Soul great ends war within himself
 Al Green is free from inner turmoil at last. He no longer feels that leading the Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis, Tenn., USA, is incompatible with singing the sexy love songs that made him a soul music legend.
"Man, I had a problem about that," says the 58-year-old Green, who performs Tuesday at the Orpheum with Mavis Staples. "I had to go to the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina and pray about that. I stayed up there for about 14 days. I didn´t have anything to eat, but I had water. I was really confused, man. What did you give me religion for if you give me all those songs like ´Sha La La (Make Me Happy)´ and ´Call Me?´, Cause I wrote those songs about girls. Yeah, I know that. But the people sitting in your church wouldn´t be looking at you if they hadn´t heard. Those same songs is why the church is full".
Green go on to say, "God told me, ´You gotta understand that people come to hear you preach, but the reason they really come is they know you sing those songs. All I want you to do is acknowledge me. Because then they gonna acknowledge that you are associated with salvation!´".
The reconciliation of his secular and religious selves enabled Green to record last year´s highly praised "I Can´t Stop", his return to r&b and producer Willie Mitchell. It was the first nongospel album the two had worked on together since the ´70s, when they crafted Green´s catalog of classics, almost all of which can be found on the new four-CD boxed set, "The Immortal Soul of Al Green". 
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