Soul Survivor

by

Al Green

Edit

After reviewing Al Green's last three studio albums, I decided to rummage through my "archives" and look at earlier releases by the singer that I own. To my surprise, I had never critiqued 1987's "Soul Survivor," a hodgepodge of traditional, contemporary gospel, and pop "message" songs, made during the time that Green was first asserting himself as a minister.

While the title cut and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" date themselves, due to 80's production values, the renditions of more traditional fare, like "Yield Not to Temptation," "Jesus Will Fix It," and "23rd Psalm," show the singer at his vocal best. These songs are staples of many a church choir or gospel quartet and fans of that style of singing will be most appreciative of Green's interpretations, respectively.

However, the singer really ascends into spiritual heaven with two covers: "He Ain't Heavy" and "You've Got a Friend," featuring a soul-stirring organ and vocal accompaniment from legendary keyboardist Billy Preston. This one song hints at what could have been if the two artists had decided to do a full-blown album of duets.