Customer Reviews

Aretha Now

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This album, for some reason, never even had any singles that hit it to number 1 on the popular charts. The album never hit number 1. That is what makes it better than ever! It is usually the less commercial material that are killers. This album proves so. This is the album that contains "Think", which is the one of the earliest songs Aretha wrote in her early stardom. I still label it her best. In a why, it is wicked! The two songs, "I Can't See Myself Leaving You" and "I'll Take What I Want" seem to be always forgotten by many, but they are gems in plain English. Those also prove see is the Queen of Soul, not only then, but also now. Also note, even though Jerry Wexler produced the album, Arif Mardin was a major arranger. When you purchase the album, you want be surprised. He really is the king of the R&B world when it comes to putting music together. Thanks for reading.

This was Aretha's fourth album for Atlantic and was top five in both UK and US, despite a playing time of under half-an-hour. When the grooves are as funky as these, who cares? Two great tracks had already been hit singles when the album came out - Think, which had been recorded on 15 April 1968, the day Martin Luther King was assassinated; and her fantastic re-interpretation of Burt Bacharach's I Say A Little Prayer, which she and the Sweet Inspirations had apparently worked up while on tour, just for fun. In America I Say A Little Prayer was buried as a flipside before discerning deejays turned it over, but it had been the bona-fide A-side the month before in the UK where it reached number 4.
Her revival of Don Covay's See Saw was the first single lifted from the album, with I Can't See Myself Leaving You being extracted the following year while she was taking time off to avoid burn out. 
Sam Cooke had apparently come to the Franklin household while he was still in the Soul Stirrers and considering turning secular with an acetate of You Send Me. After its success she said, "I'd sure like to sing that, too" and here turns in a smoldering version which is not only secular but intensely sexualized to boot. 
The Muscle Shoals crew were flown in to New York for all sessions and were augmented by the Sweet Inspirations and, in April 1968, the Memphis Horns. Most of the album was recorded that April, but three tracks held over from the Lady Soul sessions of December 1967 make up the remainder and feature Bobby Womack on guitar, an 8-piece brass section and Carolyn Franklin on additional background vocals. Two of these were written by Ronnie Shannon who had written I Never Loved A Man and Baby, I Love You.
Aretha had found her voice and was on a roll, complemented by Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin's arrangements and sure-footed production by Jerry Wexler. The album went gold.
Now overdue for a remaster, let's hope it comes with the full complement of bonus tracks from the period, singles and unreleased material that are bound to be gold dust

"Aretha Now" is a high-quality reissue of one of Aretha Franklin's greatest records, dating from 1968, the midst of the most hit-filled period of her career. (She had ten Top Ten hits in eighteen months of 1967-68). Franklin is the daughter of an influential Detroit preacher and her talent was recognized early; she cut her first record at 14. She was later signed to Columbia, a find of their legendary talent scout John Hammond, but the label didn't seem to know what to do with her. However, Atlantic waited in the wings. Once signed by their chief Ahmet Ertegun, producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin, and engineer Tom Dowd put her together with a repertory better suited to her soulful talents, and backed her explosive song stylings with the equally explosive Muscle Shoals studio players (though they were then feuding with that studio's management, and had to bring the musicians to New York to record). And they all made music history. Franklin almost immediately burst onto the Rhythm and Blues charts with Otis Redding's "Respect," still her biggest hit, though she was to have 20 R&B #1 singles. "Aretha Now" was one of the big three albums that followed closely after her first classic Atlantic hit, " I Never Loved a Man (The Way That I Loved You").

This album opens with Franklin's own "Think;" it was another juicy hit for her. It also gives us Burt Bacharach's "I Say A Little Prayer," as Franklin reimagined it; an emotionally satisfying version of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me." A sizzling version of "Night Time is the Right Time." A tight-swinging "See Saw," by Steve Cropper and Don Covay, two of the stalwarts of Stax's famed studio band, Booker T and the M.G's. Two female-oriented songs by Ronnie Shannon, a song co-written by Isaac Hayes; another co-written by King Curtis.

But Franklin, honored as the Queen of Soul, or Lady Soul, is a triple-threat singer-songwriter-pianist, and she isn't limited to soul and R&B; she can also do gospel, for sure, jazz, and even, memorably, opera. There was the night she stepped in for the ailing Luciano Pavarotti at the live Grammy Awards, and, without rehearsal time, nor even time to get the aria transposed to her key, she delivered a version of the opera singer's signature aria, "Nessun Dorma," from "Turandot," that brought the jaded music crowd to its feet. She's won awards and honors too numerous to mention, including an unprecedented eight consecutive Grammies for Best Female R&B vocal performance from 1967-1974-- there were people jokingly referring to it, finally, as Grammy's Aretha Award. She does sometimes remind of something a choir master supposedly once said to a little girl: you don't have to sing so loud, God can always hear you. But this woman deserves all our R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and this album dates from her never quite equaled early burst of creativity. It belongs on the shelf of her serious fans.

Whatever day it was that the deal was finalized in ink, it was a damn great one for lovers of soul music when Atlantic agreed to have Rhino records rejuvenate their priceless Aretha Franklin catalog from the 60's and 70's. Long before the 90s, Rhino's reputation was sterling with this music lover as a company dedicated to excellence when it came to reissuing lost pop and soul treasures. Though it seemed impossible, they managed to surpass even themselves when it came to Miss Franklin's key works.

Of course, I went for that overwhelming, kitchen-sink box set first, "Queen Of Soul." It's a masterpiece equal to Motown's "Hitsville" singles collection, the Temptations' "Emperors of Soul" set, and James Brown's "Star Time." Then it was time to update some of my original vinyl collection of Aretha's albums depending on their existing condition. That's why this 1968 one and "Aretha Arrives" got chosen first over the more obvious "Never Loved A Man," and "Lady Soul."

Another reviewer notes the lack of No. 1 status of this album and it's hits. Well, it may not have contained another "Respect," but "Think" comes close enough to satisfy even the most demanding. We know now, thanks to this set's superb liner notes that Franklin was immersed in the New York recording session for "Think" on the very day (April 15, 1968) the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis. What a moment in African-American history - stunning artistic triumph in one city, and the deepest type of tragedy half a country away. Though I don't love the song any less (and maybe love it MORE), it's impossible to separate from this knowledge when now listening to this album's cornerstone song.

"Think" and it's single flip-side, a superb new interpretation of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," preceded the album by about six weeks, and when it was time for a new single - guess what - only half of it was on this album. "The House That Jack Built," was released with "I Say A Little Prayer," but, hardly a surprise in Franklin's case by this time, both sides of the single sailed up the charts. (If you wanted "Jack" on an LP, you had to wait for the next years 'greatest hits' package, "Aretha's Gold.") "See Saw" was issued as a 45 that autumn and did quite well too. Spring of the following year saw "I Can't See Myself Leaving You" issued with Franklin's wonderful, up-tempo take of the Glen Campbell(!) hit, "Gentle On My Mind." In this album, the tunes "A Change," "I Take What I Want," and especially "You're A Sweet Sweet Man," also had 'single-ready' written all over them from the first listen.

Finally, there was that album cover, originally Atlantic LP #8186, and how it caught your gaze from store shelves that summer of 1968. After years of what had to be frequent and grueling dues paying, Miss Franklin had finally ascended the throne of Queen of Soul that she entirely earned. How could you resist that confident and welcoming smile?

I LOVE this album! My parents had it when it first came out and I fondly recall coming into the house after a day at play grooving to this. This version of "I say a little prayer" blows Dionne Warwick out of the water! "See Saw" is an underrated gem as well as the version of her friend Sam Cooke's "You Send Me." This is one of those CD/Albums that you can play all the way through and will make you thank God for allowing Thomas Edison for inventing the phonograph.

When this release hit the racks in 1968 this Soul-Satisfying-Album boosted not 1 (One), but 5 (Five) Billboard Hit Singles: "Think" a Gold #1 Billboard Hit Single!, it's B-Side "You Send Me" a Billboard Top 40 Smash Single!, "I Say A Little Prayer" a Billboard #3 Hit Single!, "See Saw" A Gold Billboard #9 Hit!, and "I Can't See Myself Leaving You" which was the B-Side of 1969's "Gentle On My Mind" even Charted on Billboard's Singles Chart peaking at #3! Add the Album favorites: "Night Time Is The Right Time", and "I Take What I Want", Aretha delivered, yet Another Out-The-Box Smash Album!!!

If you want to understand why and how Aretha Franklin became the Queen of Soul, Aretha Now is required listening. Ms. Franklin's ability to take a song and own it is most recognized by her cover of Otis Redding's "Respect." But the queen has done this with so many tunes and my favorite ones here are "You Send Me" and "Night Time Is The Right Time." The year 1968 was a very important one for her because this album came out as well as Lady Soul which is also essential. If you want to hear Ms. Franklin in her prime Aretha Now is a must-have.

Aretha's classic rhythm and blues album is gospel tinged soul with the Queen belting out a handful of remakes and the co-written, "Think", a feisty supercharged personal and social call for freedom, with a stinging chorus forever imbedded on listener's conscienceness. Sometimes the 1968 code of hit-making ethics find her lungs a bit constrained when you know she just wants to wail her church trained voice and make the song her own, like in Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "I Say A Little Prayer", and Sam Cooke's "You Send Me", fine songs and fine renditions, but just not the excitement of a Franklin single. As her career moves on, she gets better and better, and this is a fine place to start.

You want awkward? I'll give you awkward! I'll give you awkward 'till you're beggin' for it to stop! And I ain't talkin' 'bout me strippin' down naked, either, though that would be awkward in itself. No, the awkward thing is her cover of Sam and Dave's "I Take What I Want". Now, I like Sam & Dave, but I don't think much of Aretha's cover. It for whatever reason just doesn't fit her, you know? Of course you do. We're all smart people. Other than me, anyway. So that's one awful song. Here's another: "I Can't See Myself Leaving You". I can see what she's going for - an absolute display of unconditional love - but I'm not following her there, because it doesn't strike me the way the album's other display of unconditional love does. That song is "I Say a Little Prayer". I love every bit of it, from Aretha's vocals (duh) to the backup vocals to the melody to the delicate Spanish guitar. So much better than Dionne Warwick's breathy, full-speed-ahead original. Then again, I don't like Burt Bacharach. I really, really don't. He is the most overrated composer of the 20th century. Actually, no, maybe Brian Wilson. Tough call. To make another one of them generalizations, a cover of a Burt Bacharach-penned song is guaranteed to be better than the original. And it's great to hear Aretha forget subtlety and belt her way through "Think" and "See Saw"; there's also a moving "You Send Me" and a pretty solid "Night Time is the Right Time". And then there are, um... three other songs I didn't bring up. I just heard "You're a Sweet, Sweet Man" about twenty minutes prior to writing this review, and I already forgot everything about it. Same with "A Change". And then there's one last awful song: the corny "Hello Sunshine". So, um... how 'bout them Detroit Lions? 6-4 - finally above .500! Sure, they lost today, but you know, their heads ARE above water for a change.