Al Green

In the '70s, singer Al Green transformed soul music, dispensing with machismo in favor of seductiveness, his creamy, silken croon spiked with church-like interjections, a deep sexuality lurking beneath a hushed vulnerability.

Born in Arkansas in 1946, Green moved with his family to Michigan, where at age 10 he started singing with his brothers.

He later formed a vocal group of his own; after his first couple of singles failed to connect, in 1969 he hooked up with Memphis producer Willie Mitchell, who signed him to Hi Records and began helping Green develop his own musical identity.