Spinner

Twisted Tales: Al Green Finds Salvation, Served Scalding Hot

"Given enough of it," one Southern newspaper editorialized back during the Cold War, "the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about." What was this magic elixir -- love? Happiness? The answer, weirdly enough, was the humble Waffle House side dish known as grits. A man full of grits, the paper proclaimed, "is a man of peace."

Al Green learned this bit of folk wisdom the hard way. He was soul music's biggest star in the early 1970s, releasing six straight No. 1 R&B albums and scoring a dozen Top Forty singles, when an absurdly violent act involving the nondescript breakfast porridge presumably made him the biggest fan of cold cereal this side of Jerry Seinfeld.

His breakthrough hit, 'Tired of Being Alone,' was a bit misleading: This was one pop star who did not want for companionship in the morning. On euphoric love songs like 'Let's Stay Together' and 'You Oughta Be with Me,' Green made the art of seduction seem positively heavenly. When he asked 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,' he did it with a sly dog's raised eyebrow, knowing there were a hundred women at each show who had an answer for him.

But it was one woman in whom he apparently had no particular romantic interest who would really get him hot and bothered. Mary Woodson was a married mother of three who befriended the singer at the height of his fame, predicting for him a sanctified life in the pulpit. Green, born in Arkansas and raised in Michigan, had grown up in the church, touring with his brothers in a family gospel group. But the music of Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett had pulled the young singer away.

At the height of his success, he had an epiphany. At 4:30 one morning, after a late-night show at Disneyland, "I had this input, like a charge of electricity," he would recall. He locked himself in the bathroom, shouting hallelujahs while covering his mouth, so his girlfriend wouldn't think he'd gone nuts.

Though he started attending church, he moved ahead with his career, hitting the Top Ten with 'Call Me (Come Back Home)' and 'Here I Am (Come and Take Me).' One night in October 1974, Mary Woodson let herself into Green's house while the singer was getting in or out of a bath or shower; the specifics have been understandably hard to pin down. Evidently feeling jilted, she doused him with a scalding hot pan of grits, causing third-degree burns on his back, stomach and arms. Then she went and found his .38 and killed herself.

"The more I trust you," read the note police found in her purse, "the more you let me down."

Not surprisingly, it took a while for the singer to find peace. Ordained as the Rev. Al Green in 1976, he didn't completely denounce pop music until an onstage injury in 1979, which he took as another message from God. Though he has presided over the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis ever since, Al Green has made periodic comebacks, most recently working in the studio with ?uestlove of the Roots.

Before her suicide, Mary Woodson asked Green to save her a seat in his church when he started ministering. They say he still saves that seat.

No word on what he has for breakfast.

All the AOL Music info you want to know

Ronnie Wood Snubbed Led Zeppelin…

Spinner

Mark Milan/FilmMagic The Rolling Stones have cycled through their fair share…

Ex-KISS Guitarist Ace Frehley on the…

Noisecreep

Ace Frehley It all goes back to 1977, when KISS hit the stage at Nippon…

'Think Like a Man' Movie Premiere:…

The Boombox

Getty Images The stars hit Hollywood Thursday night (Feb. 9) to celebrate the…

See all AOL Music »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

3 Comments

Filter by:
Jackie Mac

This is a totally repulsive ariticle which sophmorically and insensitively banalizes what was in fact a painful, traumatic and tragic event. Green suffered 3rd degree burns and had to be hospitalized for weeks, the woman committed suicide in his house and thereby left three orphaned children and a widowed husband. The fact that she was obviously unstable and not dealing with reality (she was married and had three children when she asked him to marry her) didn't change the fact that Al had to live with the dire consequences of that relationship ever afterward. Belittling him is bad enough, but treating the death those three kids' mother as a joke shows a reprehensible lack of humanity and compassion for the suffering of others.

October 04 2011 at 6:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joshua

Indeed, a very distasteful article. Calling the tragedy of being burned with hot grits and correlating that to being "hot and bothered?" Attempting to be cute, humorous and informative while revealing how weak your story-telling skills truly are... fresh out of high school or never graduated? This is trash op-ed journalism at its finest.

September 11 2010 at 1:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mrs. Green

Whoever you are, you wrote a very mean and distasteful article full of lies. The woman didn't let her self into Mr. Green's house. Save her a seat?

January 23 2010 at 11:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply