Green was born in Forrest City, Arkansas. He started performing at age ten in a Forrest City quartet called the Greene Brothers; he dropped the final "E" from his last name years later as a solo artist. They toured extensively in the mid-1950s in the South until the Greenes moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, when they began to tour around Michigan. His father kicked him out of the group because he caught Green listening to Jackie Wilson.
In 1967 at the age of 16, Al formed an R&B group, Al Green & the Creations, with several of his high-school friends. Two Creation members, Curtis Rogers and Palmer James, founded their own independent record company, Hot Line Music Journal, and had the group record for the label. By that time, the Creations had been re-named the Soul Mates. The group's first single, "Back Up Train," became a surprise hit, climbing to number five on the R&B charts early in 1968. The Soul Mates attempted to record another hit, but all of their subsequent singles failed to find an audience. In 1969, Al Green met bandleader and Hi Records vice president Willie Mitchell while on tour in Midland, Texas. Impressed with Green's voice, he signed the singer to Hi Records, and began collaborating with Al on his debut album
He was perhaps the ideal complement to the orchestral, syrupy, strong soul production work of Hi Records wizard Willie Mitchell, who also helmed 70s classics for Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles, and himself.
On October 18, 1974, Mary Woodson, a woman who was his longtime girlfriend, threw a large pot of sticky boiling grits on him as he was preparing to shower, because he didn't want to get married. She committed suicide in minutes, which deeply affected Green to turn to God and religion. This assault from behind caused third-degree burns on his back, stomach and arm. Deeply shaken, Green continued to reaffirm and grow closer to his deeply held love for God, and became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976.
Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and drew mixed reviews from critics. 1977's The Belle Album was critically acclaimed but did not regain his former mass audience. In 1979 Green injured himself falling off the stage while performing in Cincinnati and interpreted this as a message from God. He then concentrated his energies towards pastoring his church and gospel singing, also appearing in 1982 with Patti Labelle in the Broadway musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. According to Glide Magazine, "by the late 70s, he had begun concentrating almost exclusively on gospel music." His first gospel album was The Lord Will Make a Way. From 1981 to 1989 Green recorded a series of gospel recordings, garnering eight "soul gospel performance" Grammys in that period. In 1985, he reunited with Willie Mitchell along with Angelo Earl for He Is the Light, his first album for A&M Records. In 1984, director Robert Mugge released a documentary film, Gospel According to Al Green, including interviews about his life and footage from his church. In 1989, Green released "I Get Joy", again with producer/guitarist Angelo Earl. In 2001, he appeared in the movie and soundtrack of On the Line featuring Lance Bass.
After spending several years exclusively performing gospel, Green began to return to Rhythm & Blues. First, he released a duet with Annie Lennox, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" for Scrooged, a 1988 Bill Murray film. In 1989 Green worked with producer Arthur Baker writing and producing the international hit "The Message Is Love". In 1991 he created the introductory theme song for the short-lived television series Good Sports featuring Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett. In 1992, Green recorded again with Baker, the Fine Young Cannibals, and reunited with his former Memphis mix engineer (this time functioning as producer) Terry Manning, to release the album Don't Look Back. His 1994 duet with country music singer Lyle Lovett blended country with R&B, garnering him his ninth Grammy, this time in a pop music category. Green's first secular album in some time was Your Heart's In Good Hands (1995), released to positive reviews but disappointing sales, the same year Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Green published Take Me to the River, a book discussing his career. Green received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.
In 2001, Green's live cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" was released on the soundtrack to Will Smith's film Ali (the song plays when Muhammad Ali learns of the death of close friend Malcolm X).
By 2003 Green released a non-religious (secular) album entitled I Can't Stop, his first collaboration with Willie Mitchell since 1985's He is the Light. In March 2005 he issued Everything's OK as the follow-up to I Can't Stop. Green also collaborated with Mitchell on this secular CD.
The title of Al Green's latest album Lay It Down released May, 2008, truly tells it like it is. Conceived as a collaboration between the soul legend and a handful of gifted young admirers from the worlds of contemporary R&B and hip hop, the album is drawn from a series of inspired sessions that yielded the most high-spirited, funky and often lushly romantic songs of Green's latter-day career.
The project features the sophisticated R&B voices of singer-songwriters John Legend, Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae, and it was co-produced with Green by two of hip-hop's most innovative players, drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson from the Roots and keyboardist James Poyser , the go-to guy for high-profile artists ranging from Erykah Badu to Common. Add in Brooklyn's celebrated Dap-King Horns (Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse), guitarist Chalmers "Spanky" Alford (Mighty Clouds of Joy, Joss Stone) and bassist Adam Blackstone (Jill Scott, DJ Jazzy Jeff), among others, and you've got a modern soul-music dream team, fronted by the most expressive voice in the business.
Build Me Up
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just to let me down, let me down and
Then you fill my cup, fill my cup and
Turn my love around, all around
Why do you take me where my love can't go?
Why do you make me love you more and more?
I don't have the Eiffel tower, silver or gold
Is the greatest story ever told
Don't have the Eiffel tower, anything might die
Well, I love you, um, love you and that will survive
Why do you have to start, have to start that
Just to break my heart, break my heart, oh?
Tear it all apart, all apart and
Then you let it stop, let it stop
I can't stand it, baby, you, you move me so
And my love gets started, it goes and goes and goes and
This is not a dream and what love ought to make
Sometimes you just can see [Incomprehensible]
Don't have the Eiffel Tower or silver or gold
But my love for you, and my love for you
Is worth more and more and more
I want to stay this time
I, oh, wanna make you mine
And now, yeah, want to stay this time, yeah
I wanna make you mine
And I love you, baby, I
really do
Build Me Up Easy by Al Green is a soulful ballad about a man who feels like he is being played with in a relationship. In the song, Green sings about how he feels his partner is building him up, only to let him down time and again. Despite this, he still loves the person and believes that his love is worth more than any material possession, including the Eiffel Tower or silver and gold.
Green, in the song, is questioning why his partner takes him where his love cannot go and then makes him love them more and more even when they continue to break his heart. He is saying that he doesn't have material possessions to offer her, but his love for her is the greatest story ever told. It's a powerful declaration of love in the face of disappointment and betrayal.
The verses in the song are filled with emotion as Al Green's vocals are filled with soulful longing. The chorus, with the repeated "build me up, let me down" line, is catchy and stays with the listener long after the song has ended. Overall, Build Me Up Easy is a classic Al Green love song and a great example of his soulful style.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, you build me up, build me up and
You encourage me and give me hope
Just to let me down, let me down and
Then you disappoint me or betray my trust
Then you fill my cup, fill my cup and
But then you show me affection or care
Turn my love around, all around
And change things in our relationship
Why do you take me where my love can't go?
Why do you lead me to have feelings that can't be fulfilled?
Why do you make me love you more and more?
Why do I keep falling more in love with you even though you hurt me?
I don't have the Eiffel tower, silver or gold
I don't have grand material possessions to offer you
But my love for you, and my love for you
But my deep affection for you
Is the greatest story ever told
Is the most significant and meaningful thing in my life
Don't have the Eiffel tower, anything might die
I don't have anything grand, but love is eternal
Well, I love you, um, love you and that will survive
My love for you will endure
Why do you have to start, have to start that
Why do you begin something you won't finish?
Just to break my heart, break my heart, oh?
Only to hurt me emotionally in the end?
Tear it all apart, all apart and
Destroy everything we've built together
Then you let it stop, let it stop
And then you abruptly end things
I can't stand it, baby, you, you move me so
It's difficult to control my emotions around you
And my love gets started, it goes and goes and goes and
My feelings for you intensify and grow
This is not a dream and what love ought to make
Our love is real and significant
Sometimes you just can see [Incomprehensible]
Sometimes it's hard to express how I feel
But my love for you, and my love for you
But my deep affection for you
Is worth more and more and more
Is becoming more valuable to me over time
I want to stay this time
I want our relationship to last
I, oh, wanna make you mine
I want to commit to you fully and make you my partner
And now, yeah, want to stay this time, yeah
And I'm serious about making it work this time around
I wanna make you mine
I want to have a committed and faithful relationship with you
And I love you, baby, I love you so
And I deeply care for you
And I'll never, never let you go
And I'm dedicated to being with you forever
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AL GREEN, WILLIE MITCHELL, WILLIE LAWRENCE MITCHELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ildibildi53
WOW... This one floored me... lol..lol.... Grazie :-)
pieroangelo2
ciao..always glad to hear you!!
Gary D
L