Al Green Rolls Out "OK"

Sitting in a poolside cabana at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, the Rev. Al Green talks about his new album, his voice booming across the deck. Overdressed in a tuxedo and vest, with four Star of David necklaces resting on his black T-shirt, Green, 59, is in high spirits. The new Everything's OK, released in March, along with 2003's I Can't Stop, have reignited the soul legend's career and reunited Green with producer Willie Mitchell, who produced Green's classic Seventies albums (which have sold more than 20 million copies). The new discs are a convincing return to the smooth, silky, sexy sound of his best work and have been hailed as the Second Coming of a soul legend. "I don't feel like I've gone anywhere, and I don't feel like I've just come back," Green says with a coy, enigmatic smile. "I feel like I just got here. And I might as well have fun."

Though Green and Mitchell have always been confidants, they finally met again in the studio after eighteen years, in early 2003. "I told him I wanted to do a secular record," says Green. "He said, 'It's about time!'" In three weeks the duo had written most of the songs that make up I Can't Stop, which has sold close to 275,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Everything's OK is another triumphant chapter in Green's work with Mitchell. A highlight on the disc is Green's stunning cover of "You Are So Beautiful." "That was Willie's idea," says Green. "I did it in one take. He said, 'That's good!' I go, 'Come on, man, I gotta work the song.' He said, 'Work it until you're blue in the face, but I'm using this . . . Next song!' Willie knows me, he knows my vocal range, he knows where I sound sweet." Less than a month after the release of Everything's OK, the pair has nine songs written for the follow-up.

Now more than any time since the Seventies, Green is comfortable singing love songs such as "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "Love and Happiness." "I needed to learn what was behind the music," he says, wringing his hands. "I can sing, 'sha la la, oh, baby,' again because I've learned that 'sha la la' means 'I love you.'" He smiles sheepishly. "It's about affection."

These days, Green likes to wake up around 6:30 in the morning. Sometimes he gets up earlier to record the birds singing. (He would like to make a record using just his voice, the birds and an acoustic guitar.) When he's at home, near the Mississippi River, outside Memphis, he starts his day with what he calls "let-out" music: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Four Tops. Nearly every Sunday he preaches in Memphis at his Full Gospel Tabernacle, which he bought in 1976.

He'll begin a U.S. tour in a couple weeks, and when he's playing live, he still loves singing "Let's Stay Together," "Tired of Being Alone" and "Simply Beautiful." He's not sick of fans telling him that their children were conceived to his music. Even animals seem inspired by Green's voice. "I bought one bull and five cows," he says. "Now there are eighteen of them. I have to move the bull to another section of the property -- he keeps knocking up the ladies."

Al Green tour dates:

5/5: Mount Pleasant, MI, Soaring Eagle Casino
5/6: Chicago, House of Blues
5/7: Chicago, House of Blues
5/20: Minneapolis, State Theater
5/21: Baraboo, WI, Ho Chunk Casino
6/11: Denver, Paramount Theatre
6/13: Tucson, AZ, Desert Diamond Casino
6/14: Alpine, CA, Viejas Casino Concerts in the Park
6/16: Highland, CA, San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino
6/17: Saratoga, CA, The Mountain Winery
6/18: Guerneville, CA, Johnson's Beach Russian River Jazz Festival
6/19: Jacksonville, OR, Britt Pavilion Britt Festival
6/24: Dayton, OH, Dayton Convention Center
6/25: Hampton, VA, Hampton Coliseum Hampton Jazz Festival
6/26: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club