Review: Soul Legend Al Green Drops 4-Track EP, ‘Everybody Hurts’ – Oh, Yes!
Last night, while the Rock Chick and I were watching the Australian Open, venerable soul-legend Al Green dropped a 4-song EP entitled Everybody Hurts. The four songs are all cover songs – and admittedly we’ve heard some version of two of them before – from The Bee Gees, R.E.M., Lou Reed solo, and Lou Reed with the Velvet Underground.
When Al Green wants to cover a song the response should always be, “Oh yes, baby!”
Al Green has sunshine in his voice. And man, with all the shitty news coming in and the freezing cold weather, I needed some sunshine from this legend. I’ve always loved Al Green. His 1975 compilation album Al Green’s Greatest Hits, one of those old single-album greatest hits LPs I used to build my record collection, has been in my stack for years. He had a string of wonderful albums in the early 70s that rival anybody else in rock n roll.
Sadly, during an argument with a girlfriend, Al jumped in the shower and the still angry woman decided to dump scalding hot grits on him, burning a big percentage of his upper body. Never get in the shower while your baby is mad. The Rock Chick used to throw cold water on me in the shower as a gag but that’s a different vibe.
Shortly after that awful thing, Al left secular music behind in favor of Christian music. He even became a reverend. I guess I should be referring to him as the Rev. Al Green. Respect, even from this non-believer!
While the Reverend Al dedicated himself to the Lord’s work for a long time, by 1989 he was dropping secular tunes back onto his albums. And let’s just say, thank Heaven he did! At 78 we have to admit Al is one of the giants of soul music and a complete legend. I’m delighted to have this new EP, especially in these dark times. I think I first tuned back in to Green when he did the duet with Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) for the movie Scrooged which was perhaps his first foray back to the secular?
Regardless of all that, it’s been since 2008 that we last heard from the Reverend Al. What is it with these legends of rock waiting decades between records – the Stones, the Cure, Peter Gabriel? – we want more music from these folks who harken from at time when giants roamed the earth!
The four songs on this EP have been a bit of a slow drip. He released his original version of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” in 2023. Around that time clips surfaced of Lou talking about how big a fan of Al’s he was and how he’d always wanted to sing like that but knew he couldn’t. Al’s version truly uncovered the soulfulness inherent in Lou’s songwriting.
For this EP, Al has dropped a different version of “Perfect Day” with British singer Raye, who I’m sad to say I don’t know. They turn a song Lou might possibly have written about heroin into a wonderful duet between lovers. It’s hard to say which of Al’s versions of “Perfect Day” I like better. I loved the original – “World’s collide!” – but this duet just works. “You just keep me hanging on…”
The other track you might be familiar with is Al’s stunning 2024 cover of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” which lends this EP it’s title. I’ve already written about that one (the link in the song title) so I won’t belabor it. If you didn’t pick up that single, it’s included here.
To flesh out this EP, “Extended Player” (more than a single, less than an album), Al goes to a beautiful soul song from The Bee Gees, “To Love Somebody.” Hearing Al do it, it feels like it was written for him. It’s such a great song. I became familiar with it from Rod Stewart’s cover – backed by fabulous Booker T. and the MGs no less. But it’s a killer pre-disco Bee Gees song. Al delivers on this thing over a lovely organ and strings. Oh, yes!
Finally, Al turns back to the Lou Reed songbook for a track from Lou’s last LP with the Velvet Underground, Loaded, a somewhat obscure track (in my not so humble opinion), “I Found A Reason.” Once again I have to say, Al has stumbled on to a deeply soulful aspect of Lou’s songwriting that I wasn’t aware of. It’s another beautiful track and Al even nails the spoken word parts maybe better than Lou did on the original. “Honey, I’ve found a reason, to keep living, and I think you already know, the reason is you…” Kinda like the Rock Chick for me…
If you need a wonderful blast of hope in a hopeless time, crank up the Reverend Al Green’s new EP, Everybody Hurts and allow the soul music to flow over you. While I’m huddled up inside this weekend, avoiding the sub-zero temps, I’ll be slipping this one onto the stereo in “high rotation.”
Stay warm out there. Take care of each other. Cheers!