The Everlasting Great Soul Man

On the eve of his current UK tour, and with a new album due later this year, AL GREEN continues to spread the message of love, both sacred and secular. TERRY STAUNTON kneels and gives thanks.

Just a few blocks from the Gracelands mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, the final destination for Elvis Presley pilgrims the world over, is an altogether less fancy, more formal place of worship. It may look no different to any of tens of thousands of A-frame church buildings across the States, but the Full Gospel Tabernacle holds a special significance for disciples of classic soul.

This is the building bought by the Reverend Al Green more than 30 years ago, and where, to this day, he can be found preaching from the pulpit most Sundays – international singing star commitments permitting. Al Green, the smoothest of all soul brothers back in the early 70s, spends about half of each year on the road, having instigated something of a comeback in recent times, with two well-received albums since 2003. But music inevitably plays second fiddle to his work as a servant of the Lord.

“Last year I did about 150 concerts, but I think I only missed three or four Sundays back here,” he tells RC, while relaxing in the grounds of his church. “In the last couple of weeks we’ve had people from Denmark in the congregation, people from Sweden, from the UK, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto. They come for different things, though: some to hear the gospel word and some just to see Al. It’s OK by me if they come to see Al, …

by Terry Staunton
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