Pop & Miscellaneous

Aretha Franklin (†) - Laughing On The Outside (1963)

2018-08-17T15:06:23Z

Aretha Franklin (†) - Laughing On The Outside (1963)


A1 	Skylark 	2:49
A2 	For All We Know 	3:25
A3 	Make Someone Happy 	3:48
A4 	I Wonder (Where You Are Tonight) 	3:16
A5 	Solitude 	3:50
A6 	Laughing On The Outside 	3:14
B1 	Say It Isn't So 	3:05
B2 	Until The Real Thing Comes Along 	3:04
B3 	If Ever I Would Leave You 	4:04
B4 	Where Are You? 	3:50
B5 	Mr. Ugly 	3:22
B6 	I Wanna Be Around 	2:25

Aretha Franklin - vocals
Robert Mersey - producer, arranger, conductor
Earl Van Dyke, Dave Grusin, Andrew Acker, Leon Russell - piano
C. Bosler, Ray Pohlman, Melvin Pollan - bass guitar
Hindel Butts, Hal Blaine - drums
Don Arnome, Tommy Tedesco, Billy Strange - guitar
Jimmy Nottingham - trumpet
Robert Ascher - trombone
Plas Johnson - saxophone
Bernard Eichenbaum, Julius Schacter, Leo Kahn, Berl Senofsky, Felix Gigol, Max Pollikoff, George Ockner and John Rublowsky - violin
R. Dickler, Theodore Israel and Jacob Glick - viola
Jesse Erlich, Anthony Twardowsky and Joseph Tekula - cello
Sid Sharp, Tibor Zelig, George Poole, Irving Lipschultz, Irving Weinper, Darrel Terwilliger - violin

Aretha Franklin died on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at the age of 76.

Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer, she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records -- "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The House That Jack Built," and several others -- earned her the title "Lady Soul," which she has worn uncontested ever since. Yet as much of an international institution as she's become, much of her work -- outside of her recordings for Atlantic in the late '60s and early '70s -- is erratic and only fitfully inspired, making discretion a necessity when collecting her records.

Franklin's roots in gospel ran extremely deep. With her sisters Carolyn and Erma (both of whom would also have recording careers), she sang at the Detroit church of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, while growing up in the 1950s. In fact, she made her first recordings as a gospel artist at the age of 14. It has also been reported that Motown was interested in signing Aretha back in the days when it was a tiny start-up. Ultimately, however, Franklin ended up with Columbia, to which she was signed by the renowned talent scout John Hammond.

Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout the first half of the '60s, notching occasional R&B hits (and one Top 40 single, "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody") but never truly breaking out as a star. The Columbia period continues to generate considerable controversy among critics, many of whom feel that Aretha's true aspirations were being blunted by pop-oriented material and production. In fact, there's a reasonable amount of fine items to be found on the Columbia sides, including the occasional song ("Lee Cross," "Soulville") where she belts out soul with real gusto. It's undeniably true, though, that her work at Columbia was considerably tamer than what was to follow, and suffered in general from a lack of direction and an apparent emphasis on trying to develop her as an all-around entertainer, rather than as an R&B/soul singer.

When Franklin left Columbia for Atlantic, producer Jerry Wexler was determined to bring out her most soulful, fiery traits. As part of that plan, he had her record her first single, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," at Muscle Shoals in Alabama with esteemed Southern R&B musicians. In fact, that was to be her only session actually at Muscle Shoals, but much of the remainder of her '60s work would be recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, although the sessions would actually take place in New York City. The combination was one of those magic instances of musical alchemy in pop: the backup musicians provided a much grittier, soulful, and R&B-based accompaniment for Aretha's voice, which soared with a passion and intensity suggesting a spirit that had been allowed to fly loose for the first time.

In the late '60s, Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop. Many also saw Franklin as a symbol of black America itself, reflecting the increased confidence and pride of African-Americans in the decade of the civil rights movement and other triumphs for the black community. The chart statistics are impressive in and of themselves: ten Top Ten hits in a roughly 18-month span between early 1967 and late 1968, for instance, and a steady stream of solid mid- to large-size hits for the next five years after that. Her Atlantic albums were also huge sellers, and far more consistent artistically than those of most soul stars of the era. Franklin was able to maintain creative momentum, in part, because of her eclectic choice of material, which encompassed first-class originals and gospel, blues, pop, and rock covers, from the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to Sam Cooke and the Drifters. She was also a fine, forceful, and somewhat underrated keyboardist.

Franklin's commercial and artistic success was unabated in the early '70s, during which she landed more huge hits with "Spanish Harlem," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and "Day Dreaming." She also produced two of her most respected, and earthiest, album releases with Live at Fillmore West and Amazing Grace. The latter, a 1972 double LP, was a reinvestigation of her gospel roots, recorded with James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. Remarkably, it made the Top Ten, counting as one of the greatest gospel-pop crossover smashes of all time.

Franklin had a few more hits over the next few years -- "Angel" and the Stevie Wonder cover "Until You Come Back to Me" being the most notable. Her Atlantic contract ended at the end of the 1970s. She signed with the Clive Davis-guided Arista and scored number one R&B hits with "Jump to It," "Get It Right," and "Freeway of Love." Many of her successes were duets, or crafted with the assistance of contemporaries such as Luther Vandross and Narada Michael Walden. In 1986 Franklin released her follow-up to Who's Zoomin' Who?, the self-titled Aretha, which saw the single "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me," a duet with George Michael, hit the top of the charts. There was also another return to gospel in 1987 with One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. Franklin shifted back to pop with 1989's Through the Storm, but it wasn't a commercial success, and neither was 1991's new jack swing-styled What You See Is What You Sweat.

Now solidly an iconic figure and acknowledged as one of the best singers of her generation no matter what her record sales were, Franklin contributed songs to several movie soundtracks in the next few years before releasing the R&B-based A Rose Is Still a Rose in 1998. So Damn Happy followed five years later in 2003 and again saw disappointing sales, but it did generate the Grammy-winning song "Wonderful." Franklin left Arista that same year and started her own label, Aretha's Records, two years later. A duets compilation, Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, was issued in 2007, followed by her first holiday album, 2008's This Christmas. The first release on her own label, A Woman Falling Out of Love, appeared in 2011. She signed to RCA and realigned with Clive Davis, who connected her with the likes of Babyface and OutKast's André 3000 for Sings the Great Diva Classics, for which she covered Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand, and Adele, among others. ---Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com

Aretha Franklin zmarła w Detroit 16.08.2018 w wieku 76 lat.

Aretha Franklin urodziła się 25 marca 1942 roku w Memphis w amerykańskim stanie Tennessee. Aretha Franklin miała trudne dzieciństwo - jej rodzice często nie potrafili się ze sobą porozumieć, aż w końcu zdecydowali się na separację. Piosenkarka miała wtedy sześć lat.

Barbara Siggers Franklin, matka Arethy, zmarła na zawał serca cztery lata później. Jej ojciec, wielebny C. L. Franklin, przeprowadził się z piątką dzieci do Detroit w stanie Michigan, gdzie niedługo potem stał się znanym kaznodzieją. Aretha spędziła w Detroit większość dzieciństwa. Miała tam okazję poznać Clarę Ward i Mahalię Jackson - znakomite gospelowe piosenkarki były bowiem przyjaciółkami jej ojca. To właśnie one miały największy wpływ na muzyczny gust młodej Arethy i zainspirowały ją do tego, aby sama zaczęła śpiewać.

Już w wieku czternastu lat nagrała pierwszą płytę. Album "Songs of Faith" został zarejestrowany w trakcie jednego z jej występów w kościele, w którym nauczał C. L. Franklin. Znalazła się na nim jej wersja klasycznego utworu gospelowego "Precious Lord", który był ulubioną piosenką Martina Luthera Kinga. Co ciekawe, kiedy chowano Kinga, utwór "Precious Lord" został zaśpiewany przez Mahalię Jackson - z kolei kiedy ona zmarła, Aretha Franklin wykonała ten utwór na jej pogrzebie.

Następne kilka lat upłynęło wokalistce przede wszystkim na zajmowaniu się dwójką dzieci, które urodziła w bardzo młodym wieku. Synowie Clarence i Edward przyszli na świat, kiedy miała 13 i 15 lat. Wkrótce jednak postanowiła rozpocząć profesjonalną karierę i w 1960 roku podpisała kontrakt z Columbia Records. W ciągu sześciu lat nie nagrała żadnego wielkiego przeboju, chociaż kilka jej utworów pojawiło się na listach. Nie osiągnęła jednak bardziej znaczącego sukcesu - prawdopodobnie z powodu odejścia od korzeni związanych z muzyką gospel na rzecz bardziej jazzowego brzmienia. Pragnęła stać się sławna, dlatego też zmieniła wytwórnię na Atlantic.

10 marca 1967 roku wydała płytę "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You", która okazała się przełomem w jej karierze. Promowana była przede wszystkim wielkim hitem "Respect" - uhonorowanym potem dwiema nagrodami Grammy. Piosenka ta została dwa lata wcześniej nagrana przez artystę soulowego Otisa Redding, jednak to właśnie wersji Arethy udało się podbić świat. Utwór opowiadał o kobiecie, która domaga się od swojego mężczyzny szacunku. Piosenkarka nagrała go razem ze swoimi siostrami - Carolyn i Ermą - których zadaniem były wokale wspomagające. Mało kto pamięta, że na klawiszach zagrał w nim multiinstrumentalista, wokalista i aktor Isaac Hayes (znany m.in. z roli Chefa w popularnym serialu komediowym "South Park"). Kawałek "Respect" znalazł się później na 5. miejscu w rankingu "500 najwspanialszych piosenek wszech czasów" magazynu "Rolling Stone". Odegrał też kluczową rolę na ścieżce muzycznej krótkometrażowego filmu animowanego "The ChubbChubbs!", który w 2003 roku pokonał "Katedrę" Tomasza Bagińskiego i zgarnął Oscara.

Innym znanym utworem z tego albumu była piosenka "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)". W trakcie koncertu MTV Unplugged wykonała go w 1993 roku szwedzka grupa Roxette. Coverowali ją później także Aerosmith i Allison Crowe.

Po sukcesie płyty, piosenkarka nie czekała długo i jeszcze w 1967 roku wydała kolejny krążek zatytułowany "Aretha Arrives". Otwierała go jej wersja przeboju The Rolling Stones "(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction". Natomiast największą popularność zdobył kawałek "Baby I Love You". Płyta "Aretha Arrives" otrzymała zdecydowanie gorsze recenzje i zabrakło na niej hitów na miarę "Respect", dlatego też już w styczniu 1968 roku ukazała się następna płyta "Lady Soul". Pochodził z niej m.in. singel "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", który poważnie zamieszał na listach przebojów i był później wykonywany przez takich artystów, jak Rod Stewart, Mary J. Blige czy Céline Dion. Aretha zaśpiewała go też w trakcie pierwszej edycji koncertu "VH1 Divas" - wraz z nią pojawiły się wówczas na scenie m.in. Mariah Carey i Shania Twain. Na płycie można było znaleźć również kawałek "Chain of Fools", wielokrotnie wykorzystywany później w popkulturze - przykładowo, tańczył do niego John Travolta w filmie "Michael".

W ciągu zaledwie kilku lat udało się jej zdobyć miano "królowej soulu". Jej kolejne albumy sprzedawały się równie dobrze, natomiast fani piosenkarki nie mogli narzekać na brak znakomitych hitów. Jednym z nich był wydany w 1973 roku kawałek "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", który doczekał się później m.in. wersji polskiej piosenkarki Basi Trzetrzelewskiej, dla której amerykańska wokalistka zawsze stanowiła wzór. Aretha Franklin chwilowo straciła na popularności dopiero w drugiej połowie lat 70., co było spowodowane przede wszystkim modą na muzykę disco. Sławę zdobywały takie artystki jak Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan czy Donna Summer, z kolei Aretha przeżywała wyraźny kryzys i nie zanosiło się, żeby kiedykolwiek jeszcze miała zabłysnąć.

W 1980 roku zagrała epizod w filmie Johna Landisa "Blues Brothers", który wkrótce stał się szlagierem i przypomniał światu jej wspaniały wokal - Aretha zaśpiewała w jednej ze scen utwór "Think". Podpisała wówczas kontrakt z wytwórnią Arista, która umożliwiła jej wydanie w 1982 krążka "Jump to It". Dzięki niemu po raz kolejny trafiła na szczyt listy przebojów R&B i rozpoczęła współpracę z uznanym producentem Lutherem Vandrossem. Po kilku latach, które przyniosły jej umiarkowany sukces komercyjny i niestety raczej średnie noty wśród krytyków, ukazał się kolejny ważny singel w jej karierze "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", który zaśpiewała w duecie z George'em Michaelem. Trafił on na pierwsze miejsca w Stanach Zjednoczonych, Wielkiej Brytanii, Holandii i Kanadzie. Warto zaznaczyć, że autorem okładki albumu, na którym znalazł się ten przebój był Andy Warhol - i była to jego ostatnia praca przed śmiercią.

Aretha postanowiła skupić się na muzyce gospel i nie odnosiła znaczących sukcesów aż do 1998 roku. Pojawił się wówczas w sklepach jej album "A Rose Is Still a Rose", który został wyprodukowany przez członkinię The Fugees, Lauryn Hill. Otrzymał złoty status i nominację do nagrody Grammy. Ostatnim dużym hitem artystki był kawałek "Wonderful" z wydanej w 2003 roku płyty "So Damn Happy".

Aretha Franklin została uhonorowana przez magazyn "Rolling Stone" mianem "najwybitniejszej piosenkarki wszech czasów", a także 9. miejscem na liście stu najwybitniejszych artystów - pokonali ją m.in. The Beatles i Bob Dylan, ale została wyżej oceniona niż np. Ray Charles. Zdobyła łącznie aż osiemnaście nagród Grammy i była pierwszą kobietą, która została umieszczona w słynnym Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, gdzie znalazła się obok takich legend jak Elvis Presley, James Brown czy Chuck Berry. ---http://muzyka.wp.pl

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Aretha Franklin (†) - Songs Of Faith (1956)

2018-08-18T14:49:46Z

Aretha Franklin (†) - Songs Of Faith (1956)


A1 	There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood 	4:31
A2 	Precious Lord (Part One) 	3:26
A3 	Precious Lord (Part Two) 	2:53
A4 	You Grow Closer 	2:42
A5 	Never Grow Old 	2:56
B1 	The Day Is Past And Gone 	4:59
B2 	He Will Wash You White As Snow 	4:19
B3 	While The Blood Runs Warm 	3:07
B4 	Yield Not To Temptation 	3:00

Aretha Franklin - vocals, piano

Aretha Franklin started singing in her father's church at a very young age. Her debut album, 1956's Songs of Faith, came out when she was just 14. It wasn't until the mid-Sixties, however, that the rest of the world learned of Aretha's brilliance after she signed to Atlantic and began an incredible run of hits that included "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman," "Think" and many, many others. In 2008 Rolling Stone named her the greatest singer of all time. "Aretha is a gift from God," Mary J. Blige said in that issue. "When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing." ---rollingstone.com

In 1968, Franklin told a journalist from the American magazine Downbeat that she would always sing properly, from the stomach, when she was able to sit at the piano and think about what she was doing; but the necessities of self-presentation increasingly forced her to stand before her audiences, at which point she would lose her self-possession to some extent and start singing from the throat. Thus her style arrived – not in a flash of light, necessarily, but in a collision between the unschooled tendencies of her voice and the demands of showbusiness. You can hear that during the ad libs towards the close of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, in the fills between the lines of “Chain of Fools” – or on numerous other occasions where she leaves the written melody behind and ventures off to form her own. No female soul singer at full stretch remains quite so concentrated in the throat; pushed to its limits, her voice will tend to growl, not boom. She began to learn control in the Fifties as a guest singer on CL Franklin’s touring sermon shows. On Songs of Faith – the album made with her father in 1956 – she is only 14, the piano sounds as if it has been commandeered from the saloon bar scenes in a cheap Western and the recording overall is subject to long periods of indefinition, such that you suspect fur was used in preference to tape. But during the ecstatic “Precious Lord”, you hear clearly how her church singing functioned, not mysteriously as an act of self-transcendence, but as an extended exercise in breathing, an opportunity to perfect a tactic she would deploy countless times – snatching an unexpected last gasp from a line where you might reasonably have thought she had run out of breath. (Compare, in 1974, her staggered building of the bridge on the version of Stevie Wonder‘s “Until You Come Back to Me”.) The illusion is a canny one, granting the impression that you’re getting more than the song could be made to sustain by any ordinary singer.

Gospel informed her later vocal arrangements, too. On Songs of Faith her voice picks a line through the noisy approval of the audience (her father’s beefy “Yes”, the shouted interjections of the choir and congregation). Her lines encourage a response and she is in turn encouraged to go higher. The reciprocal nature of this is later heard in her interplay with her backing vocalists, on the call and response effects in “Think” and “Respect”, in the tradeoffs in the chorus of “I Say A Little Prayer” (one of the few pop songs in which the backing vocalists take all the strain at the song’s key moments, while the lead singer offers pieces of punctuation). Franklin regularly did this arranging herself, and saw the virtue in keeping her partners consistent, and in cultivating the right company (she favoured on nearly all her big hits, Cissy Houston – mother of Whitney – and the Sweet Inspirations). ---independent.co.uk

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Aretha Franklin - 3 Original Album Classic (2010)

2011-05-28T18:31:26Z

Aretha Franklin - 3 Original Album Classic (2010)

CD1: The Electrifying Aretha Franklin (1962) 

01. You Made Me Love You - (Album Version) 
02. I Told You So 							play
03. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody 
04. Nobody Like You - (Album Version) 
05. Exactly Like You 
06. It's So Heartbreakin' 
07. Rough Lover 
08. Blue Holiday - (Album Version) 
09. Just For You 
10. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) 
11. I Surrender, Dear 
12. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - (Album Version) 

CD2: The tender, The Moving, The Swinging Aretha Franklin (1962) 

01. Don't Cry, Baby - (Album Version) 
02. Try A Little Tenderness 
03. I Apologize 
04. Without The One You Love - (Album Version) 
05. Look For The Silver Lining - (Album Version) 
06. I'm Sitting On Top Of The World - (Album Version) 
07. Just For A Thrill - (Album Version) 
08. God Bless The Child - (Album Version) 
09. I'm Wandering 
10. How Deep Is The Ocean 					play
11. I Don't Know You Anymore - (Album Version) 
12. Lover Come Back To Me - (Album Version) 
13. Only The Lonely - (Album Version) 
14. I Wish I Didn't Love You So - (Album Version) 
15. When The World Was Young - (Album Version) 
16. Shangri-La - (Album Version) 
17. A Mother's Love - (Album Version) 
18. My Coloring Book - (Album Version 
19. Jim - (Album Version) 
20. Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love) - (Album Version) 
21. But Beautiful 
22. People - (Album Version) 

CD3: Soul Sister (1966) 

01. Until You Were Gone 
02. You Made Me Love You 
03. Follow Your Heart 
04. Ol' Man River 
05. Sweet Bitter Love 
06. A Mother's Love 
07. Swanee 
08. (No, No) I'm Losing You 			play
09. Take A Look 
10. Can't You Just See Me 
11. Cry Like A Baby

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is adept at jazz, blues, R&B, and gospel music. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time and the ninth greatest artist of all time.

Franklin is one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, with 18 competitive Grammys and two honorary Grammys. She has 20 #1 singles on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and two #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Respect" (1967) and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987), a duet with George Michael. Since 1961, she has scored a total of 45 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. She also has the most million-selling singles of any female artist. Between 1967 and 1982 she had 10 #1 R&B albums---more than any other female artist.

Aretha Louise Franklin (ur. 25 marca 1942 w Memphis w USA) – afroamerykańska piosenkarka, obdarzona tytułem Queen of Soul.

Swym głębokim, ciepłym głosem i zdolnością interpretacji zwiększyła popularność gatunku soul. Artystka śpiewała też w innych stylach, począwszy od tanecznego popu, gospel do wokalnego jazzu. W 1987 Aretha Franklin została wprowadzona do Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a jej piosenka Respect ma numer 5 na liście 500 utworów wszech czasów magazynu Rolling Stone. W zestawieniu 100 najlepszych wokalistów wszech czasów sporządzonym przez magazyn Rolling Stone zajęła 1 miejsce.

In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Aretha Franklin - Aretha's Jazz (1984)

2018-08-26T12:22:48Z

Aretha Franklin - Aretha's Jazz (1984)


1 	Ramblin'	3:07
2 	Today I Sing The Blues	4:22
3 	Pitiful		3:01
4 	Crazy He Calls Me	3:24
5 	Bring It On Home To Me	3:39
6 	Somewhere	6:14
7 	Moody's Mood	2:55
8 	Just Right Tonight	7:42

Alto Saxophone [Brass Section] – Frank Wess, George Dorsey (tracks: 1 to 5) 
Baritone Saxophone [Brass Section] – Pepper Adams (tracks: 1 to 5)
Drums – Bruno Carr (tracks: 1, 3 to 5)
Electric Bass – Ron Carter (tracks: 1, 3 to 5)
Electric Piano – Joe Zawinul (tracks: 5)
Guitar – Kenny Burrell (tracks: 1, 3 to 5) 
Organ [Hammond] – Joe Zawinul (tracks: 4)
Saxophone, Soloist – David Newman (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5), King Curtis (tracks: 3)
Tenor Saxophone [Brass Section] – King Curtis, Seldon Powell (tracks: 1 to 5)
Tenor Saxophone [Brass Section], Flute – David Newman (tracks: 1 to 5)
Trombone [Brass Section] – Benny Powell, Jimmy Cleveland, Thomas Mitchell, Urbie Green (tracks: 1 to 5)
Trumpet [Brass Section] – Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal, Joe Newman, Richard Williams, Snooky Young (tracks: 1 to 5)
Trumpet, Soloist – Joe Newman (tracks: 1 to 5) 
Drums – Roger Hawkins
Electric Bass – Jerry Jemmott, Tommy Cogbill
Guitar – Jimmy Johnson
Organ [Hammond] – Spooner Oldham
Piano – Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, Junior Mance
Alto Saxophone [Solo] – Phil Woods
Vocals - Aretha Franklin
Arranged By, Conductor – Arif Mardin (tracks: 1 to 4)
Arranged By, Conductor – Quincy Jones (tracks: 6 to 8)

A good anthology that covers various album cuts, B-sides, and assorted material in a jazz vein that Aretha cut for Columbia. It's great to hear her underrated piano playing given some more space, and Columbia should really reissue her Dinah Washington tribute album, from which they pulled a couple of these songs. Aretha wasn't a jazz vocalist from the standpoint of approach or inspiration, but she really can sing anything and showed it on these cuts, even if they weren't, for the most part, hits. --Ron Wynn, AllMusic Review

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Aretha Franklin - Gospel Greats 1972 [1999]

2011-07-16T19:09:24Z

Aretha Franklin - Gospel Greats 1972 [1999]


01. Precious Memories 7:20
02. Climbing Higher Mountains 2:45
03. God Will Take Care of You 8:48
04. Mary Don't You Weep 7:11
05. Precious Lord (Take My Hand)/You've Got a Friend (Medley) 5:36
06. What a Friend We Have in Jesus 5:57		play
07. Give Yourself to Jesus 5:18		play
08. Bever Grow Old 9:53
09. You'll Never Walk Alone 6:40
10. Amazing Grace 10:44

Bass – Chuck Rainey
Choir – The Southern California Community Choir
Choir [Assistant Choir Director] – Alexander Hamilton
Choir [Choir Director] – Rev. James Cleveland
Congas – Pancho Morales
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Guitar – Cornell Dupree
Keyboards [Celeste] – Aretha Franklin (
Lead Vocals – Rev. James Cleveland 
Organ – Ken Lupper
Piano – Aretha Franklin, Rev. James Cleveland

Originally released as a double LP in 1972, Amazing Grace cracked the Billboard Top Ten upon its release, making it one of the bestselling gospel records of all time. Grace was recorded in a large Baptist church with an ultraenthusiastic, loving audience in the pews and a full, funky, band as well as the Southern California Community Choir under the direction of her mentor Rev. James Cleveland. Her voice is melismatic and intensely emotional, yet pure and controlled--as if she were directly channeling the Holy Ghost. Aretha's father, the brilliant preacher Rev. C.L. Franklin, makes a brief, proud appearance, remarking how "she has never left the church!" Highlights include the beautiful "Wholy Holy," an 11-minute, heart-stopping "Amazing Grace," and Inez Andrews's stirring song "Mary, Don't You Weep." Way more than a return-to-the-roots record, the set is an inspired gospel-soul workout that arguably showcases Aretha's strongest singing ever. ---Mike McGonigal, amazon.com

There are very few singers who have been able to have a succesful gospel album after they left the church to sing other genres. Aretha Franklin is without a doubt an exception. My grandmother had this C.D and after she died, I was cleaning out her old C.D's. I said that I would keep her Gospel C.D's. I started to throw out this one but I got out of bed and went to the collection I was gonna throw away. Thank God I didn't get rid of this because I play it every day. My favorite songs are MARY DONT YOU WEEP, OLD LANDMARK, HOW I GOT OVER, AMAZING GRACE, CLIMBING HIGHER MOUNTAINS, GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU, and PRECIOUS MEMORIES with James Clevland. James and Aretha's vocals on that song MOVE me like no other. If you had James Clevland on ANYTHING that sung about the Lord, you know it's a hit. Aretha can sing ANYTHING. Thats what makes her a TRUE singer. This is where Aretha got her start and let me say, in the words of her father, SHE'S NEVER LEFT THE CHURCH. If you're looking for something moving, I strongly recomend this. ---amazon.com

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Aretha Franklin - Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) [1973]

2010-05-21T12:43:11Z

Aretha Franklin - Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973)


01. Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky) (Aretha Franklin) - 4:40
02. Somewhere (Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim) - 6:14
03. So Swell When You're Well (Aretha Franklin) - 4:13
04. Angel (Carolyn Franklin/Sonny Saunders) - 4:25
05. Sister From Texas (Aretha Franklin) - 3:09
06. Mister Spain (Carolyn Plummer) - 6:40
07. That's The Way I Feel About Cha (Bobby Womack/Joe Hicks/John Grisby) - 7:03
08. Moody's Mood (James Moody) - 2:56
09. Just Right Tonight (Avery Parrish/Buddy Feyne/Robert Bruce/Quincy Jones/Aretha Franklin) - 7:42
Bonus:
10. Master Of Eyes (The Deepness Of Your Eyes) (Aretha Franklin/Bernice Hart) - 3:23

Personnel:
- Aretha Franklin - vocals, piano (02,03)
- Phil Woods - alto sax (02)
- Joe Farrell - tenor sax (04), flute (06)
- Billy Preston - piano (09)
- Willie Bridges, Charles Chalmers, Andrew Love, Floyd Newman - saxophone
- Wayne Jackson - trumpet
- Tommy Cogbill, Jerry Jemmott - bass
- Roger Hawkins - drums
- Jimmy Johnson - guitar
- Spooner Oldham – keyboards

"Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky)" may be the most misunderstood Aretha Franklin album of all time. Panned by critics for its eclecticism and lack of focus, HNH was produced by Quincy Jones and Aretha's first album for Atlantic that was not produced by Jerry Wexler. Coming off a string of ten outstanding Wexler-produced albums - "I Never Loved A Man" and "Lady Soul" were what you would call landmark albums - HNH was a bit of a disappointment. The concept of marrying Aretha's deep soul with Quincy's musical genius may have worked on paper, but the execution fell short for reasons that had nothing to do with Aretha. Vocally, she was in peak form and obviously still delivering. The clue to HNH's shortcomings may be found in David Nathan's excellent sleeve notes. It appears that HNH was originally conceived as an all-out jazz experiment for Aretha with Quincy producing at the helm but when Atlantic lost its nerve midway through the project and decided to include some more pop/soul oriented material in the album to avert the risk of potential commercial disaster, that's when the problems started. It's a shame, because cut for cut, the album is with a few exceptions difficult to fault. Collectively, the pop/soul oriented tracks are neither better nor worse than the jazz ones, just different.

HNH is worth buying just for "Angel" alone. Composed by her sister Carolyn, "Angel" is possibly the most beautiful ballad Aretha has ever recorded in her entire career. Another highlight is the Esther Phillips' inspired "Sister From Texas", a percussively cooking and bluesy soul number given a full workout treatment by Aretha. The title track is also mysterious and interesting. Using an unusual two coda song structure, there is even a hint of 70s drugs culture ("on the other side of the sky") in the lyrics and it works. "So Swell When You're Well" chugs along nicely but is unexceptional. "Mister Spain" has a moody charm about it, but "That's How I Feel About 'Cha" is a mess. Not much of a song in the first place, it is little more than an excuse for Aretha to show off while practicing her scales. The album's grand opus, Bernstein/Sondheim's "Somewhere", given a jazzy treatment with piano breaks midsong is an inventive if not altogether successful arrangement. The producer/arranger may have gone overboard on that one.

The two pure jazz tracks which close HNH (ie, not counting the excellent "Master Of Eyes" which is included as a bonus track) is impressive for Aretha's amazing vocalising but otherwise belong elsewhere with the other completed jazz tracks still sitting in Atlantic's vault.

So, what started out as a jazz album ended up only one quarter a jazz album, half a conventional pop/soul album and a quarter of a fusion album. Blame it on Atlantic if you must for the mishmash and occasional misstep but Aretha vocally more than measures up against her glorious legacy preceding this most misunderstood release. Me ? I love it. ---amazon.com

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Aretha Franklin - Jewels in The Crown (2007)

2009-10-13T11:42:57Z

Aretha Franklin - Jewels in The Crown (2007)


01. Jumpin' Jack Flash - (with Keith Richards)
02. Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves - (with Eurythmics)
03. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) - (with George Michael)
04. What Now My Love - (with Frank Sinatra)
05. Put You Up On Game - (with Fantasia)
06. What Y'all Came To Do - (with John Legend)
07. Never Gonna Break My Faith - (with Mary J. Blige)
08. Through the Storm - (with Elton John)
09. It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be - (with Whitney Houston)
10. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - (with Gloria Estefan/Bonnie Raitt)
11. Doctor's Orders - (with Luther Vandross)
12. Ever Changing Times - (with Michael McDonald)
13. Chain Of Fools - (with Mariah Carey)
14. Don't Waste Your Time - (with Mary J. Blige)
15. Love All the Hurt Away - (with George Benson)
16. Nessun Dorma - (with The New York Recording Orchestra)

Big record labels have to mine their catalogs; these days it's the only way they can stay in business. With Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, there's plenty of material to draw from, and not just from decaying archives. But this collection of collaborations further demonstrates what we already knew: duets between stars are usually far less than the sum of their parts.

The good stuff on here includes a few well-known recordings, like the hit "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" with Annie Lennox, and some new numbers, like "What Y'All Came To Do," a repetitive but crisp dance number with John Legend in which the nu-soul crooner shows some uncharacteristic spunk, singing the chorus and bantering with Aretha. Backed up by Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan on "Natural Woman" and by Mariah Carey on "Chain of Fools," the legend sounds great, but how could anyone (especially Herself) screw up those classics?

Two duets with Mary J. Blige turn out well, especially the gospel track "Never Gonna Break My Faith." But a lot of the rest is just '80s (and 80s-style) hokum, bland songs with no purpose but for a singer to exercise his or her lungs. One could imagine Aretha teaming successfully with the likes of Elton John, Whitney Houston, Michael McDonald, Luther Vandross, and George Benson, but one will have to keep imagining. Without a halfway decent song to sing, what was the point of wasting the time of all those musicians and engineers (not to mention ours)?

Of note, but not in a good way, is the disappointing new duet with Fantasia, who can light up a stage on her own terms, but comes off as a lightweight trying to match vocals with the Queen of Soul. And the less said about the grafted-on duet with Frank Sinatra's recording of "What Now My Love," which was crappy in the first place, the better. Aretha sounds great on it, but it was very, very far from Ol' Blue Eyes's finest moment, and whoever decided to resurrect it for this purpose should be stripped of his or her license to practice A&R.

The disc ends with Aretha's famous rendition of "Nessum Dorma" from the 1998 Grammy Awards broadcast, when she stepped in for the ailing Luciano Pavarotti at almost literally the last minute. Aretha sang the aria, in the tenor's key, with a 72-piece orchestra, and brought down the house. It was a truly magic moment in the history of music, one of many Aretha has given us - but given us, virtually always, entirely on the strength of her own matchless voice and peerless soul. This CD ain't gonna change that. --- Jon Sobel, blogcritics.org

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Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul (1968)

2010-12-29T19:42:41Z

Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul (1968)


1. Chain Of Fools 2:45          play
2. Money Won't Change You 2:02
3. People Get Ready 3:35
4. Niki Hoeky 2:33
5. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman 2:37
6. Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) 2:18
7. Good To Me As I Am To You 3:25
8. Come Back Baby 2:29
9. Groovin' 2:45
10. Ain't No Way 4:12           play

Personnel: 
Aretha Franklin (vocals, piano); 
Carolyn Franklin (vocals, background vocals); Cissy Houston (vocals); 
Jimmy Johnson , Eric Clapton, Joe South, Bobby Womack (guitar); 
Seldon Powell (flute, tenor saxophone, horns); 
Frank Wess (flute, tenor saxophone, wind); 
King Curtis (saxophone, tenor saxophone); 
Haywood Henry (saxophone, baritone saxophone); 
Joe Newman , Bernie Glow, Melvin Lastie (trumpet); 
Tony Studd (trombone, bass trombone); 
Spooner Oldham (electric piano, keyboards); 
Warren Smith (vibraphone, background vocals); 
Gene Chrisman, Roger Hawkins (drums); 
Ellie Greenwich, Erma Franklin, The Sweet Inspirations (background vocals).

Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York between February 16 and December 20, 1967.

Appearing after a blockbuster debut and a sophomore set that was rather disappointing (in comparison), 1968's Lady Soul proved Aretha Franklin, the pop sensation, was no fluke. Her performances were more impassioned than on her debut, and the material just as strong, an inspired blend of covers and originals from the best songwriters in soul and pop music. The opener, "Chain of Fools," became the biggest hit, driven by a chorus of cascading echoes by Franklin and her bedrock backing vocalists, the Sweet Impressions, plus the unforgettable, earthy guitar work of guest Joe South. The album's showpiece, though, was "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," a song written expressly for her by Brill Building pop stalwarts Gerry Goffin and Carole King, based on a title coined by producer Jerry Wexler. One of the landmark performances in pop music, the song floats serenely through the verses until, swept up by Ralph Burns' stirring string arrangement again and again, Franklin opens up on the choruses with one of the most transcendent vocals of her career. And just as she'd previously transformed a soul classic (Otis Redding's "Respect") into a signature piece of her own, Franklin courageously reimagined songs by heavyweights James Brown, Ray Charles, and the Impressions. Brown's "Money Won't Change You" is smooth and kinetic, her testifying constantly reinforced by interjections from the Sweet Inspirations. Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," a 1965 civil-rights anthem and a hit for the Impressions, is taken at a slower pace than the original; after a quiet verse, Franklin lets loose amidst a magisterial brass arrangement by Arif Mardin. Powered by three hit singles (each nested in the upper reaches of the pop Top Ten), Lady Soul became Aretha Franklin's second gold LP and remained on the charts for over a year. ---John Bush, AllMusic Review

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Aretha Franklin - This Christmas (2008)

2012-12-22T17:06:34Z

Aretha Franklin - This Christmas, Aretha (2008)


1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. This Christmas (with Edward Franklin)
3. My Grown-Up Christmas List
4. The Lord Will Make A Way
5. Silent Night
6. Ave Maria
7. Christmas Ain't Christmas (Without The One You Love)
8. 14 Angels
9. One Night With The King
10. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
11. Twas the Night Before Christmas

Backing Vocals – Brenda White-King, Fonzi Thornton, Shellyn Ponder, Tawatha Agee
Bass – Charles (Volley) Craig, Nathan East
Choir – Alvin Chea, Bridgette Bryant, Carmen Twillie, Clydene Jackson, Dorian Holly,
 Gerald White, Lynne Fiddmont, Oren Waters, Susie Stevens Logan, Terry Wood, Wendy Fraser
Conductor – H.B. Barnum
Drums – Arthur Marbury, Ricky Lawson 
Guitar – Matt Dahlgren, Paul Jackson Jr., Teddy Richards White
Keyboards – James "Big Jim" Wright, Timothy Heintz
Organ – Darryl Houston 
Percussion – Luis Conte, Michito Sanchez
Piano – Richard Gibbs 
Piano [Acoustic] – Aretha Franklin
Saxophone – Brandon Fields
Vocals - Aretha Franklin

The obvious title here would have been Wreatha Now, but Aretha opted to follow in the footsteps of at least 20 other artists by going with This Christmas as the title of her first Christmas album. Apart from the Donny Hathaway/Nadine McKinnor-written title track, a duet with her son Edward that is both sweet and playful (at one point, Aretha interjects, "Eddie, you mustn't upstage mom with those high notes"), the disc is filled mostly with the spiritual and relatively serious side of holiday material. The likes of "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "Angels We Have Heard on High" are given the kind of treatment only Aretha could grant, though it should be noted that there are moments where you might feel stuck inside the Aretha Melismatorium. It's not all reverence and reflection: best of all is a reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" that can only be termed "personalized." ---Andy Kellman, allmusic.com

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Aretha Franklin - Unforgettable. A Tribute To Dinah Washington (1964)

2018-08-23T14:04:12Z

Aretha Franklin - Unforgettable. A Tribute To Dinah Washington (1964)


1 	Unforgettable 	3:39
2 	Cold, Cold Heart 	4:35
3 	What A Diff'rence A Day Made 	3:30
4 	Drinking Again 	3:28
5 	Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning 	5:10
6 	Evil Gal Blues 	2:40
7 	Don't Say You're Sorry Again 	2:45
8 	This Bitter Earth 	4:33
9 	If I Should Lose You 	3:36
10 	Soulville 	2:20
11 	Lee Cross 	3:19

Aretha Franklin 	Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals 
Bob Asher 	Trombone
Teddy Charles 	Vibraphone
Gary Chester 	Drums
George Duvivier 	Bass
Paul Griffin 	Organ
Ernie Hayes 	Organ, Piano
Buddy Lucas 	Harmonica, Sax (Tenor)  
Ernie Royal 	Trumpet

Since her youth Franklin had admired Dinah Washington, and it's a safe bet that the level of emotional commitment Washington brought to her work was a major influence on the blossoming style of Aretha, not to mention Washington's effortless sense of swing. Shortly before she died, Washington took appreciate notice of her acolyte as well. So Aretha's tribute to Washington is as logical as it is satisfying. Recorded when Aretha was just 21, UNFORGETTABLE is somewhat of a departure from her more R&B-oriented early work. However, the string arrangements of Johnny Mersey adn the jazzy bass work of George Duvivier mesh perfectly with Franklin's high-flying vocal fireworks. From the slow, subtle caress of "What a Difference a Day Made" to the organ-led blues of "Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning," the young Aretha is in total command of the material here, simultaneously paying homage to and progressing from the influence of Washington. ---AllMusic Review

The myth that Columbia Records producers kept Aretha Franklin from finding her soul on disc has largely been discredited, and albums such as the 1964 Unforgettable are a big reason why. Working with a small, surprisingly tough rhythm section, Franklin delivers highly personalized renditions of 10 songs associated with the great Dinah Washington, who'd passed just months before. The material ranges from pop standards to Hank Williams and Bessie Smith numbers, paralleling Franklin's own eclecticism. —--Rickey Wright, elusivedisc.com

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