Jazz to Soul

Aretha Franklin | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 1992)
• Original Release Date: July 14, 1992
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000281R
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,100 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Anthology of the Columbia Years, October 23, 2000

By 

James A. Allio "aheyheynow" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jazz to Soul (Audio CD)

My road dawg, Tony, and I were doing our basic trot around Lake Merritt a couple of months back, dishing Lady Soul and her tired, coy, air-brushed "autobiography"," and T-Dogg brought up Aretha's work for Columbia. I said I had heard it once or twice, saw her on Merv Griffin a few times in those days, but he began raving about "Today I Sing the Blues," "This Bitter Earth" and "Skylark." He was so enthusiastic and convincing, that when I ran into this 2 disc box set with 39 choice cuts from those pre-Atlantic years at Amoeba in Berkeley, I bit. What I found in the clumsy ol-skool box set packaging is a treasure trove of simply magnificent recordings, ranging from standards ("Drinking Again," "Impossible," "Misty") to r&b hits of the day covered by Miss Ree ("Walk On By," a sad, sad "Every Little Bit Hurts") and her own decent r&b chart hits ("Runnin' Out of Fools," "Cry Like A Baby"). A couple of these, "Lee Cross" and "Take It Like You Give It," are just footsteps away from the breakthrough work she did shortly thereafter on Atlantic, which has overshadowed these incredible sides. "Land of Dreams" is simply beautiful, "Won't Be Long" tears the roof off, "Love for Sale" re-defines that classic riff. Boy, am I glad I listened to Tony!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aretha Franklin: From Jazz To Everything!, November 26, 2001

By 

Shaun Jones (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jazz to Soul (Audio CD)

Aretha Franklin has always been a Powerhouse of a singer. She's even been called a genious. Although her greatest acclaim came after several (mainly hitless) years at Columbia Records, her evolution there is finally being recognized. The two CD set "Jazz To Soul" is an excellent and worthy showcase of her early work at the label. Aretha swings, bops, pleads, testifies, and exclaims for her place in the historical arena of great voices that will not be denied what's rightfully theirs. Critics have long dimissed a lot her early work as "bloated" productions, but this two CD set easily dilutes those assessments. While it's difficult for me to recommend any one song, I must make special note of "Impossible". Here's a young, unfettered Aretha, yielding a soulful, tender testimonial of love. The notes across the front cover of Aretha's first Columbia Lp exclaimed that "She doesn't knock at the door, she breaks it down!" Just one listen to this fine set and my feeling is that door is forever unhinged.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Skip the first CD,second is much much better, July 11, 2001

By 

Sasha "lampic" (at sea...sailing somewhere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jazz to Soul (Audio CD)

Althought official story said that Aretha Franklin suddenly blossomed when she left "Columbia",I love her early recordings.The voice was always there,piano playing was always there,its just influence of her then-husband-manager that drowns down a bit the whole picture,as he clearly had ambition to make his wife a night club ballad singer.For that reason I usualy skip the first CD on this collection,which is overproduced and Aretha doesn't sound comfortable on standards,but I prefer second CD which shows her rhytm & blues potential.It shows that her work for "Atlantic" was just a natural progression,there would never be "Respect" if she did not already have "Wont Be Long" or "Soulville" or "Lee Cross".