Al Green
Lay It Down
(Blue Note, 2008)

Al Green turned 62 this year, but you’d never know it by listening to his recent albums. His voice is still supple, able to hit his patented screaming high-end grace notes then roll down to his husky, bedroom growl. He still mixes the church and the street, a sweet soul singer who continues to sound sensitive and understanding even when enmeshed in love’s tribulations. There’s a bit of a raspy element in his mid-range today, but it doesn’t slow him down at all. He still sings with the youthful, sanctified joy that made him the most sizzling male singer of the ’70s.

Lay It Down is an attempt to give the Reverend Green some street cred with today’s youth. Green jettisoned producer Willie Mitchell, the man behind his legendary sides for Hi Records and his recent secular albums I Can’t Stop and Everything’s OK, in favor of the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and hip-hop keyboard ace James Poyser. Thankfully, the young’uns don’t try to push Green too far from his comfort zone. The album was cut mostly live, with Green, Thompson, and Poyser collaborating on the songwriting. The producers also brought in three guest vocalists: Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae, and the modestly named John Legend. Does Green need them? Not really, but he’s polite and doesn’t show them up too badly. “Lay It Down” is the kind of Gospel drenched love song that made Green’s reputation, soulful and sensual without sounding salacious. Hamilton provides supporting vocals and hangs back in the mix. On “You’ve Got the Love I Need”, he shares lead duties with the Reverend, and while he doesn’t do a bad job, he’s no Al Green. On “Stay With Me (By the Sea)”, John Legend kicks back too, for a performance that’s fine but doesn’t set off any sparks. “Take Your Time”, the duet with Corinne Baily Rae, fares better. Their harmonies are spine tingling and the vocal interplay is genuinely erotic.

The rest of the tracks are pure Green, close enough to his classic Hi sound to be comforting without trying to duplicate it. The Dap-Kings Horns add the appropriate brass accents while Thompson does an impressive job on the drums, mimicking the subtle hi-hat accents and fat-back bass drum sound of the legendary drummer Howard Grimes, once called the secret ingredient of the Hi Sound. “Just for Me” is the kind of jubilant love song Green excels at, full of a fire that could be addressed to a woman or his God. “I’m Wild About You” lets Green strut his stuff in a more playful way, with whooping backing vocals that make the song sizzle with sultry delight. Poyser’s churchy Memphis organ fills accent “What More do You Want from Me?”, a pleading lament that Green delivers with a voice full of desperation, confusion, and frustrated passion. His near falsetto shrieks intensify the song’s heartrending message. “Standing in the Rain” closes the disc with a funky, swinging beat and growling, uplifting testimony from the Reverend, letting us know that no downpour, no matter how dark or frightening, is going to keep his spirit down. Lay It Down can’t match the crisp excitement of Green’s early sides, but its celebratory vibe makes it the best of his “comeback” albums.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

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