"Full Of Fire" by Al Green
In which Green, Mitchell and Hi Rhythm begin to search for ways out of their formula.
“Full Of Fire”:
In the terrible aftermath of Mary Woodson’s death, Al Green began to withdraw from the world. There were interviews in which he kept a hostile Doberman on a leash beside him. There were multiple bodyguards who followed him everywhere, even standing onstage during the entirety of his performances. There were briefcases that were forbidden to be opened. There was (lots of) cocaine.
“Psychologically I was a mess. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t think. I was out of it, and had no idea of what to do”, Green said in 2004. “I could’ve jumped off a building, I was in such turmoil.” In the studio, at least, he still knew what to do, at least some of the time: “Full Of Fire” (#1 R&B, #28 Pop) is one of the last real masterpieces the Green-Mitchell-Hodges team created. With a burbling, rhythm, a burning horn chart, and a sweaty, throbbing coda with stellar fretwork by Mabon Hodges, it showed that his brighter, smoother style might adapt better to disco than many of his rawer forebears.
It’s inarguably the highlight of its namesake album, which is composed mostly of agreeable filler. “Glory, Glory”, the mid-tempo opener, has one of the better arrangements here, even if it’s mostly just Willie Mitchell re-animating old ideas. Much better is “That’s The Way It Is”, another paranoid funk vision of an avaricious, secretive God. The Hi Rhythm section is at their best here, providing subtle menace as Green forebodes, “All your smiles and all your lies/Won’t erase the pain inside/Hold your self and your serenity/’Cause I can see you/And you can’t see me.”
“That’s The Way It Is”:
Mitchell wasn’t the only one looking backward here; Green attempts to conjure the old feeling with a cover of the country standard “Together Again”. But the old days were gone to stay, and the old feeling with them, and the band’s performance, save a nice baritone sax solo by James Mitchell, is as workmanlike as Green’s vocal. “There’s No Way” is a slow ballad, the same type Green had done before, and although certainly not bad, it has no real character either; even the high note Green holds in the fade sounds flippant.
Green devotes another song to the Lord with “Soon As I Get Home” a sturdy, memorable listing of all that Al plans to do once he passes the Pearly Gates. “Let It Shine” (#16 R&B) keeps its rhythm rolling for three hot minutes and Green uses every last one to send Full Of Fire out on a high note, shouting in jubilation for that star that’s shining in your mind. And, as it does so seldom on this abstracted, languid album, the jubilation doesn’t sound forced. Unfortunately, the listlessness of Full Of Fire was repeated again on Have A Good Time, but this time there would be no masterpiece to redeem the mess.
“Let It Shine”:
All quotations are taken from Jimmy McDonough’s “Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green”, Da Capo Press, 2017.