Aretha Franklin

THE QUEEN OF SOUL

Now that I have been getting into church more now, The Amazing Grace album by Aretha Franklin I listen to EVERY day. It's like a daily routine for me now. And when I am not listening to Amazing Grace album and I listening to her live performance or album. Yesterday I just brought the Aretha Franklin catalog that consisted of 22 albums by the legend that included her live album such as Aretha in Paris and Live At Filmore West. From listening to these albums, Aretha was always in my top 5 singers of all time, but with this catalog I fell in love with her even more. However, many of these albums I have that included one of my top 5 albums of all time I Never Loved A Man-The Way I Loved You and my 2nd favorite soundtrack of all time Sparkle. These albums shows why Aretha Franklin was voted the number singer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. So take this musical journey with me.

In addition to me listening to a lot Aretha Franklin, I knew that she was sign to Columbia records. During that time, they didn't know how to market or use Aretha. As a result they had her singing more of jazz and bluesy like. Check out these two performance, but as you can tell "THE SOUL" was always in her.

Now that you have a taste of what Aretha could so back before Atlantic Records, here's where Aretha is SANGING a popular Shoop Shoop(It's In His Kiss) cover which her version become my favorite, check Darlene Love in the background(any of you Shindig fans):

Now that you got Aretha during the Columbia era, here's the Aretha Franklin WE all know when she moved to Atlantic Records, the song that launched Aretha's idol career.

This album is such a classic because this album showcased Aretha at her best. But my favorite song from this album is "Drowning In My Tears"....check it out. 

I am taking you on the Aretha Franklin journey, I want to fast forward to 1972, when Aretha Franklin in my opinion recorded the best gospel album of all time Amazing Grace she took it back to her gospel roots. One this album my favorites are "God Will Take Care Of You" and "Mary Don't You Weep"

I had to put some gospel into this, now let's fast forward to 1976, when Aretha teamed up with the great Curtis Mayfield to produce the classic soundtrack Sparkle. This album has many memory with me because this album along with Claudine, which was also Curtis Mayfield produced, was the first soundtrack albums that I feel in love with. Check out my favorites of Sparkle

By the end of the 1970's into the 80's. Aretha wasn't creating the hits that she was for to years but her live performances made up for it. Check this live performance in 1978, when she is performing this cover of Marvin Gaye's & Tammi Terrell's classic "

In the 80's Aretha Franklin had surface back in to the mainstream with his like "Jump To It", "Freeway of Love", one of my favs "I Knew You Were Waiting" (For Me) with George Michael.  Listen to this classic 80's record

In the 90's Aretha Franklin surfaced back with songs like "It Hurts Like Hell" & "A Rose Is Still A Rose". But in 1998 at the Grammys, Aretha Franklin made the best performance that I have every seen in my life time, her version of Luciano Pavarotti "Nessun Dorma". Everytime I hear or see this performance tears start rolling down my face. Watch this GREATNESS, this performance showed why she is ONE of the greatest of all time.

Now I know there are many songs and live performances that I miss, but I wanted you to take a short Aretha journey with me. You have to R.E.S.P.E.C.T the Queen!