's performances are fine. As a record of the man's life Gospel According To Al Green might not be the most accurate or complete, but what it does do is provide a wonderful opportunity to see Al Green perform when he was still at the peak of his powers. Watching him perform makes it very clear that no matter what the reasons were for his conversion, being born again, there can be denying the sincerity of his beliefs and the joy he brings to people as a preacher and a singer. In spite of any flaws this movie may have, it proves that without a doubt Al Green's music got soul!
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Article comments
1 - Tom
You'll never catch me saying Daryl Hall & John Oates are soul singers (well, except for Daryl's "Soul Alone" album), they're the best rock duo in history.