Legendary soul singer turned pastor Al Green has covered R.E.M.'s 1992 classic Everybody Hurts. Green, who preaches at the Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis, TN, gives the song a typically uplifting spin, complete with swelling organ, strings and a choir.
The track was recorded in Memphis earlier this year and finds Green working with three members of his classic Hi Rhythm Section – organist Reverend Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges and pianist Archie “Hubbie” Turner/ – as well as guitarist Will Sexton, who's played with Doug Sahm, Joe Ely, Roky Erickson and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and former Booker T & The MG‘s/Gregg Allman drummer Steve Potts. Veteran Stax session man Lester Snell arranged the strings.
"Recording Everybody Hurts, I could really feel the heaviness of the song and I wanted to inject a little touch of hope and light into it," tweets Green. "There’s always a presence of light that can break through those times of darkness.”
