Soul Survivor (Al Green album)

Last updated
Soul Survivor
Soul Survivor (Al Green album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by
Released1987
Genre Soul, gospel
Label A&M
Producer Eban Kelly, Jimi Randolph, Deborah McDuffie, Errol Thomas and Paul Zaleski.
Al Green chronology
He Is the Light
(1985)
Soul Survivor
(1987)
I Get Joy
(1989)

Soul Survivor is a studio album by the American musician Al Green, released in 1987. [1] [2] The album peaked at No. 131 on the Billboard 200. [3]

Contents

Production

The cover of "You've Got a Friend" is a duet with Billy Preston. [4] Green also covered the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". [5] A gospel choir backed Green on "The 23rd Psalm" and "Yield Not to Temptation". [6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Robert Christgau A− [8]
The Gazette 7.5/10 [9]

The Chicago Tribune deemed Soul Survivor "an album of richly moving and vibrant singing." [10] The Gazette wrote that "it's nice to feel the power of [Green's] healing voice in real material again." [9] The Globe and Mail called the album "a quixotic mixture [that] in every way reflects the rather schizophrenic nature of Green himself." [11] The Dallas Morning News praised the "secular/funk texture" of the title track. [12]

Track listing

  1. "Everything's Gonna be Alright" (Eban Kelly, Jimi Randolph) - 4:21
  2. "Jesus Will Fix It" (Al Green) - 3:24
  3. "You Know and I Know" (Green, Paul Zaleski) - 4:01
  4. "Yield Not to Temptation" (Traditional) - 3:35
  5. "So Real to Me" (Green) - 0:54
  6. "Soul Survivor" (Kelly, Randolph) - 4:43
  7. "You've Got a Friend" (Carole King) - 5:37 (duet with Billy Preston)
  8. "He Ain't Heavy" (Sidney Russell, Bobby Scott) - 4:03
  9. "23rd Psalm" (Green) - 3:46

Personnel

Production

Related Research Articles

<i>Ordinary Average Guy</i> 1991 studio album by Joe Walsh

Ordinary Average Guy is the ninth solo studio album, and its title-track single, by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in mid 1991. It was Walsh's first album of entirely new music since Got Any Gum? in 1987, and his first solo album to be issued internationally by Epic following a four-year alliance with Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Canada. The album features Ringo Starr, Survivor's lead vocalist Jimi Jamison, and the drummer Joe Vitale from Walsh's former band Barnstorm. Vitale also sings the lead vocals on the final track of the album, "School Days".

<i>Timeless: The Classics</i> 1992 studio album by Michael Bolton

Timeless: The Classics is a 1992 album of cover versions by Michael Bolton. It was #1 on the Billboard charts when it was released. After a rather long chart run, the album has been certified 4× Platinum in the US and has sold over 7 million copies worldwide.

<i>Jump to It</i> 1982 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Jump to It is the twenty-eighth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, produced by Luther Vandross and released on July 26, 1982, by Arista Records.

<i>Truth n Time</i> 1978 studio album by Al Green

Truth N' Time is a studio album by the soul singer Al Green, released in 1978. It was Green's last album of mostly secular music for many years.

<i>Trust in God</i> 1984 studio album by Al Green

Trust in God is a studio album by soul singer Al Green, released in 1984. It is a collection of cover songs, performed in the style of gospel music.

<i>White Christmas</i> (Al Green album) 1983 studio album by Al Green

White Christmas is a Christmas album by Al Green, first released in 1983. It is his 18th studio album. The album has been reissued under different titles, and sometimes with different sequencing.

<i>Other Roads</i> 1988 studio album by Boz Scaggs

Other Roads is the tenth studio album by Boz Scaggs released in 1988. After an eight-year hiatus from recording, Scaggs returned in 1988 with this album, a record aimed primarily at the adult contemporary market.

<i>Back with a Heart</i> 1998 studio album by Olivia Newton-John

Back with a Heart is the sixteenth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John. It was released by MCA Nashville on 12 May 1998 in the United States. Her first album in four years, it marked her return to country music after two decades.

<i>Reach</i> (Survivor album) 2006 studio album by Survivor

Reach is the eighth studio album by rock band Survivor, released under Frontiers Records on 25 April 2006. This is the band's first album in 18 years. Some of the material originates from a period from 1993 to 1996 when the band recorded demos for an unreleased album that can be heard on the Fire Makes Steel bootleg.

<i>Crash Landing</i> (Jimi Hendrix album) 1975 compilation album by Jimi Hendrix

Crash Landing is a posthumous compilation album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in March and August 1975 in the US and the UK respectively. It was the first Hendrix album to be produced by Alan Douglas.

<i>Soul Alone</i> 1993 studio album by Daryl Hall

Soul Alone is the third studio album by American singer and musician Daryl Hall, released in 1993 on Epic Records. Distinct from the sound of his successful duo Hall & Oates, this album features a more soulful and jazzy feel, with production by Hall with Peter Lord Moreland and V. Jeffrey Smith from R&B group The Family Stand, and Michael Peden. However, Epic failed to find a marketing niche for Hall's new sound, and the album was not a commercial success. Soul Alone features singer Mariah Carey, Alan Gorrie from the Average White Band, and producer/multi-instrumentalist Walter Afanasieff as composers. Four singles were released from the album: "I'm in a Philly Mood," "Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You," "Help Me Find a Way to Your Heart" and "Wildfire." The Japanese version of the album came with an extra 12th track, "I've Finally Seen the Light."

<i>No Sound But a Heart</i> 1987 studio album by Sheena Easton

No Sound But a Heart is Sheena Easton's eighth studio album, released in 1987 on the EMI America label. The album was issued in the Canadian, Mexican and Asian markets. The album consists of midtempo and ballad songs, including the single and video, "Eternity", written by Prince. The disc features Steve Perry from Journey on backing vocals on "Still in Love" and a duet with Eugene Wilde on "What If We Fall In Love".

<i>Heaven and Earth</i> (Al Jarreau album) 1992 studio album by Al Jarreau

Heaven and Earth is a studio album by Al Jarreau. It was produced by Narada Michael Walden and Louis Biancaniello. The album won Jarreau the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male in 1993. Essentially a collection of R&B songs produced with the artist's jazz and pop sensibilities in mind, Heaven and Earth contains a two-part cover of the Miles Davis tune "Blue in Green", from Davis's Kind of Blue, that demonstrates Jarreau's considerable prowess as a vocal interpreter and scat singer.

<i>Set the Night to Music</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Roberta Flack

Set the Night to Music is an album released by Roberta Flack in 1991 on Atlantic Records. The title track, written by Diane Warren and originally the 11th track of Starship's 1987 album No Protection, was remade as a duet with Maxi Priest and reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, "Set the Night to Music" peaked at number nine on the pop singles chart and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. It became the 17th biggest Canadian Adult Contemporary hit of 1991.

<i>Roberta</i> (album) 1994 studio album by Roberta Flack

Roberta is Roberta Flack's fourteenth album, released in 1994. It consists of cover versions of jazz and soul standards. It was also her final album for Atlantic Records after twenty five years with the label since her debut.

<i>Love All the Hurt Away</i> 1981 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Love All the Hurt Away is the twenty-seventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Released in August 20,1981 ,this album is the singer's second release under the Arista Records label. The Arif Mardin-produced disc reached fourth place on Billboard's R&B albums chart and number 36 on the main Billboard album chart, selling roughly 250,000 copies in the US.

I Get Joy is a studio album by Al Green, released in 1989 on A&M Records. Green included many secular songs on the album, the first time he had done so since the 1970s.

<i>L Is for Lover</i> 1986 studio album by Al Jarreau

L Is for Lover is the eighth studio album by American R&B singer Al Jarreau, released on September 8, 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. It peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart, No. 9 on the Traditional Jazz Albums chart, and No. 17 on the Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

<i>Irreplaceable</i> (George Benson album) 2003 studio album by George Benson

Irreplaceable is a studio album by American musician George Benson. The album, released by GRP Records in 2003, was recorded in contemporary R&B style. However, four songs were re-recorded in a more smooth jazz style and released in 2004, together with three new songs, and leaving out three songs from the original 2003 edition.

<i>Mathematics</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Melissa Manchester

Mathematics is the twelfth studio album by singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester, issued in April 1985.

References

  1. Tucker, Ken (22 Mar 1987). "Standing fast on principle...". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. I1.
  2. Strauss, Duncan (19 Apr 1987). "Rev. Al Coasts". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 92.
  3. "Al Green". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  4. Bream, Jon (1 May 1987). "Al Green, 'Soul Survivor'". Star Tribune. p. 3C.
  5. MacInnis, Craig (11 Sep 1987). "Let's face it. The good Rev. Al Green could sing soup commercials and make them sound interesting". Toronto Star. p. E14.
  6. Gilbert, Calvin (March 20, 1987). "Green never took soulfulness out of gospel music". Fun. The Advocate. Baton Rouge. p. 2.
  7. Campbell, Al (November 1, 2001). Review: Soul Survivor. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2011-01-15.
  8. Christgau, Robert (May 5, 1987). "Consumer Guide: Soul Survivor". The Village Voice . Archived from the original on 2011-01-15.
  9. 1 2 Griffin, John (21 May 1987). "Al Green Soul Survivor". The Gazette. p. F11.
  10. Brogan, Daniel (20 Mar 1987). "Al Green, Soul Survivor". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 70.
  11. Kelly, Deirdre (11 Sep 1987). "The 'real' Al Green isn't out on stage". The Globe and Mail. p. D9.
  12. Samuels, Lennox (March 22, 1987). "Al Green, Soul Survivor". The Dallas Morning News. p. 6C.