Born March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Aretha Franklin is one of the best-selling artists of all-time, selling around 75 million records worldwide. She has recorded 112 charted singles, so there's a good chance you've heard one of her songs. She's won 18 Grammy Awards, has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, her voice has been declared a "natural resource" by the state of Michigan, and she was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. (We should discuss what a travesty it is that a woman wasn't inducted into the Hall of Fame until 1987, but we'll leave that alone for now.) There's no way we can honor the Queen of Soul in only two weeks, but we'll do our best to showcase the very best of Aretha Franklin.
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Respect was written by Otis Redding and originally released in 1965. Aretha Franklin's cover was released in 1967. Whereas Redding's version is a man pleading with his woman for respect, Franklin's is demanding respect from her man and was a call to arms for the feminist movement. Respect won Franklin two Grammy Awards, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, added to the National Recording Registry, and is often considered one of the best songs of all-time.
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Chain of Fools was written by Don Covay for Otis Redding, but after listening to Covay’s demo, Atlantic Record producers gave the song to Aretha Franklin instead. It was released as a single in 1967 and on the 1968 album, Lady Soul. It won a Grammy and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Some claim Chain of Fools is an unauthorized rewrite of the gospel song, Pains of Life, recorded in 1967 by Reverend Elijah Fair & The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio.
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(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman was written for Aretha Franklin by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and is another hit from Lady Soul (1968). It was later released by Carole King on Tapestry and covered byMary J. Blige, Céline Dion, and a few others, but no one's version was as big a hit as Aretha's. The song idea came when Atlantic Records producer, Jerry Wexler passed Carole King on the street and shouted that he wanted a natural woman song for Aretha. King and Goffin gave Wexler a writing credit.
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Aretha Arrives was Aretha Franklin’s twelfth studio album and her second album for Atlantic Records. The recording sessions for the album were delayed due to Aretha shattering her elbow in an accident during a southern tour. She was immobile during the recording but managed to play the piano on several songs. Baby I Love was the only single release from the album. It hit #1 on the R&B charts and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. B.B. King, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, and Lisa Marie Presley have covered the song.
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Rocky Steady is from Aretha Franklin's nineteenth studio album, Y oung, Gifted and Black . Released in 1972, the album's title comes from Nina Simone's song, To Be Young, Gifted and Black, and it won Franklin a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Rock Steady has been covered by several artists. The most notable is Prince. He covered the song, which features Beverley Knight, on his 2007 live album, Indigo Nights.
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Written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan, I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) is a Grammy Award-winning song from Aretha Franklin and George Michael. It was Franklin’s biggest hit on the adult contemporary charts, her first and only number-one hit in the UK, and the last of seventeen Top 10 hits in the Billboard Hot 100. For George Michael, it marked his third consecutive number-one in the UK and was the first song he recorded as a lead artist that he didn’t also write.
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I Say a Little Prayer was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick. The song was intended to convey a woman’s concern for her man who’s fighting in the Vietnam War. Aretha Franklin recorded the song for her album Aretha Now (1968). It was released as a B-side to The House that Jack Built. I Say a Little Prayer did better on the charts and became Franklin’s biggest hit in the UK until she recorded IKnew You Were Waiting (For Me) with George Michael in 1987.
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Think was written by Aretha Franklin and Ted White and originally released on the album, Aretha Now (1968). The song is a feminist anthem that became Franklin's seventh Top 10 hit in the United States. She re-recorded for the1989 album Through the Storm and did a longer version for the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. Franklin lip-synced the song for the film, but since she was not used to lip-syncing the musical sequence took several takes and considerable editing.
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Aretha Franklin began recording Do Right Woman, Do Right Man in Muscle Shoals, Alabama after recording I Never Love a Man The Way I Love You. While taking a break for the night, then-husband and manager Ted White got into a fight with a trumpeter for flirting with Franklin. The next day Franklin and White disappeared, leaving the song unfinished. Two weeks later she resurfaced in New York and, with the help of her sisters, had finished the song, which now ranks among Rolling Stones’ list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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Sweet Sweet Baby (Since You've Been Gone) is from Aretha Franklin's 1968 album, Lady Soul. A live recording of the song is featured on Aretha's first live album, Aretha in Paris (1968). The song spent three weeks on the charts. The B-side to the single was Ain't No Way, which also topped the charts. The Sweet Inspirations provided back up vocals for the original recording. Their leader, Cissy Houston, was Whitney Houston's mother. The group sang back up for several artists including Elvis and Van Morrison.
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You Send Me was written by Sam Cooke. Released in 1957 as Cooke's debut single, it was a smash hit. The song's been covered by the Supremes, Otis Redding, Van Morrison, Nat King Cole, Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart, Chaka Khan, Steve Miller Band, Dixie Chicks, and Aretha Franklin, to name a few. Aretha covered You Send Me on the album Aretha Now. It was the B-side for Think. Though You Send Me didn't do as well commercially as Sam Cooke's version, Aretha sings the heck out of the song any way you slice it.
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Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves is a feminist anthem written by Eurythmics' Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. It was released as a duet with Aretha Franklin in 1985 and reached the top of both the UK and US charts. The song was originally intended for Tina Turner, but she was unavailable. Lisa Simpson, Lucy Lawless as Xena: Warrior Princess, and the Pointer Sisters have all covered the song, and the Spice Girls did a live cover on their SpiceWorld Tour.
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Freeway of Love is a Grammy-award winning hit from Aretha Franklin's 1985 album, Who's Zommin' Who?. The song marked Aretha's 15th Top 10 hit and 12th Grammy award. The video was shot in Detroit, Michigan and was filmed primarily in black and white. It shows videos of automobiles being manufactured from the Ford Mustang of the early seventies to the then-current Cadillac Cimarron.
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The Weight was written by Robbie Robertson of The Band and was released on The Band's 1968 debut album, Music from Big Pink. The Weight is one of The Band's best known songs although it was not a significant hit for the group in the U.S., peaking at only #63. Dozens of singers and groups have covered the song since its release. Aretha Franklin covered it in 1969 for her album This Girl's In Love With You. Her version did much better in the U.S. than The Band's. Aretha's peaked at #19 on #3 on the soul charts.
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