The 500 - #286 - I'm Still In Love With You - Al Green

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

---

Album: #286

Album Title: I'm Still In Love With You

Artist: Al Green

Genre: Soul

Recorded: Royal Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee

Released: October, 1972

My age at release: 7

How familiar was I with it before this week: A couple songs

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, dropping to #320 (33 places) since 2012

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Love And Happiness

In childhood, it seems that time moves slowly. Some experts suggest this is not merely an illusion. Dr. Clifford Lazarus, in an article in Psychology Today, posits that "children recall more visual data" than their elders" and, as a consequence, generate more "mental frames" or "mental images" that capture significant moments in time.

Consider the cover art to this week's record, I'm Still In Love With You (pictured above). Taken in 1972, it depicts the singer Al Green, seated and dressed almost entirely in white on lacquered rattan furniture, set against a white backdrop. As soon as I saw it, I was transported back to my childhood. More specifically, the early 1970s when I was about seven to nine years old.

My wife and I have talked about how we perceived the "adult world" when we were pre-pubescent. She came of age during the era of   Saturday Night Fever and was convinced she would become a 20-something disco dancer in strappy heels, decked out in a flowing dress while being wooed by a white-suited Tony Manero-type.

My vision of the "adult world" was more like this album cover. A sprawling tropical mansion, accented with the "finest" rattan and bamboo furniture and covered with lush tropical greenery. There may have even been a parrot involved. Perhaps my adolescent fascination with the television program Fantasy Island played into that mental image. Regardless, it doesn't make a lot of sense that a kid growing up in Ontario, Canada, would imagine a future with palm plants and exotic wildlife. However, I do like the fact that I thought my future would be rosy enough to include a mansion -- gaudy wicker furniture aside.

Which brings me back to I'm Still In Love With You, the fifth studio record by soul/R&B/gospel legend Green. I wrote about his history just a few weeks ago when discussing his sixth record, Call Me. Both records are considered part of Green's soul phase, which culminated with his Greatest Hits record in 1975 (#52 on The 500). By then, Green had entered the gospel era of his career, which stemmed from a life-changing event that occurred on October 14, 1974.

Sometimes referenced as the "Grits Incident", Green's ex-girlfriend, Mary Woodson, burst into the bathroom of his Memphis home and poured a pot of scalding hot grits (a Southern food item comprising corn, cheese and cream) on the back of the bathing singer. Woodson then went into a nearby bedroom, found Green's handgun, and took her own life.

Mary Woodson (1970s)

Green required skin grafts and spent months in recovery. He also reported that he spent his convalescence in deep reflection on his life. Raised in an evangelical household he had straddled the line between the devout faith in which he was raised and his philandering lifestyle as a popular soul singer.

Earlier in 1974 he had released Take Me To The River, a song about baptism. At the same time, information about the “Grits Incident” was revealed by investigating officers. They said Woodson, unbeknownst to Green, was married with four children and had a history of mental health issues. She had left two suicide notes, including one proclaiming her love for Green.

Green was cleared of any wrongdoing and began a path to redemption, determined to live a wholesome life and spread the word of God. He became a born-again Christian and, in 1976, was ordained a minister. A theme of the Reverend Al Green’s 1977 release, The Belle Album, espouses devotion to God. Then, in 1980, his first purpose-made gospel record, The Lord Will Make A Way, ushered in a transformational phase in his music career.

The story of Green’s metamorphosis got me thinking about the changes we embrace throughout our lives. I have two good friends who have recently made important lifestyle adjustments to improve their health and, hopefully, longevity. Their “altered lifestyle” has not been lost on me as they are worthy lessons to emulate.

It's times like these when I reflect on a beautiful bit of poetry by Guy Garvey, of the band Elbow, from the song Lunette:

"What can be said of the whiskey and wine.
Random abandon or ballast for joy
That was scuppered with trust, little more than a boy.
And besides I'm in excellent company.

I'm reaching the age when decisions are made
On life and liver and I'm sure, last ditch,
That I'll ask for more time
But mother, forgive me,
I still want a bottle of good Irish whiskey
And a bundle of smokes in my grave."

I’ll have to take good care of myself, I still have a white mansion, tropical plants with plenty of rattan furniture to purchase...and a parrot.