The Belle Album LP

Al Green cut loose from producer Willie Mitchell to self-produce The Belle Album, picking up the guitar himself instead of leaning on the Hi Rhythm Section. He was stepping into the pulpit around this time, and the record pushes secular soul hard against gospel conviction until the two nearly merge. Robert Christgau heard a loose, in the room feel he liked; The Wire later called it pop instinct running straight into Pentecostal fire.