Customer Reviews

The Great Aretha Franklin: The First 12 Sides

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I can't believe only one person has written a review of this fantastic cd. Aretha sounds as good here as on her classic Atlantic sides. These are her very first recordings, produced by John Hammond. These songs are not over-produced like most of her other Columbia material. The music is just a small piano-based combo. Don't miss out on this. She sounds way beyond her years.

energetic, INTERESTING, humorous, passionate tunes. Aretha's voice sounds so young and transporting and divine - this album is a treasure. The love songs are sexy and idiosyncratic, the 2 expressly 'spiritual' tunes (of course, all of Aretha is spiritual) are unusual and funny and great and the blues are dead-on... I don't think an Aretha fan could possibly regret getting turned on to this album.

Of all the cds one see's out there for Miss Aretha, I cannot believe this is not seen more. This particular recording session, not only hints of the genius yet to come, it shows that the teenage Aretha was destined to become a legend. The opening track has a drive and rhythm that is rarely found in any recording. Songs like "Are You Sure?" and "Who Needs You" cover the gamut from Spritual to Sassy, and her vocal blues stylings express a depth of talent way beyond her years. This is a rare recording and a must-hear for any fans of Aretha.

Aretha Franklin Sounds Wonderful Here.Her VOice really Captures The Essence&Zenith of The Arrangements.Her Voice Alone is Timeless.Her Piano Playing has So Much Soul.Very Essential Music FROM THE QUEEN.

I get so angered when I see these young girls being compared to giants like Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Bettye LaVette! Is it possible for a white English girl, who just LISTENED to Aretha, Etta or Bettye have the deep understanding and ability to sing soul music WITHOUT the actual experience and TRAINING that these ladies gained through many years of hard singing and difficulty just LIVING in the USA?

All three artists grew up in segregated, Jim Crow America. It was hard being discriminated against and not even considered human by the majority. Segregation in the USA was not so many years ago, when you look at it. Aretha, for example started singing in a black Baptist church at seven years old. Because her father was famous, the greats of gospel, jazz and blues flowed through his living room. Aretha toured the nation on grueling gospel caravans and sang in concerts with fabled gospel singers like Clara Ward, James Cleveland and Albertina Walker. She competed with the best singers in that world. By the time she was 18, all that experience and LIFE, living in a bigoted nation, was in her voice. No wonder she astonished the jaded music critics when they heard her sing and play that driving gospel piano on this, her first Columbia album.

Even a lot of music critics don't understand the technique of soul singing. There are so many elements in the gospel genre that white singers don't understand and can't convey. So many of those vocal runs are so intricately complicated and MUST be executed correctly or they don't mean anything. Soul singers don't holler and scream for nothing, there's meaning behind all that. And, that too, has to be done right, or it won't play. I don't hear any of that expertise in the voices of these young girls and guys from foreign countries, who decide to try and sing this music.

Today, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse, etc. can leave their countries and travel to the USA, bypass performing on anything that resembles a "chitlin' circuit" and be invited on the Letterman, Leno and Today shows, no problem. White music critics hail Joss Stone: "the next Aretha Franklin!" Stone and Winehouse and the like, can jump right over American-born soul singers who've been toiling for years in their OWN country and who have never been invited to perform on ANY national TV show, forget Leno and Letterman, who feature young, white teen garage bands on a weekly basis (tell me, how do these unknown boy bands get these choice gigs?). I've never seen Gwen McCrae, Betty Wright or Shirley Brown on any of those shows, and, they can sing CIRCLES around Stone or Winehouse.

I've listened to Amy and Joss and I hear nothing special, just girls who've listened to some soul records and decided that they are "soul singers," and the American public, once again, embraces them and shuns the originals. It's an old "habit" that I'm afraid will never go away.

This album showcases a girl who was fresh from the gospel wars. I say "wars" because I was on the battlefield too! I sang gospel for years and understand what to listen for when I hear genuine soul singing. Aretha Franklin is the REAL DEAL.