Back locally for the first time since ACL Fest 2003, Al Green, 73, begins his first tour in six years – an eight-city jaunt – at Bass Concert Hall. Last Saturday on Record Store Day, Possum Records released The Hi Records Singles Collection, which contains all 26 vinyl singles by the Grammy-winning Kennedy Center Honors recipient.: Once the Arkansas native found his voice with the help of producer Willie Mitchell (1928-2010), he broke through with Al Green Gets Next to You in 1971, featuring a bluesy cover of the Temptations’ “I Can’t Get Next to You.” The LP also contained million-seller “Tired of Being Alone.” The esteemed Let’s Stay Together (1972) followed, Green’s smooth falsetto ascending the soul pantheon with its honeyed, Billboard-topping title track.: Aside from Marvin Gaye, and perhaps the Isley Brothers, the son of a sharecropper defined Seventies R&B. None of it would’ve been possible without Mitchell’s tutelage, a yearlong process beginning with Green approaching the producer “to find out who Al was.” At some point, Mitchell angered him and Green stormed out of a studio.: “I left, squealing my tires out of the parking lot, and went home,” chuckles Green. “I thought about it, and called him back. I was a lot clearer later that night, I said, ‘Hey man! Are you ready?’ He started laughing. He said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready.’: “I was gonna sing like Pickett, or James Brown,” continues Green. “He said, ‘No, no, no. That’s not it.’ Then I said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna just sing it without putting anything extra into it.’ And I went, [singing], ‘I’m so in love with you.’: “He said, ‘That’s it – that’s Al!’ I said, ‘Oh, okay. Now I know who Al is.’”
Wed., April 24, 8pm