On occasion, the good Rev. Al Green gets passed off as not quite a second rate soul singer, but not necessarily in the same league as the giants of the genre. His records are obviously still in demand – a good deal of his catalog has recently been re-issued – but there’s not a cult of younger enthusiasts that surround him in the same manner as Mr. James Brown or Curtis Mayfield, who my friend named his car after. Regardless of Green’s more modern fans – and the fact that his newer releases sound as vintage as could be – he doesn’t make up a huge part of my record collection. The times that I’ve run into his stuff, it’s usually been pretty pricey. And really, I’m not willing to shell out ten bucks for Let’s Stay Together.

In the basement of an antique store I lived above, though, I did pick up Livin’ For You. I ploped it down on the turntable later in evening after snagging it and as was summarily made fun of by my then-girlfriend who said something about me “wanting to listen to some Al Green with his lady.” Maybe I did. But the point is that a good deal of that album might be considered filler – it also came at the tail end of his best recalled records on the Hi imprint – the final eight minute track, entitled “Beware” is a cold funk track with some nice solos that ride out the groove. Based solely upon that one effort – which has served me well in the past as a deejay – my perception of Green has been elevated.

Coping The Flipside of Al Green compilation was me just humoring the blogger over at the Basement Rug. I trust that guy, for the most part. But the disc, comprised of b-sides, works out more funky licks than I might have expected coming from the Green catalog. They’re not all stunners – “Could I Be the One” and “Feels Like Summer,” despite that bass line, aren’t too much more than cheesy, slow paced love tracks. And really, I only like the cheesy mid to up tempo ones. That’s just a personal prejudice that really doesn’t make any sense, but the pre-elastic funk all over this compilation just seems to get a better working over in quicker tempos.

Al Green, even in his lesser efforts, still has that voice. And more over, the singer has a good grasp of how the music is going to come out on the other side. It’s not some preternatural intuition, but the fact that the keys/piano/etc. included in his work have never gone over to the horrendous synth side of things points to the deference he so rightfully deserves.

It’d be good to highlight some standout tracks, but really, apart from the two aforementioned efforts, everything included on The Flipside of Al Green is good enough to be included on some lost funk compilations. And considering the litany of tracks dug up for those efforts, that’s really saying something.