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.
Call Me
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Call me
Call me
What a beautiful time we had together,
Now it's getting late and we must leave each other, yeah
Just remember the time we had,
And how right I tried to be,
Call me
Losing your love, acting foolishly, hey
Go on and take your time,
'Cause you're already losing me,
Love is a long ways from here,
Tell you it's all in the way you feel,
If love is real, come to me.
Call me
Call me
Call me
(Come back home)
The best thing I can do, is give you your love, (Is give you your love)
That you're going away, feeling as free as a dove,
And if you find you're a long ways from home,
And if somebody's doin' you wrong,
Just call me baby and come back home
Call me
Call me
Call me
(Come back home, come back home, come back home)
Ain't things going right.
It's all in a day's work
Call me, (ah)
You can call me, when you're feelin' sad, baby
Yeah, it's all in a day's work,
Come back home
Call me, call me
Call me
Come back home
Al Green's "Call Me" is a song about a man who had a beautiful time with his love, but now it's getting late and they need to leave. He hopes that she remembers the time they had together and how much he tried to make things right. Even though she's already losing him, he encourages her to take her time because love is far away. If it's real, she should come back to him. He tells her that the best thing he can do is to give her the freedom that she desires, but if she ever gets into trouble or feels like she's a long way from home, she can always call him and come back home.
The lyrics of "Call Me" reflect Al Green's desire to comfort and reassure his partner that he will always be there for her. The repetition of "call me" throughout the song emphasizes this notion of being available at all times. He also acknowledges that love is complicated and sometimes things don't go as planned, but it's all in a day's work.
"Call Me" was released in 1973 and was written by Al Green, along with Al Jackson Jr. and Willie Mitchell. The song was a commercial success, reaching #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 on the R&B chart. It was also featured in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction, which helped to introduce the song to a new generation of listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
Call me
Asking the listener to reach out to the singer if they are in need of support.
Call me
Reemphasizing the importance of calling the singer whenever the listener feels they need someone to lean on.
Call me
Ending the chorus with another invitation for the listener to reach out to the singer.
What a beautiful time we had together,
Reflecting on a time when things were good between the listener and the artist.
Now it's getting late and we must leave each other, yeah
Acknowledging that the good times have passed and now they must part ways.
Just remember the time we had,
Encouraging the listener to hold on to the memories of their time together.
And how right I tried to be,
Reminding the listener that the singer always tried to do what was right in the relationship.
It's all in a day's work,
Reflecting that the artist did everything they could in the relationship and that's the best they could do.
Call me
Reiterating the invitation for the listener to reach out for help if needed.
Losing your love, acting foolishly, hey
Acknowledging the mistakes that led to the listener losing their love and acting foolishly.
Go on and take your time,
Giving the listener space to process their feelings.
'Cause you're already losing me,
Recognizing that the listener is already losing the artist due to their behavior.
Love is a long ways from here,
Acknowledging the distance between the singer and the listener in regards to love.
Tell you it's all in the way you feel,
Stating that love depends on how the listener feels.
If love is real, come to me.
If love is still present, the singer requests the listener to return to them.
The best thing I can do, is give you your love, (Is give you your love)
Best thing the artist can think of doing is to return the listener's love to them.
That you're going away, feeling as free as a dove,
The listener is leaving feeling free and unencumbered.
And if you find you're a long ways from home,
If the listener feels lost and far from where they should be.
And if somebody's doin' you wrong,
If somebody is mistreating the listener.
Just call me baby and come back home
The artist still cares and urges the listener to come back for support.
Ain't things going right.
Acknowledging things are not going well.
It's all in a day's work
Reiterating that the artist will do what they can to help the listener.
Call me, (ah)
Stressing the importance of reaching out.
You can call me, when you're feelin' sad, baby
Encouraging the listener to call when feeling down.
Yeah, it's all in a day's work,
Reiterating that it's the singer's responsibility to help the listener.
Come back home
Asking the listener to come back to the singer who still cares for them.
Call me, call me
Encouraging the listener to reach out repeatedly.
Call me
Ending on the invitation for the listener to call for help one last time
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: DWIGHT MYERS, JEAN CLAUDE OLIVIER, JOHN JACKSON, JOHN DAVID JACKSON, SAMUEL J BARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Uilani Kona Goodwin
Call Me
Al Green
Call me
What a beautiful time we had together
Now it's getting late and we must leave each other (yeah)
Just remember the time we had
And how right I tried to be
It's all in a day's work
Call me
Losing your love, acting foolishly
Go on and take your time
'Cause you're only losing me
Love is a long ways from here
Tell you, it's all in the way you feel
If your love is real
Come to me
(Call me)
Come back home
The best thing I can do is give you your love
(give you your love)
Let you go on your way
Feeling as free as a dove
And if you find you're a long ways from home
And somebody's doing you wrong
just call me and come back home
Kerrion Jones
Before my mom passed away she would play this song on the tv all day long and I used to hate that she played this song so loud. Now im sitting here blasting this song on repeat, crying my eyes out. #05-14-16 love you ma🤞.
Jaybee BEE
Ohhh mate/love sending you a MASSIVE hug now :)
Mr. Cole
❤❤
Marybeth Phillips
Sorry for your loss. I miss my mom too. 💚🙏😾
Lakea Brown
Same here my grandmother loved Al Green and she would blast this song..she passed away in 2020. I listen to this in memory of her.
Tony Fielder
Full circle
Maureen Anne Hartnett
This song as with all of the many great Supreme Al Green songs were life changing for me. I fell in love with a man 12 years older than me when I was 20, both of us are white, but Al Green, has given me memories of my love that lasted 12 years, until I declined 2 proposals of marriage. But my love, married, then died, 2 years ago. Listening to Reverend Green brings my intense love for this wonderful man who should have been my husband, back to me, and also the wonderful memories of first love.
Peter Yates
67 and still getting chills listening to this beautiful slice of soul.
Antoine Junior
Hope you still here with us man. I’m 31 and now seeing and appreciating music and messages like this. Powerful track.
Gregory Scroggins
I can listen to Al Green all day.