Album: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Artist: Aretha Franklin
Born: Detroit
Released: March 1967
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Al Green, Led Zeppelin, Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse
A slight pause in the freak frenzy of psychedelia as this blog returns to soul. Aretha Franklin, like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and many other soul stars, started out as a gospel singer and had to disappoint her parents and congregation by pursuing a pop career. Like the best of them, she would also acquire a moniker (Queen of Soul) that assures her place in the pantheon of soul gods. By 1967, Aretha had released nine albums but was still without the commercial success she deserved. All that changed with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, a potent mix of covers (notably Sam Cooke and Otis Redding) and her own songs, all delivered with a passion and intensity that would inspire legions of pop divas. On some tracks, the singing is so loud that it deserves the Marshall amp volume of "11" more than for some of the cock rockers of the 70s.
The title track is sublime. The bluesy guitar keeps the song driving along, then come the horns and finally that breathy delivery that's enough to make a grown man melt. It would be Aretha's first Top 10 single, released along with B-side Do Right Woman - Do Right Woman, the song that would prove a brilliant riposte to James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World, combining an opening that hints at her gospel roots and then a finale that would be one of the finest expressions of feminism in 60s pop. I really love Aretha's own songs on this album too, especially the mellow Latin-tinged Don't Let Me Lose This Dream, on which she shows she can do sweet & soulful as well as Gladys Knight or Diana Ross. She also shows on this album how she can make somebody else's song her own (not on A Change Is Gonna Come, nobody gets close to Sam Cooke with that) but most clearly with Respect, which she "stole" from Otis (he was joking!). "Sock it to me, sock it to me...", but "take out T-C-P" – what does that mean? Reference to the antiseptic? No, it was TCB (Taking Care of Business). Anyway, who cares, all you better do is show Aretha some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Artist: Aretha Franklin
Born: Detroit
Released: March 1967
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Al Green, Led Zeppelin, Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse
A slight pause in the freak frenzy of psychedelia as this blog returns to soul. Aretha Franklin, like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and many other soul stars, started out as a gospel singer and had to disappoint her parents and congregation by pursuing a pop career. Like the best of them, she would also acquire a moniker (Queen of Soul) that assures her place in the pantheon of soul gods. By 1967, Aretha had released nine albums but was still without the commercial success she deserved. All that changed with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, a potent mix of covers (notably Sam Cooke and Otis Redding) and her own songs, all delivered with a passion and intensity that would inspire legions of pop divas. On some tracks, the singing is so loud that it deserves the Marshall amp volume of "11" more than for some of the cock rockers of the 70s.
The title track is sublime. The bluesy guitar keeps the song driving along, then come the horns and finally that breathy delivery that's enough to make a grown man melt. It would be Aretha's first Top 10 single, released along with B-side Do Right Woman - Do Right Woman, the song that would prove a brilliant riposte to James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World, combining an opening that hints at her gospel roots and then a finale that would be one of the finest expressions of feminism in 60s pop. I really love Aretha's own songs on this album too, especially the mellow Latin-tinged Don't Let Me Lose This Dream, on which she shows she can do sweet & soulful as well as Gladys Knight or Diana Ross. She also shows on this album how she can make somebody else's song her own (not on A Change Is Gonna Come, nobody gets close to Sam Cooke with that) but most clearly with Respect, which she "stole" from Otis (he was joking!). "Sock it to me, sock it to me...", but "take out T-C-P" – what does that mean? Reference to the antiseptic? No, it was TCB (Taking Care of Business). Anyway, who cares, all you better do is show Aretha some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
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