Al Green is one of the most famous soul singers of all time, and his life is well-documented in the media.
There’s not a juicy story to share here that hasn’t already been told.
Tonight, we’re just in it for the music. And “Love and Happiness” is one of the defining songs in the African-American music discography, where Al Green is equally treasured.
Songs like “I’m So Tired of Being Alone” and “Let’s Stay Together” had already solidified his place in musical history, so when “Love and Happiness” was released, it felt like a culmination of his past efforts. All of the emotion in Al’s voice and the simplicity of the lyrics, layered over Hammond organ, guitar, and of course, those horns, with the backing ladies punching in on the refrain… it’s one of those songs that literally moves you.
“I wouldn’t say it was a return to the old style soul of my early days, but I definitely pulled it from the same source of raw and gritty need,” he said of the song. “The result was like a slow fever, building on the beat, pushing up the temperature with each breath of the staccato horns and pushing through to delirium as we came up on the fade.”
In the video I chose here, Al performs “Love and Happiness” live on “Soul Train” and demonstrates that build perfectly, even while he opens the song in full control of the audience. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people completely motionless and silent on the “Soul Train” stage, but when Al starts those opening acapella runs, you can hear a pin drop. (FYI, the scene here is the same every time this song plays anywhere. This is what a universal response to music looks like.) With unbelievable ease, he bounces between his lower register and all the way back up to an extended falsetto run, charming the crowd before stomping in the band, and there’s no question why everybody in the free world knows the name Al Green.
It’s not because of hot grits or the frequent “signs from God” that repeatedly changed the trajectory of his life and career.
It’s almost certainly because of “Love and Happiness.”