I Can’t Stop

Al Green has one of the most distinctive voices in popular music. But having hit his sweet falsetto peak in the early seventies, he has been drifting out of the contemporary musical consciousness. Many younger people would only know him from the song ‘Let’s stay together’ which appeared on the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction.

Now, a good 30 years after his first collaborations with Willie Mitchell, he's back with a brand new album. I say brand new, but had it been released as the missing album from 1974, few would have noticed. Indeed, unlike many of the music world’s comeback kids, Green is sticking to his roots. And even though it was recorded in 2003, it is vintage, old style Memphis soul.

The album opens with a high energy title track that just makes you want to get down and start grooving. Horns, guitars, organs, strings, backing vocals and funky rhythms are all mixed to perfection, providing a perfect backdrop for Green’s cool singing and soulful screams. It’s clear that he and his old time producer Willie Mitchell have not lost their touch.

Just like the title track, the soulful ballad 'Rainin’ in my heart', and the atmospheric ‘You’, are both bound to become classics of the genre. And even though the album seems to taper off a bit toward the end, it is only in contrast to the early highs. Throughout, the song writing is excellent and even though the lyrics are nothing spectacular, they fit well into the album’s general feel.

Some might bemoan the album’s lack of innovation. But why change something that works so well? In its review, The Guardian summed it up by saying, “However, innovative or not, much of 'I Can't Stop' sounds so sublime that criticism seems a bit churlish. Perhaps the simple fact is that Al Green found the perfect setting for his remarkable voice the day he walked into Willie Mitchell's Royal Studios in 1969.”

‘I Can’t Stop’ might not quite reach the heights of albums like Green’s 1973 classic, ‘Call Me’. But it is smooth, vibey, excellently produced, and altogether a piece of vintage seventies style soul, that no fan of Green’s music can go without.