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.
One night stand
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Even the guitar and the band
They were makin' the right moves
Playin' in the blues like a light is at hand
Oh, get ready, ready for a one nite stand
(Get ready for a one nite stand
Get ready for a one nite stand)
So does all the fellows in the band, alright
Don't you wanna go
Well, you've taken a right notion
Enough to fill the world and the ocean
While we're driving in your car
No one knows who you are
Let me know who, big people in power
Oh, get ready, ready for a one nite stand
(Get ready for a one nite stand
Get ready for a one nite stand)
Cause my baby loves a one nite stand
So does all the fellows in the band, alright
New York City, don't you wanna go, c'mon
Yeah sure, climb on
Don't you wanna go, c'mon
The lyrics of Al Green's "One Nite Stand" may appear to be about a man and his lover's desire for a brief, one-time sexual encounter, but there is more to it than that. The opening lines suggest that someone has taken everything away, including the guitar and the band - this could be interpreted as a reference to a difficult situation in the singer's life, where they feel as though everything important to them has been stripped away. However, there is still hope, as the band begins playing the blues, creating a sense of joy and celebration. This indicates that even in times of hardship and turmoil, there is always the chance for happiness and catharsis through art and music.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "get ready for a one nite stand," which seems to suggest a purely physical encounter, but the subsequent lines - "cause my baby loves a one nite stand, so does all the fellows in the band" - reveal that this is more about the singer and his partner enjoying the freedom to indulge in their desires, with the support and acceptance of those around them.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, you've taken everything we've got
You have completely taken everything from us, including the guitar and the band.
Even the guitar and the band
Not even the guitar and the band are left behind. Everything is gone.
They were makin' the right moves
The band was playing the blues music in a perfect and impressive way.
Playin' in the blues like a light is at hand
The band was playing the blues melodiously, like they are about to achieve something very important.
Oh, get ready, ready for a one nite stand
Prepare yourself for a one night stand.
(Get ready for a one nite stand
Instructions to get prepared for a one night stand.
Get ready for a one nite stand)
Instructions to get prepared for a one night stand.
Cause my baby loves a one nite stand
My partner loves a one night stand and I am okay with it.
So does all the fellows in the band, alright
All the fellows in the band are also up for a one night stand.
Don't you wanna go
Do you not want to go?
Well, you've taken a right notion
You have taken the right decision for yourself.
Enough to fill the world and the ocean
You have everything in abundance that can fill the whole world and the ocean.
While we're driving in your car
As we are driving in your car.
No one knows who you are
Nobody knows who you truly are and what you actually do.
Let me know who, big people in power
Inform me who the big and powerful people are?
New York City, don't you wanna go, c'mon
Do you not want to go to New York City? Come along.
Yeah sure, climb on
Yes, of course, climb on and let's go.
Don't you wanna go, c'mon
Do you not want to go? Come along.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AL GREEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Terry Reilly
Al Green was prolific between 1971 and 1975 and everything he recorded was quality as demonstrated by "One Nite Stand". And doesn't it swing! Thanks for posting these classics.
J Crash
1971-1974 was his peak, he was awful after 1974
555calex
That's right-on...Al Green and Phillip Wynn(Spinners)
MO Cancer
1974 Mean Green👊🏾
Jim Jackson
Yes!
Mahvash Bukhari
Shehnaz says shes READY!!!
J Crash
Al Greens last good album
Mahvash Bukhari
Indian guddaa.....
Are you readddyyyyyy????!!