Al Green: Lay It Down

By Steve Morley

Even before Al Green turned away from the pop world in the late 1970s to become a minister, his basic message was that committed love is a pure source of joy. It came across in titles like “Let’s Stay Together” and “I’m Still in Love With You” as well as in Green’s enraptured voice as it floated into his vapor of a falsetto. Still, his pastoral calling kept him at pulpit’s length from secular love songs until 2003, when he released his mainstream comeback album, I Can’t Stop. Green—who now considers it a mission to spread the word about the deeper dimension of romantic love to a generation weaned on overtly carnal music—created his latest album, Lay It Down, with several young disciples of old-school soul who know his trademark sound as well as he does. The collective enthusiasm present during the recording sessions prodded Green to a level of expressive freedom that makes the album as fresh as it is familiar.

In order to spread the love, he also shares the billing with neo-soul singers John Legend, Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae, who all grew up in the shadow of Green’s legend. British singer Rae is charming alongside Green on the co-written “Take Your Time,” while Legend’s gliding tenor comes closest to evoking Green on “Stay With Me (By the Sea).” “You Got the Love I Need,” a slightly grittier outing reminiscent of Green’s classic “Love and Happiness,” is well-suited to the high-pressure vocals of Anthony Hamilton, who goes head-to-head with Green.

Meanwhile, Green’s unmatchable performance is all about feeling. His obvious rhymes and sketchy, sugary lyrics might seem silly on paper, but once filtered through his magnificent pipes, they’re transformed into eloquent explorations of intimacy and bliss. Green’s words don’t always track in a linear, logical fashion, precisely because he’s riding an emotional wave that makes no distinction between God-inspired or human-inspired feelings. As a result, the spiritual quality of love drifts in and out of otherwise straightforward songs, whether as fleetingly as an offhanded “God Almighty” or in songs like “What More Do You Want From Me,” which asks its question not guardedly but willingly. In “Too Much,” a meditation on relational ecstasy, Green refers to “your love so divine” before unleashing an almost otherworldly wail.

On Green’s 1977 exit from secular music, The Belle Album, he described his struggle in the line, “It’s you that I want, but Him that I need.” The singer seems to have reconciled the conflicting realities of spirit and flesh on Lay It Down, an album that lovers of classic-style soul will find to be a sweet surrender.

Audio Clips

"Lay It Down"

"Just For Me"

"You've Got the Love I Need"

"No One Like You"