Al Green still got soul
House of Blues, Boston, October 15, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
It would be easy to dismiss Al Green as only part of Old School Soul and R&B, a great soul singer who best days may be behind him.
That would also be quite wrong given the strength of his most recent disc, 2008's "Lay It Down," which showed the Memphis soul institution in great form with help from modern day singers like Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend.
Doing so also would have sold Green way way short in concert as he proved before a mature crowd that he remained a stellar entertainer. Even at 63, Green's voice has lost none of its vibrancy. The guy who practically invented the soulful love song still retains ownership of the genre, hitting all the notes.
He demonstrated that time and again whether on old songs (Let's Stay Together, one of his biggest hits ever) to the title track of his latest, a slower song where he feel to the floor a few times. He made it seem all effortless and as if no time had passed over the decades. His take on the Bee Gees How Can You Mend a Broken Heart was slow and soulful with Green putting his own stamp on it.
A very large band including his three daughters on backing vocals aided Green. Dustin Barber laid down some good guitar licks, while drummer Darrell Wells Jr. (his father used to play with Green) set a strong beat.
Despite the abilities of Green today to make music that still sounds great, there were a few shortcomings - at 65 minutes, Green did not exactly overdo it time-wise (however, you could not accuse Green of failing to raise a sweat. He actually proved that a few times by taking his hand to his head and flicking lots of sweat). Too bad because the quality was there and in this case, more would have been better.
And for some reason, Green only played a few of the 11 songs on "Lay It Down." Sure, it's great hearing his chestnuts, but there was no reason why Green could not dish out the high quality new material either to blend old and new soul. He could have done so without resorting to a medley of some of R&B's greatest hits, such as "Wonderful World and "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)."
Nevertheless, closing with the song that probably best described his mood as well as that of the crowd on this night - Love and Happiness, Green showed he still could lay down his timeless music.
