Customer Reviews

Sparkle

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This Cd Cover brings back so many 70's memories. I was too young to feel the Impact of Aretha Franklin. On the other hand Irene Cara coming off of the Electric Company and Aaron Loves Angela made a large impact on me. She was black ( I thought then) and she was a teenage actress with a promising career. I wasn't able to see Sparkle in the theater when it was released due to the ratings but i was very excited to hear the soundtrack. When my mom bought it home without me asking for it i should have known something was wrong. The whole score was recorded with Aretha singing the songs. I did see the Movie and all the other background parts didn't change. These were great soul funk songs pre-disco. Jump was a New York Club hit at the time and was played by Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage. If the album had come out now there would have been 1 cd called the score of the movie and there would have been Aretha Franklin sings The Songs Of Sparkle. Aretha did an awesome job or re interpreting these songs from the movie but she also made each song her own. The Lonette Mckee and Irene Cara versions were just as beautifully sung and due to the story line as well as the directing each songs reminds you of a point in the movie when the song was sung. I do agree Precious Lord was a powerful moment in the movie and it gives me chills when i see it.

This is 70's soul as it was not Neo not Disco. Curtis Mayfield at his peak right after Superfly doing his soul thing and Aretha still trying to keep up with the times at this point with an incredible vocal.

To satisfy my need for " The Original" i hooked up my VCR to my CD Burner through a mixer and made a nice Mono mix for myself and a few of my friends who are also fans of the movie. Amazingly this movie plays most of the songs all the way through without dialogue or cutting.

I wonder what it would take to put out the alternate takes. This movie was set to be remade but nothing has happened. To hear both Arethas and actual Movie versions would be a treat for the ears. Aretha sings but so does Lonette and Irene!

By the time, the later 1970's, that this album was released, Aretha Franklin's artistic reputation was at a lowpoint. But in conjunction with Curtis Mayfield, who wrote the songs and produced this LP, Aretha proved once again that there is no one singing then or now that can sell a song as well as she.
In fact, is there anyone singing now who sounds like Aretha? Who has such a powerful and glorious voice? Maybe...just maybe Whitney comes closest.
Listen to how Aretha scats and improvises in and out of the melodies here...it's true artistry. And she does it all with such ease, such conviction.
"Sparkle" was a Supremes-like Cinderella success story set in the 1950's and it was very effective, I think in reproducing an era and a rags-to-riches story. But the songs. Wow. I remember upon viewing the tape...thinking that these songs were first rate and so evocative of the 1950's yet so modern. Well, it's 25 years later and I have to say the same thing...these songs are still so fresh and modern and Aretha sings the hell out of them.
Curtis Mayfield was considered a genius among those in the know. And he proves it once again here. First by writing and arranging these songs and secondly for having Aretha sing them in this beautifully produced, gloriously sung CD.

I am not 100% sure, but at the time of the release of Sparkle, and upon its success, many whom has seen the movie screamed for
the Original Soundtrack. However it was rumored more than once
that Lonette McGee was signed to a small independent record company at the time, and they would not allow any recordings
to be released without them (record company) obtaining some monatary gains. Curtis Mayfield said no, and Wha-la, Aretha Franklin was chosen to sing on the album. Yes I know she is
the Queen of Soul, but I always thought Original Soundtrack means the Original Songs, people whom sung them, and music exactly as it sounds in the motion picture. Anything else is
an re-enactment. I like and R-E-S-P-E-C-T Aretha, but give
me Lonette on this one.

Every time I listen to this soundtrack from the '70s musical drama SPARKLE, I get chills. Aretha had some lackluster singles by the mid '70s, but this is THE album that put her back on top where the one and only Queen of Soul deserved to be. Her voice has never sounded better...and the stellar production of the late great Curtis Mayfield is nothing short of amazing. Every track is superb. The background vocalists only add to the intensity of the productions on this CD. Although I love the songs "Sparkle", "Hooked On Your Love", "Jump", "I Get High", "Look Into Your Heart" and "Loving You Baby", my favorite is "Something He Can Feel", sung so passionately by Aretha, STILL hits you like a ton of bricks, as it did over 24 years ago. EnVogue made a nice remake of this song, but nowhere near as powerful as Aretha's version. You cannot go wrong with Aretha and Curtis paired together. One of the best movie soundtracks ever!

Prior to Aretha Franklin collaborating with Curtis Mayfield, she had recorded some uneven albums with long-time producer Jerry Wexler. It was time for Franklin to get a fresh start in the studio and Sparkle became that project.

Recorded in five days in January 1976 in Mayfield's Curtom Sudios, the eight songs - clocking in at 33 minutes - find Franklin singing with passion and renewed energy. The production is pristine, with Franklin's vocals dominating the mix, but aptly backed by the Haywood Singers.

The Mayfield lyrics aren't more real than on I Get High. The emotional roller coaster of love is explored in Something He Can Feel, Loving You Baby & Rock With Me. Franklin found chart success with Jump/Hooked On Your Love (that smooth Mayfield groove) & Look Into Your Heart. And the title track really sparkles, as the strings and horns compliment Franklin's soaring vocals.

Due to variety of reasons - disinterest, egos, etc. - the sessions are oftentimes disappointing when music legends get together, but this dream team delivered a vastly underrated soundtrack.

I too always wanted the original soundtrack of the movie (actually, I once had it. I snuck a tape recorder into the theater when the movie first came out and recorded the songs! Unfortunately, 30 years later, that tape is long gone!), but since that didn't happen, I guess Aretha was the best choice to record an album of the songs from the movie. Overall, it's pretty good.

In comparing the original tracks to Aretha's versions:

Jump: Definitely prefer Lonette's version. Her nasally-voice is great for this song, and I like how she doubles the last word of each verse ("Tell ya now I ain't to proud to beg-eg, hope my partner doesn't shake your leg-eg, just one thing I need to know-o, if ya love just tell me so-o."). Aretha doesn't do this.

Hooked On Your Love: Again, Lonette's version is better. She actually sings the chorus ("What can I do...." (then the famous arm/hip 'boop, boop' movement)"...with this feeling, hooked on your love sweet love"), while Aretha is singing other things ("yeah, yeah, help me now"..."ooh-ooh-oh-oh-oh", etc) while the background sings the chorus.

Something He Can Feel: Here, I like Aretha's version. Lonette sings parts of the song in a higher, more alto voice, then reverts back to her nasal voice when singing the chorus (And, in the movie, she's singing the part while supposedly under the influence of coke). Aretha gives a more soulful version of the song.

Loving You Baby: Aretha's version is better than Irene's. Actually, I never liked Irene's version of this song (but she looks great singing it in the movie!)

Look Into Your Heart: Irene shines here. She sings the song both beautifully and soulfully. Aretha over-does it ("telling everybody, out LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUD..."). As said in that movie on Judy Garland, "The song speaks for itself. It doesn't need help".

Then, there are those songs not sung in the movie. They're not bad, but nothing stands out either. Of these, 'Get High' is probably the best of the lot.

But overall, not a bad album. But now that Sparkle is finally coming out in DVD, I guess most fans of the movie will simply listen to the songs from the DVD than from Aretha's album.

If you do not have the "Sparkle" soundtrak in your music collection, you truly do not understand that you are missing a magnificent treat! Although, I am only 29 years old, Sparkle is my favorite movie, and it would not have been as great, if it wasn't for the brilliance of Curtis Mayfield and the beautiful, soulful voice of the Queen of Soul: Ms. Aretha Franklin. When you listen to this CD, not only are you going to get chills, but, you're going to wish you grew up in the 70s... the songs are fun and just wonderful! Because I have seen Sparkle a ton of times, the only thing I disliked was the fact that "Precious Lord" wasn't on the sound track, with Aretha singing, b/c it was in the movie... but, other than that... get this CD, get this CD... did I mention GET THIS CD! Certainly worth the money!

I have Sparkle in my collection and I love it, I can watch it over and over and over and never get bored. The songs-What can I do, Jump, Giving him something he can feel and Hooked on a feeling are the bomb. This movie should be remade, Lonette McKee and Irene Cara along with Mary Alice, Phillip Micheal Thomas and Dorian Harewood have made their mark in movie history. If they do decide to remake it I would have it in my collection. This is a beautiful story of sisters, yet a sad tell of the life of a star getting caught up in the life of drugs and death.

I recently saw this movie again, and I did not realize until I read the reviews here that a Soundtrack featuring the original artists was not available. While I appreciate the talents of both Aretha and Curtis Mayfield, I do not believe this product should be categorized as a soundtrack album. If there are versions of the original songs out there by Irene Cara, Lonette McKee etc., I would appreciate knowing how to purchase those as opposed to this remake album.

The Queen of Soul at her best. The best soundtrack writer of all-time (Curtis Mayfield) + the best female Soul singer of all-time (Aretha) = Dynamite. Neither reached these heights again. 1976 was a great year for Black music ( The Brothers Johnson's debut "Look out for #1" for example). A must for any serious student or fan of Black music.This Lp always reminds me of my sister (Deb, Class of'76). It was criminal when they released the movie on videotape, the soundtrack was sung by Irene Cara (please)