Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Albert Leornes Greene, known professionally as Al Green, celebrated birthday #80 last week. Born April 13, 1946 in Forrest City, Arkansas, the man who would become one of the world’s most acclaimed R&B and soul artisits started singing in a family group before he was a teenager. Eventually his love of secular music by Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson and Wilson Pickett led to a falling out with Greene and his religious father, sending his young son out on his own. His debut album, Back Up Train, was released nearly 60 years ago in March 1967. Soon after he met musician, bandleader and record producer Willie Mitchell who hired Greene as a vocalist & eventually signed the singer to a recording contract after modifying his last name to Green.

And 55 years ago he released his third album, Al Green Gets Next to You, in March 1971 which included a cover of The Doors’ #1 hit from 1967. In November of the same year, the title track from Green’s fourth album was released. It became his signature song & a top seller, reaching the #1 spot for one week in February 1972.

A string of hits followed along with some personal issues that led Green to become a minister and open the Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis. He released several gospel albums in the 1980’s and appeared on Broadway with Patti LaBelle in “Your Arms Too Short To Box With God” in 1982. Green returned to secular music in 1988 with a duet with Annie Lennox, “Put A Little Love In Your Heart”, for the movie, “Scrooged”.

In January 1995 Green was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and performed at its opening concert in Cleveland that September. He has received a number of awards and accolades throughout his career, including a Kennedy Center Honor in 2014. He continues to make music while holding services each Sunday at his Tennessee church. That role was immortalized 35 years ago in Marc Cohn’s 1991 hit, “Walking In Memphis”:

“They’ve got catfish on the table
They’ve got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven’t got a prayer
But boy you’ve got a prayer in Memphis“.

Al Green circa 1971. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Green (L) performed with The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin (R), at the 1995 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Concert in Cleveland. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Green was a 2014 Kennedy Centers Honoree. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Sixty years ago, The Doors became the house band at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood from May 23 to August 21, 1966. The were fired due to a performance of “The End” but their residency at the club led to their recording contract with Elektra. And that song appears as the closing track on the band’s debut album, released just five months later in January 1967.

Their sixth album, L.A. Woman, was released 55 years ago on April 19, 1971. It was the last album before Jim Morrison’s death three months later on July 3, 1971. The recording sessions for The Doors final album together began in November 1970 after a tumultuous period for the band which began with Jim Morrison’s arrest at their March 1969 concert in Miami. It essentially blacklisted them from radio airplay & further live shows. It also led to Morrison’s conviction for profanity and indecent exposure in September 1970 (he was posthumourly pardoned in 2010 by Florida’s then Govenor Charlie Crist).

The band’s meteoric rise to international stardom from the moment their first album was released had taken its toll on Morrison, who was only 23 at the time. The mesmerizing & enigmatic lead singer & main songwriter for The Doors struggled with the attention, the industry demands and the fame. It increased his experimentation and dependence on drugs and alcohol which fueled the Miami incident.

But other opportunities presented themselves for the band during their touring hiatus. In April 1969 they appeared on the PBS television show, Critique. It aired two months later, just ahead of the July 1970 release date for their fourth album, The Soft Parade. The show includes performances of several songs & an interview with the band by host & Village Voice writer, Richard Goldstein.

This signified my favorite era for Morrison. The longer hair, the beard, the extra weight turned him from a good looking guy into an absolutely beautiful man. I know his addictions were getting worse but to me, he never sounded or looked better than this period of time. And L.A. Woman was another step forward for him to put the legal problems behind him so he & the band could get back to their purpose of creating some of the greatest rock music ever recorded. And even with the period of controversy, the band had a remarkable run of success in under five years with six studio albums, two #1 songs and an unwavering amount of sophisticated talent that made them one of the early architects of the classic rock sound.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Doors on the “Critique” soundstage in April 1969 (L to R): Ray Manzarek (organ/keyboards), Jim Morrison (lead vocals), John Densmore (drums) and Robby Krieger (guitar). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Al Green: “Tired of Being Alone” (1971, written by Al Green).

Al Green: “Light My Fire” (1971, written by The Doors: John Densmore, Ray Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

Al Green: “Let’s Stay Together” (Live performance on “The Late Show With David Letterman” on January 13, 1995. Originally recorded in 1971, written by Al Green, Al Jackson Jr. and Willie Mitchell).

Al Green: “Love and Happiness” (1972, written by Al Green and Mabon Lewis “Teenie” Hodges).

AL Green: “A Change Is Gonna Come” (Live performance at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame concert on September 2, 1995, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio. Written by Sam Cooke).

The Doors: “Love Her Madly” (1971, written by The Doors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

The Doors: “L.A. Woman” (1971, written by The Doors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

The Doors: “Hyacinth House” (1971, written by The Doors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

The Doors: “Riders On The Storm” (1971, written by The Doors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

Stay safe & well.