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.
I Can Feel It
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why, my momma said to me
Son, you want to grow up strong
You gotta know what you believe
You're gonna find out one day
There's only two ways you can go
And when you get down
To the end of the line
She was telling me all about Jesus
And how He died to set me free
He arose from the dead
For a Memphis boy like me
Chorus:
I can feel it
From the sole of my feet
To the crown of my head
I felt it from the day I was born
I know my God ain't dead
He wakes me up early in the morning
And keeps me late at night
Choose to run away from the darkness
And start to walk in the light
He's the Alpha and Omega
He's the beginning and the end
He's the only one of the people
That I can really
Really call a friend
He's the first and the last
Ah you know the Word is true
If you want anything from my Lord
You know what you've got to do
She was telling me all about Jesus
And how He died to set me free
He arose from the dead
For a Memphis boy like me
I can feel if from the crown of my head
To the sole of my feet
How He threw up both of His hands
For the people that believe
It wasn't done in a corner
But high up on a hill
You gotta give it all you've got
People you know the deal
I can feel it from the crown of my head
To the sole of my feet
I have felt it from the day I was born
I know my God ain't dead
He wakes me up early in the morning
And keeps me late at night
The lyrics of Al Green's "I Can Feel It" are an anthem to faith and belief, conveying the message that one needs to know what they believe and stay strong in faith. The song opens with the singer recollecting his mother's advice as a young boy to grow up strong, and know what he believes. The mother then tells him about Jesus, how he died to set him free, and how he rose again from the dead. Then the song shifts to the singer's personal experience of feeling God's presence in his life, waking him up early in the morning and keeping him late at night. The chorus repeats the same lines, emphasizing the depth and intensity of the spiritual experience, and the final verses reiterate the message that Jesus is the beginning and the end, and that faith requires giving it all we've got.
The lyrics are deeply spiritual, drawing on the Christian belief in Jesus Christ's resurrection and the notion of God's constant presence in our lives. The song has an uplifting, upbeat tone that matches the lyrics, creating a sense of positive energy and affirmation that resonates with listeners. The singer's personal testimony about feeling the presence of God in his life gives the song a personal touch that makes it relatable and inspiring to anyone who believes in a higher power.
Line by Line Meaning
I was just a little boy
I was a young child at the time.
Why, my momma said to me
My mother told me something important.
Son, you want to grow up strong
My mother advised me on how to become a strong person.
You gotta know what you believe
It's important to have beliefs and stick to them.
You're gonna find out one day
At some point in life, I will discover something important.
There's only two ways you can go
There are only two paths in life to choose from.
And when you get down To the end of the line
When I reach the end of the path I've chosen.
There's somebody you need to know
It's important to know a certain person.
She was telling me all about Jesus
My mother was explaining the teachings of Jesus to me.
And how He died to set me free
Jesus died to save me from sin and its consequences.
He arose from the dead
Jesus came back to life after he was crucified.
For a Memphis boy like me
Jesus' teachings and resurrection were particularly meaningful to me, a boy from Memphis.
Chorus:
Repeating refrain of the song.
I can feel it
I can sense something important.
From the sole of my feet
I feel it throughout my body.
To the crown of my head
It's a powerful feeling that affects my entire being.
I felt it from the day I was born
I've felt this feeling my entire life.
I know my God ain't dead
I believe that God is still alive and present in my life.
He wakes me up early in the morning
I feel God's presence and influence in my life every day, right from the start of my day.
And keeps me late at night
God is with me through the night, until I go to sleep.
Choose to run away from the darkness
I must avoid negative influences and choose positivity instead.
And start to walk in the light
I must embrace positivity and hope for a better future.
He's the Alpha and Omega
God is the beginning and the end of all things.
He's the only one of the people
God is the only person who truly matters.
Ah you know the Word is true
The teachings of the Bible are reliable and true.
If you want anything from my Lord
If I want something from God,
You know what you've got to do
There are specific steps I must take to get what I want from God.
I can feel if from the crown of my head
Referring again to the strong feeling I have throughout my body.
How He threw up both of His hands
Describing a moment when Jesus raised his hands in triumph.
For the people that believe
This moment was for those who believe in Jesus.
It wasn't done in a corner
This event was not hidden or secret.
But high up on a hill
It took place in a public and visible location.
You gotta give it all you've got
I must put in effort to achieve what I want.
People you know the deal
This is just how things are, and you should already be aware of it.
Contributed by Kayla O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.