Personnel: Al Green (vocals); Tennie Hodges (guitar); The Memphis Strings (strings); Ed Logan, Andrew Love (tenor saxophone); James Mitchell (baritone saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet); Jack Hale (trombone); Archie Turner (piano); Charles Hodges (piano, organ); Leroy Hodges (bass); Howard Grimes, Al Jackson (drums); Donna Rhodes, Sandra Rhodes, Charles Chalmers (background vocals).
Producers: Willie Mitchell, Al Green.
Recorded at Royal Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Robert Gordon.
Continuing on a successful roll that found his previous two albums go gold, Al Green released CALL ME in 1973. It's another soul classic founded on the winning tandem of Green and producer Willie Mitchell. Wielding his voice like a precision instrument, Green truly amazes, whether it's harmonizing with his fluttering falsetto on "Have You Been Making Out O.K." or casually crooning along on a carpet of horns, billowing organ and a gentle string section on the title track.
Always one to acknowledge his influences, Green covers two country classics, Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away," with slow, steady beats that allow him to brand each with his unique sense of phrasing. And religion's powerful pull (it would draw him away from the secular world by the end of the decade) manifests itself on "Jesus Is Waiting," a self-penned testimonial that turns the studio into a church led by Al Green plucking on an acoustic guitar alongside his musical flock.