Aretha Now

by

Aretha Franklin

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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.

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.