Back Up Train

ARISTA IMPORT 2005, CD £12.39 You Say: “Superb early material.” Phil James, via e-mail This is a CD of 1967’s Hot Line vinyl LP (see above) that introduced the 20-year-old Al Greene [sic] to the wider world outside his Arkansas stomping ground when the title track, released as Al Greene & The Soul Mates, unexpectedly became a hit single. As such, it’s the voice in which Willie Mitchell heard such potential, and highlights what a good producer/A&R man he was, because this is not the voice of the Al Green who would come to thrill and delight women around the world, or indeed have male soul fans nodding in wise approbation. No, this is the Al Greene who hasn’t yet flung off his influences – Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and, all too plainly, James Brown. But there are clear hints of the maturer Green style: the hurt, doubt and joy of a soul great.