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.
Stop and Check Myself
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Girl oh yeah (that will break my heart)
Lord, I've got to stop, babe oh yeah (stop and check myself)
Oh yeah, baby baby baby baby look
Making love to you is so grand
I need somebody to hold my hand
I can't understand why you treat me this way
I've got to stop, baby (stop and check myself)
Baby baby baby baby, I got to do it now
Oh oh baby got to, got to stop (stop and check myself)
(Stop and check myself)
In Al Green's song Stop and Check Myself, the singer is reflecting on his past mistakes of chasing after women who ultimately break his heart. He recognizes that he needs to take a step back and reevaluate his actions. He acknowledges that making moves on some girl who will break his heart is a pattern of behavior that he needs to stop. The phrase "stop and check myself" serves as a reminder for him to pause and reflect on his actions before making the same mistakes again.
The singer then shifts to addressing his current lover. He describes how much he enjoys being intimate with her, but he also expresses confusion over how she treats him. He mentions that he needs her love and support on a daily basis, but he also recognizes that he has some work to do on himself before he can fully give and receive love in a healthy way.
Overall, the song is about self-reflection and recognizing one's own flaws and patterns of behavior in relationships. It's a reminder that in order to have healthy and successful relationships, we need to be willing to take a step back and reflect on our actions and attitudes towards love and intimacy.
Line by Line Meaning
Every time I make the moves on some
Whenever I start pursuing another girl
Girl oh yeah (that will break my heart)
Someone who will likely cause me emotional pain
Lord, I've got to stop, babe oh yeah (stop and check myself)
I need to pause and reflect on my actions
Oh yeah, baby baby baby baby look
Listen to me, my beloved
Making love to you is so grand
I deeply enjoy being intimate with you
I need somebody to hold my hand
I require your emotional support
I can't understand why you treat me this way
I am confused about your behavior toward me
I need your lovin' from day to day
I rely on your affection every day
I've got to stop, baby (stop and check myself)
I must reevaluate myself and my actions
Baby baby baby baby, I got to do it now
I need to correct my behavior immediately
Oh oh baby got to, got to stop (stop and check myself)
I have to put a halt to my actions and reconsider
(Stop and check myself)
I need to assess and correct my behavior
Writer(s): A. Green
Contributed by Aaron O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.