{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = I Get Joy | type = studio | artist = Al Green | cover = I Get Joy.jpg|border=yes | alt = | released = May 1989 | recorded = | venue = | studio = Royal, Ardent and Colton Row (Memphis, Tennessee); Cheshire (Atlanta, Georgia). | genre = Soul, gospel | length = | label = A&M | producer = Al Green, Paul Zaleski, Eban Kelly, John Randolph | prev_title = Soul Survivor | prev_year = 1987 | next_title = Love Is Reality | next_year = 1992 }} '''''I Get Joy''''' is a studio album by Al Green, released in 1989 on A&M Records.<ref name=CL/><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Sanders |first1=Charles L. |title=Sounding Off |magazine=Ebony |date=Sep 1989 |volume=44 |issue=11 |page=22}}</ref> Green included many secular songs on the album, the first time he had done so since the 1970s.

==Production== Green wrote the majority of the songs.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/1991/1/4/18899312/al-green-s-i-get-joy-puts-soul-back-into-gospel-music|title=Al Green's 'I Get Joy' Puts Soul Back into Gospel Music|date=January 4, 1991|website=Deseret News}}</ref> "As Long as We're Together" features Al B. Sure! singing backup.<ref name="UT">{{cite news |last1=Jefferson |first1=Graham |title=Al Green preaches his message of 'Joy' |work=USA Today |date=16 May 1989 |page=5D}}</ref> Former Tempree Jasper "Jabbo" Phillips sings backup on "Tryin' to Do the Best I Can" and "Tryin' to Get Over You".

==Critical reception== {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-get-joy-mw0000200245|title=I Get Joy Al Green|website=AllMusic}}</ref> |rev2 = Robert Christgau |rev2score = B+<ref name="RC">{{cite web |title=Al Green |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=al+green |website=Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics |access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref> |rev3 = ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' |rev3score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref name="CL">{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=3 |page=888}}</ref> |rev4 = ''Hi-Fi News & Record Review'' |rev4Score = A:1*<ref name="HiFiReview">{{cite news|last=Kessler|first=Ken|authorlink=|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Hi-Fi-News/80s/Hi-Fi-News-1989-09.pdf|title=Review: Al Green — I Get Joy|work=Hi-Fi News & Record Review|type=magazine|date=September 1989|volume=34|issue=9|access-date=2 September 2021|pages=100–101|location=Croydon|publisher=Link House Magazines Ltd|via=World Radio History|issn=0142-6230|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902191056/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Hi-Fi-News/80s/Hi-Fi-News-1989-09.pdf|archive-date=2 September 2021}}</ref> |rev5 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' |rev5score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="RS">{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |pages=290–291}}</ref> }} Robert Christgau wrote: "What distinguishes this exercise is unflinching formal exposition--no Supremes or James Taylor ringers. Even the electrofunk belongs."<ref name=RC/> The ''Deseret News'' thought that Green "has a knack for writing songs that are subtle enough to work on both romantic and religious levels."<ref name="auto"/> The ''Los Angeles Times'' opined that "Green should stick to what he does best, which, these days, is religious music."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-09-ca-5115-story.html|title=Al Green 'I Get Joy' |date=July 9, 1989|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' called Green's voice "the sound of a lone supplicant, gently testifying to the comforts of faith."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=Recordings |work=The New York Times |date=6 Aug 1989 |page=A26}}</ref>

==Track listing== #"You're Everything to Me" (Al Green, Denise Flippen) - 4:13 #"All My Praise" (Green, Flippen) - 4:10 #"The End Is Near" (Green, Flippen) - 4:06 #"Mighty Clouds of Joy" (Buddy Buie, Robert Nix) - 4:16 #"I Get Joy" (Green, Flippen) - 3:53 #"As Long as We're Together" (Green)- 3:44 #"Praise Him" (Green) - 3:06 #"Blessed" (Eban Kelly, Jimi Randolph) - 4:06 #"Tryin' to Do the Best I Can" (Green) - 3:03 #"Tryin' to Get Over You" (Green) - 2:04

== Personnel == * Al Green – lead vocals, arrangements (1–7, 9, 10), backing vocals (6, 8) * Lester Snell – keyboards (1, 2, 3, 5, 7) * Wayne Perkins – acoustic piano (4), lead guitar (4) * Lawrence Mitchell – keyboards (6), horns (6) * Jimi Randolph – all instruments (8), arrangements (8) * Johnny Brown – acoustic piano (9), organ (10) * Angelo Earl – guitars (1, 2, 3, 5, 7) * Gregory McIntosh – lead guitar (9, 10) * Jimi Kinnard – bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 7) * George Jouringan – bass (4, 9, 10) * Archie Mitchell – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7), bass (6) * Tim Dancy – drums (10) * Dennis Bates – horns (9) * Berton Brown – backing vocals (1, 2, 3, 5, 7) * William Brown III – backing vocals (1, 2, 3, 5, 7) * Gloria Robinson – backing vocals (1, 2, 3, 5, 7) * Harvey Jones – backing vocals (4, 9, 10) * Linda Jones – backing vocals (4, 9, 10) * Monique Monan – backing vocals (4) * Reba Russell – backing vocals (4) * Michael Allen – backing vocals (6) * Denise Flippen – backing vocals (6) * John Benton – backing vocals (8) * Berkley Buckley – backing vocals (8) * Eban Kelly – backing vocals (8), arrangements (8) * P. Leon Thomas – backing vocals (8) * Jasper "Jabbo" Phillips – backing vocals (9, 10)

'''Production''' * Al Green – executive producer, producer, engineer * Paul Zeleski – producer * Eban Kelly – producer (8), assistant engineer (8) * Jimi Randolph – producer (8), engineer (8) * William Brown III – engineer * Willie Mitchell – engineer * Robert Nix – engineer (4) * Kim Venable – engineer (4) * John Eberle – mastering * Chuck Beeson – art direction, design * Jeff Gold – art direction * Howard Rosenberg – photography

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Al Green}}

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Category:Al Green albums Category:1989 albums Category:A&M Records albums Category:Albums recorded at Royal Studios

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