The Macon Telegraph from Macon, Georgia • 49

3D Green traded his soul music for soul saving By Lynn Van Matre Chicago Tribune It has been 14 years since Al Green was A decade has passed since he was ordained as pastor of the ull Gospel Tabernacle the Pentecostal church he established in Memphis Eight years have gone by since the singer turned his considerable musi cal talents and urgently emotional approach exclusively to gospel Still a lot of folks find it hard to believe that the one time of the soul singer and sex symbol who racked up 13 pop hits (eight of which sold more than a million copies each) between 1971 and 1976 is really serious about his switch to spiritual music keep asking me 'Do you think ever go back to singing secular says Green with a touch of exasperation back go back go tack Go back where? I have incorporated all of my career into one vessel I have put my hand to the he says (a reference to Luke 9:62: man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of I look On occasion however the preacher has lifted his hand for a minute to peek over his shoulder In 1985 recording Is the his first for Records after several albums for smaller gos pel only labels Green was reunited in the recording studio with Willie Mitchell the man who produced his string of hits The album like all of rec ords since 1 Grammy Award winning "The Lord Will Make a was straightforwardly spir itual in its subject matter but the fact the singer had signed with a major label and was once again working with Mitchell and several musicians from the fueled specula tion about a possible return to the secular scene "People thought Green is going back to acknowledges the singer who recorded only one gospel album with Mitchell were very wrong though I did look back which was not a very good thing for me to do but I wanted to take a little peek and I did But then I said Lord I don't want to turn into a pillar of salt So the Lord let me peek but now I know that there is nowhere to go back latest album which fea tures a guest appearance by Billy Preston is called The phrase has particular meaning for the 41 year old pop ster tumed pastor had a million singers that came out of a particular era of Green says referring to the 1960s "Sam Cooke Jimi Hendrix But they didn't last long in the race is a reference to endurance We have programmed our hearts and minds and souls and spirits for endur ance We running this race like Sam Cooke or Jimi Hendrix We running it to win just over the short term not running it fast not running it strong We're running it to get to the finish line and win the war And all those who are zooming by so fast we just wave at them as they go Green lifts one hand heavily laden with gold rings and bracelets to wave at an imaginary runner sprinting past him in the race for wordly success and flashes a smile straight out of his symbol" days It seems highly likely that even if it has been years since he styled himself as the "Prince of not all the women who visit Green's ull Gospel Tabernacle are there solely for the sermon "I used to have more trouble with he acknowledges coming to church to see Al Green the superstar Al Green the sex symbol It was a tremendous burden I know how to handle it now "I don't like the superstar business The superstar business is a trick to get you hyped all up and make you think that something that you're not I was in the superstar business about 10 years and I went through that made the money I went through all those things the best of every thing But the superstar business is bad because it tricks you and you don't stop and say thank you Lord You think it is by your own power that you have accomplished these things But I don't cater to that at all 1 just kind of shun it off" Being married Green notes makes things easier makes things a lot more stable for me" he says I don't think that I could last too long without without that and without the knowl edge of the Lord being my help and all of the forces on the other side are so strong the sex symbol bit and the whole nine yards of that and the women who come to the tabernacle without avid Christian thoughts in mind if you know what I mean You've got to know how to put that in its place right away Right Green who was bom in Arkansas and raised in Grand Rapids Mich was brought up a Baptist but as he puts it able to keep away from the sound of the and the emotional Pentecostal fervor that was forbidden fruit when he was growing up father want us to have much to do with Holy Ghost people Holy Rollers he called the singer says would speed up the car when he drove past their church gjrSfl A Soul singer turned gospel preacher Al Green All smiles after winning two Grammys for gospel songs in 1983 Yeah just zoom right past no explanation So I got curious and went to one of their prayer meetings to find out what my dad want us to see what I saw was people being delivered people being touched and filled with the Holy Spirit people so full of joy they were crying And the things that they were saying were very very In 1973 the year he had two mil lion selling pop singles and I Green experienced a religious epiphany a opera tion without hands an operation of the Holy Spirit in my but continued his pop recording career The next year around the time that his "Sha La made the Top 10 the singer made news when a woman suffering from unrequited love poured a pot of boiling grits down Green's back while he was in the bath tub and later killed herself with a gun that belonged to him lot of unintelligent writers sug gested that it was the scalding inci dent that made me turn to gospel music" Green says they say that falling off the stage w'as what did it (During a 1979 concert in Cincinnati the singer fell off the stage and spent two weeks in a hospital recovering) the incident with the girl and the grits the falling off the stage none of that had anything to do with it had already been born again before any of that happened But it took me a long time to finish up my contractual obligations to my old rec ord company while I couldn't deny the movement of the spirit in me some times I tried to ignore it I was think ing a lot about what I would be giving up (by forsaking pop music) It was traumatic and it took me about three years to wok through that" 1977 album reflected the singer's struggle between the secular and sacred worlds But now career is greater than maintains Green busier now than I ever have And still the question comes in interview after interview: When will he begin singing secular music again? long so long 1 have preached the gospel sighs Green no one yet believes me when I say that I am in this for good I can't go back would get Al Green in trou ble and see 1 wouldn't want to get Al Green in trouble I need to be clean and clear and pure and keep my eyes on what I am supposed to be CLASSIC CONSIGNMENT GRAND OPENING ASHIONS AT PRICES Now You Can Afford To Dress Like A Million Macon Designer Consignment Shop where 1 you'll find good quality designer clothes ullj size range Great Prices We will now be accepting! Designer Clothes On Consignment 2786 Riverside Drive (NEAR DOMINO'S PIZZA) Macon Ga 31204 Ph 743 9924 or 474 1271 Pauline Martin Owner OPENING HOURS MON SAT 10 6 Depressed? If suffering from depression to the point where it is having an adverse effect upon your job your family and your well being you can now get immedi ate help At the Psychiatric Pavilion at The Medical Center the most respected health care facility in this area we have skilled professionals standing by to provide advice and assistance It you have a problem now is the time to start finding solutions And you can do that with a single phone call 743 HOPE The Psychiatric Pavilion Ar The Medical Center of Central Georgia Open Doors Open Minds Macon Telegraph end Newt ri June 19 1987 Record reviews provide opening for some of more off beat bands It's riday afternoon and leafing through the newspaper looking for something to do during the week end There on page 4D is a picture of an odd looking band (they're wearing normal clothes) and several record reviews And say just for point of illustration that the records being reviewed are by Hunters and Collec tors and the Wallets Because you've never heard of these bands you tum to page 5D Gee you may wonder why these folks review records by someone I've heard of? just like me I like to read about stuff I already know about So like to take a few minutes to explain why we review the records we review irst of all what do we review? Well of course there's REM not the most popular group in the world but they're from Georgia and twm band members grew up in Macon Lots of Atlanta and Athens bands Guadalcanal Diary the Heartfixers and and get good play in the newspaper because they're happening bands in the state Others with local ties in the past including James Brown and Gregg Allman still hold local interest But aside from these groups with local or regional ties I personally try to provide reviews of some of the more off beat bands And why is that? In Macon you are not going to hear much music outside the Top 40 of pop black and country (This doesn't include public radio which is a column that's already been written) Go to the record stores and in a similar predic ament The variety of music available at local record stores is not the best The numbers of independent label records available here has narrowed even more as compact discs take up more space in the stores So I pride myself on the fact that you can come to the newspaper and get information you can't find anywhere else in the city In this newspaper you're more likely to see reviews of Husker new album than news about what Janet Jackson's up to People living in Atlanta can look to the newspapers Soulhline and Creative Loafing for stories about alternative music but we have no such publications in Macon We don't ignore the but my own emphasis on the groups with five songs in the Top 40 There are plenty of other sources available for that You can read about Phil Collins and Jody Watley in People And because we have a tendency to write about albums by lesser known artists you find much heavy duty criticism in the reviews When I review most albums I do just that review All I can really do is tell you a little bit about the musicians and give an idea of what the music sounds like If I think really good or really bad say that too But I make no claims of making a heady Jeffrey Day Night Music critical analysis of albums The main purpose of these reviews is just to tell you about some of the good music out there that you otherwise know about There are a couple of dozen bands out there that fall into the category But most musicians even those with major label record deals are just working stiffs like the rest of us They deserve our attention 'Cutting begins June 25 You may have noticed MTV's "The Cutting Edge" has been missing for a while from the television Well now back with a new name Cutting Edge Happy and a new location the revolving lounge atop the Hollywood Holiday Inn Cutting was the place for many bands that find acceptance anywhere else bands like RUN DMC Dwight Yoakam and the Minutemen The new show which is being called a mix of After Dark" and will provide an outlet for blues reggae African and Latino music as well as rock 'n' roll Cutting Edge Happy airs the final Thurs day and Sunday of every month beginning Thursday June 25 at 10:30 pm Atlanta band gets record deal A great Atlanta band and has landed a deal with Island Records Last year the band released its debut album But on 688 Records That signing obviously bodes well for the band and the 688 Records band showed people have a good idea of what said Cathy Hendrix of 688 More African music in Atlanta If you missed Paul Graceland Tour concert in Atlanta as I did another chance to hear some fine African music this weekend King Sunny Ade and the African Beats play at the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta Saturday night The Nigeria band takes the stage around 9 pm Tickets and $1450 Center Stage is located at 1374 Peachtree St Oingo Boingo 'off but not novelty act By Gary Graff Knight Ridder Newspapers A few words with Danny Elfman Elfman 33 is the lead singer and songwriter for Los Angeles based pop band Oingo Boingo currently touring to promote its latest album On goals: we ever wanted to be perceived as is an off center rock or pop act not a novelty thing (its former record company) thought of us as a novelty thing: they know what to do with us If a record com pany thinks of its own artist that way there's no way the rest of the world will take it seriously MCA (its new company) things are a little more equal They think of us as granted a slightly unusual entity but something that should be out there and doing On direction: Once a band that played hard fast rock Oingo musical direction has changed to include more complex rhythms and subtler melodies reached a point where we could play the fast driving stuff in our sleep When we did I thought the fans out there would kill us It was very gratifying to see it was our best selling album and that our fans do have the ability to grow' and change with On TV and film: Outside of Oingo Boingo Elfman has written film scores for to Big Adventure" and and worked on such TV shows as Steven and Hitchcock 180 degrees different a whole different ball Including already marked down fabrics! SAT ONLY 10 6 EARLY BIRD SUPER SAVERS RIDAY SATURDAY SPECIAL HOURS RIDAY 9 AM 9 PM SATURDAY 9 AM 7 PM STORE HOURS: MON RI 10 8 2970 RIVERSIDE DRIVE PH 477 0216 CAO ALL UU PATTERNS Limit 4 with fabric purchase1 10 ALL SEWING MACHINES (with the exception of the Baby Lock 5180) CRAT DEPARTMENT Save on every item in our Craft Departmenti 20 TWO SUPER DAYS! SUPER RIDAY SATURDAY 20 ALL ABRICS 10 ALL SEWING MACHINES (with the exception of the Baby Lock 5180) EARLY BIRD SUPER SAVERS RIDAY SATURDAY 9 AM 11 AM.