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.
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can't take my eyes off you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I want to hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you
Pardon the way that I stare
there's nothin' else to compare
the sight of you leaves me weak
there are no words enough to speak
But if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you
I love you baby and if it's quite all right
I need you baby to warm a lonely night
I love you baby trust in me when I say
Oh, pretty baby don't bring me down, I pray
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you stay
And let me love you baby, let me love you
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you
...........
I love you baby and if it's quite all right
I need you baby to warm a lonely night
I love you baby, trust in me when I say
........
The song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Al Green is a classic love song that expresses the deep infatuation and love the singer has for the person they are singing to. The lyrics highlight the singer's overwhelming emotions and their inability to look away from their love interest. The song begins by stating that the person they are singing to is "too good to be true," implying that they have never met anyone like them before.
The chorus then repeats the line "can't take my eyes off you," emphasizing the singer's intense attraction towards this person. The verses continue to describe how they feel weak in the presence of their love interest and how they want to hold them and never let go. They also express their gratitude for finally finding true love and feeling alive because of it.
The bridge of the song acknowledges the intensity of the singer's feelings by apologizing for staring and admitting that words are not enough to describe how they feel. They then ask their love interest if they feel the same and if they do, to let them know.
The song ends with the singer expressing their love and need for this person and their desire to love them for a long time. Overall, the lyrics of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" convey the overwhelming emotions of love and infatuation, and the desire to hold onto that feeling forever.
Line by Line Meaning
You're just too good to be true
I can hardly believe how amazing you are
Can't take my eyes off you
I'm completely mesmerized by you
You'd be like heaven to touch
The thought of touching you is heavenly
I want to hold you so much
I have an intense desire to hold you in my arms
At long last love has arrived
After waiting for so long, love has finally come my way
And I thank God I'm alive
I am grateful to be alive to experience this love
Pardon the way that I stare
Sorry if I'm staring, I can't help myself
There's nothing else to compare
You are incomparable to anyone or anything else
The sight of you leaves me weak
You have such an effect on me that it makes me weak
There are no words enough to speak
I can't find the words to express how I truly feel
But if you feel like I feel
If you feel the same way that I do
Please let me know that it's real
Let me know that this love is genuine
I love you baby and if it's quite all right
I love you and I hope that's okay
I need you baby to warm a lonely night
I need you to keep me company when I'm lonely
Trust in me when I say
Believe me when I tell you
Oh, pretty baby don't bring me down, I pray
Please don't let anything come between us
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you stay
Now that I've found you, I want you to stay with me
And let me love you baby, let me love you
Allow me to love you with all my heart
Contributed by Jayden G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@luciliafraga7928
Maravilhoso amei.
@mustafaemre19
He is the best on that song but only 92 views ??? The real music does not see the deserved respect nowadays unfortunately !!
@neilkeenan5131
it sure is Frankie Valle
Al Green would have much more soul in it
@rossmills4357
"Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" is not in the Album with the cover bearing the image above.
@dinotrifunovic2421
It's frankie valli