Pastor Present

Spencer Patterson

Friday, July 23, 2004 | 9:10 a.m.

The Rev. Al Green was trying to slip through the streets of Baltimore unnoticed when a fan recognized him last year.

"I had on these shades and a hat and real big, baggy clothes, thinking nobody will know me," Green said in a phone interview from his Memphis, Tenn., home.

"And I'm crossing the street and I hear, 'Hey Al, come on with the damn music, man! We've been waitin' man!'"

Exposed, Green backtracked to chat with the man shouting at him.

"I go up to meet the guy and I take off my shades and my little getup, my incognito, and he says, 'Man, everybody grew up on your music. Excuse me for saying, but I've had the chance to (score with) many a girl to your music. I take girls out and I put your music on and I'm already a winner."

Not the exact sentiment the devout Green, a pastor for Memphis' Full Gospel Tabernacle Church since 1976, had hoped to hear.

But the 58-year-old vocalist did take the fan's desire to hear more of his famous sultry soul sounds to heart.

In November, Green released "I Can't Stop," just his second album comprised of nongospel material since 1978.

The disc has been widely hailed as Green's strongest work since his 1970s heyday, and the ensuing tour has also drawn strong reviews.

Green plays the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on Saturday. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 21-and-over show.

Green said he plans to play a few selections from "I Can't Stop" and a couple of gospel tunes. But most of his set will consist of his enduring classics from the early 1970s, songs he once went eight years without performing.

"I did gospel for eight years, strictly gospel, in concert," Green said. "But all the people really know me for 'I Can't Get Next to You,' 'Let's Stay Together,' 'Tired of Being Alone' ... so I was confused."

Not surprisingly, Green turned to prayer for guidance.

"I went off into seclusion for about 21 days up in the mountains," Green said. "And I asked (God), 'What about the songs?' And He said to me, 'Al, I gave you the songs. They're beautiful songs. You're not cursing in the songs are you? "Still in Love With You." What's wrong with that? "Let's Stay Together." What's wrong with that? "Love and Happiness." What's wrong with that?'"

Green said he left the mountains "about 15 pounds lighter and a little brighter in the head."

"The songs are part of my ministry," Green said. "People that were telling me I can't sing the songs are what you call overzealous. God made man and woman, and God is the one that brought them together. We all got here some kind of way (laughs)."

"I Can't Stop" brought Green back together with producer Willie Mitchell, with whom the singer crafted his most beloved material.

"Willie's like a mentor, a father, a brother, a companion," Green said. "He says, 'Hey preacher, let's cut a little baby, baby, baby today.'"

Mitchell and Green headed back into Memphis' same Hi Records studio where they recorded such classic albums as 1972's "I'm Still in Love With You" and "Let's Stay Together" and 1973's "Call Me."

Mitchell invited back many of the same studio musicians, including guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges and backing vocalists Donna Rhodes, Charlie Chalmers and Sandra Rhodes.

The legendary 76-year-old producer even had Green sing through his old microphone on the new disc.

"Willie is kind of crazy-wise," Green said. "He still has this old mike, mike No. 9, and he won't let nobody sing on it 'cause it's Al's mike. I don't care who comes down there; they can't sing on No. 9.

"People have been reading these articles about me and they started asking for No. 9, so Willie hid it."

Old No. 9 wasn't stowed away for long. With "I Can't Stop" less than 8 months old, Green said he and Mitchell are already at work on its follow-up.

"('I Can't Stop') is not going to compete with the album we're working on now," Green said, chuckling. "I've cut 12 songs on it already."

Those tracks will continue Green's new secular trend, a theme he hopes will help him spread a holy message to his fans.

"We're gonna use this is a ministry, the Love and Happiness Ministry for the Rev. Al Green," he said. "He don't minister with talk, but yet he's singing the songs to you about 'Let's Get Married Today' and 'You Want to Be With Me' and everybody starts going 'hubba hubba hubba' and getting all 'wooooooo!' "

And just in case Green needs any other reminders about his music's powerful effect, he gets them everywhere he goes.

"A lady on the plane showed me her little girl. She pulled out a photo and showed me this little kid, and she said, 'Look what you made me do.' "