Nearly forgotten by all but serious
soul fans,
Back Up Train is
Al Green's debut. Released in 1967, when he was still billed as "Al Greene" and before he worked with producer
Willie Mitchell, the record is a perfectly serviceable slice of slightly sweet period
soul -- perhaps a little generic, but never less than pleasant. Much of the record was either written or co-written by the album's producers,
Palmer E. James and
Curtis Rodgers, who were not just part of
Hot Line Records, but in
the Creations,
Green's previous backing band. Though they're fine as producers, they didn't have strong material as songwriters, never producing something as limber and memorable as
Green's lone songwriting credit,
"Stop and Check Myself." Musically, this number, along with a few other cuts, suggest the tight, sexy sound of his seminal
Hi albums, but they're nowhere near as seductive as those slow grooves, nor are they as effortless. Still, it's possible to hear their roots throughout the record.
Green's voice, while not as smooth as it would be just a few years later, shows enormous talent, he's equally comfortable with
ballads and funky workouts, and the production, while dated, is quite appealing in how it falls somewhere between the grit of Memphis and the sweetness of Chicago
soul.
Back Up Train is good enough that if
Green hadn't gone on to greater work, this would be the kind of record
soul fanatics would treasure and trade, speculating on what might have happened if
Green had been given another shot. Of course,
Green went on to bigger, better things, and this stands as no more than a footnote to his career, but it's an interesting, enjoyable footnote all the same. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![The Trip [Original Soundtrack]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0715187928923_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "The Trip [Original Soundtrack]")
