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.
Take Your Time
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just you take your time
Do you remember when
We used to take our time
You'd write me a letter, baby
And I'd wait for you all night (oh)
Now it seems everyone's
I wanna take a little time
Just to fall in love again
Cause they're telling me
Just you take your time, oh
Just you take your time
When I think about yesterday
Everything was easy
Everything was okay
(Now, now, now)
Now everything is going fast
You're the best thing I ever had
Aw and losing you
Aw it'd make me, make me
That would make me
Feel so bad (hey, hey)
Would you help me saying
Just you take your time, oh
Just you take your time
Sing low and take it slow
I'm inclined to agree
'Cause ain't nobody living
Can try to hurry me (can try to hurry me)
Just you take your time, oh
Just you take your time
Just you take your time, oh
Just you take your time
Just you take your time, oh
Just you take your time
The lyrics of "Take Your Time" by Al Green express a longing for a slower, more deliberate pace in love and life. The opening lines "Just you take your time, oh/Just you take your time" set the tone for the song, emphasizing the importance of moving at a leisurely pace. The first verse reminisces about a time when the couple would take their time and enjoy the process of falling in love: "Do you remember when/We used to take our time/You'd write me a letter, baby/And I'd wait for you all night (oh)." However, the second verse acknowledges that life has become much more fast-paced, and the couple may have lost sight of that slow, deliberate pace: "Now it seems everyone's/Rushing around including you and I/I wanna take a little time/Just to fall in love again."
The chorus repeats the sentiment that taking one's time is essential to a happy life and relationship: "Just you take your time, oh/Just you take your time." The bridge changes the tone a bit, with Green pleading with his partner to stay with him and help him slow down: "Would you help me saying/Just you take your time, oh." The song ends with a final repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the importance of slowing down and savoring what's important in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Just you take your time, oh
The singer advises the listener to not rush and take their time
Just you take your time
Reinforcement of the singer's advice to take one's time
Do you remember when
The singer reminds the listener of a past time
We used to take our time
The artist and listener used to not rush and take their time in the past
You'd write me a letter, baby
The listener used to write letters to the artist
And I'd wait for you all night (oh)
The singer would eagerly wait for the listener's letter all night long
Now it seems everyone's
The current situation is that everyone is
Rushing around including you and I
The artist and listener are now also rushing around
I wanna take a little time
The artist desires to slow down and take some time
Just to fall in love again
The artist wants to experience the feeling of falling in love again
Cause they're telling me
The singer's motivation to take their time is because others are advising them
When I think about yesterday
The artist reminisces on the past
Everything was easy
The past was characterized by ease and simplicity
Everything was okay
The past was generally positive and acceptable
(Now, now, now)
The current situation is different from the past
Now everything is going fast
The speed of everything in the present is fast and hurried
You're the best thing I ever had
The listener is the most important thing the artist has ever had in their life
Aw and losing you
The idea of losing the listener
Aw it'd make me, make me
Losing the listener would make the singer
That would make me
Continuation of the idea of losing the listener
Feel so bad (hey, hey)
Losing the listener would make the artist feel terrible
Would you help me saying
The artist is asking the listener for help
Sing low and take it slow
The singer advises the listener to sing quietly and take things slowly
I'm inclined to agree
The artist is in agreement with their own advice
'Cause ain't nobody living
The reason why the singer is giving the advice is because nobody is
Can try to hurry me (can try to hurry me)
Nobody can succeed in rushing the singer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ahmir Thompson, Al Green, Chalmers Alford, Corinne Bailey Rae, James Jason Poyser, Owen Biddle
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind