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.
back_up_train_
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Back up, train)
Turn it around
(Turn around)
I`ve got to take my baby
(Got to take my baby)
Oh, wherever I`m bound
I`m a lonely man
Just a lonely man
Need a helping hand
Yeah, yeah
Back up the train
(Back up, train)
Ease the pain
(Ease the pain)
Take me to my baby
(Take me to my baby)
I`m going insane
So, mister conductor
(Turn this train around)
All you gotta do now
(Turn this train around) ohh
Music in my hand
I`m a lonely man
Need a helping hand
Yeah,yeah
So back this train up
That all you gotta do now
I`ll never forget the
Girl I left behind
Her tears, her kiss
Her face stay on my mind
I got to make her say
That she`ll forgive me
I gotta get back, so, ohh
Baby, baby, baby, baby
I need, I need your
Loving right now, darling
The song "Back Up Train" by Al Green is about a man's journey to get back to his lover. The lyrics start with the chorus urging the train to back up and turn around so that he can go back to his love. He expresses his loneliness and need for a helping hand. He asks the conductor to turn the train around and ease his pain. He talks about having music in his hand and being a lonely man in need of love. He desperately needs to get back to his lover and asks for her forgiveness. The song ends with him pleading for her love and affection. The main themes in the song are love, desperation, and loneliness.
One interesting fact about "Back Up Train" is that it was Al Green's first single. He recorded it in 1967 at the age of 21. The song was released on Hot Line Records, a small independent label based in Detroit. Despite limited promotion and distribution, the song became a regional hit in the South and helped launch Green's career.
Line by Line Meaning
Back up the train
Reverse the train's direction
(Back up, train)
Vocally instructing the train to move back
Turn it around
Move the train in the opposite direction
(Turn around)
Vocally instructing the train to turn around
I've got to take my baby
I need to travel with my significant other
(Got to take my baby)
Reiterating the urgency to travel with their significant other
Oh, wherever I'm bound
No matter where I'm headed
I'm a lonely man
I am feeling isolated
Just a lonely man
Emphasizing the feeling of aloneness
Need a helping hand
Require assistance from others
Yeah, yeah
Slang for agreement or emphasis
Ease the pain
Lessen the discomfort or distress
Take me to my baby
Transport me to my significant other
I'm going insane
Feeling mentally unstable or out of control
So, mister conductor
Addressing the train conductor
(Turn this train around)
Reiterating the request to change the train's direction
All you gotta do now
All that is needed at this point
(Turn this train around) ohh
Urging the conductor to act now
Music in my hand
Possessing an instrument or tool to create music
So back this train up
Reverse the train's movement
That all you gotta do now
It's the only thing left to do
I'll never forget the
I'll always remember
Girl I left behind
Referring to significant other who was not able to travel with them
Her tears, her kiss
The last moments shared before leaving
Her face stay on my mind
The image of the loved one is imprinted on their memory
I got to make her say
I need her to verbally express her forgiveness
That she'll forgive me
I hope she will grant me forgiveness
I gotta get back, so, ohh
The urgency to return to their significant other
Baby, baby, baby, baby
Addressing the significant other affectively
I need, I need your
Expressing the longing for their companion's love and support
Loving right now, darling
Desiring love and affection from their significant other at that moment
Lyrics Ā© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CURTIS RODGERS, PALMER JAMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Debra Dougherty
This was the first song I ever owned. I bought it at a white elephant sale in the second grade. I was 7years old. Im fifty four now and I still LOVE this song.
Catalina Rico love peace. soul Rico
@dejavue54 I was nine years old
Errol Gilo
I am 56. And I agree, this is my first song that I love.
Zscott Davis
I'm 12 again every time I hear this one.
Zscott Davis
Awesome memory Debra!
Anthony Haywood
@Debra Dougherty 0ā°
Rich Prince
Al Green, such an original.....no one even attempts to duplicate this mans sound.Ā Just love all of his music since first hearing him in the early seventies!
O.G. J. T.
I'm 67 and always loved this Hit
Renee Shepherd
Your right about this and he doesn't play Church, this is real, AL Green, The Preacher! Amen Renee E Stewart Shepherd
Steve Gekko
o'jay family reunion