Aretha Franklin in the 1970s-Search & Destroy

Also: her last #1 (R&B) single of the '70s, "Break It to Me Gently," is breathtaking. It's right up there with "Call Me" and "Angel" (and "Wholly Holy," natch) as my favorite Aretha singles from the '70s - a very good decade for her, musically. I prefer her '70s to her '60s.

Aretha was on some kind of roll there, around 1970-73. It sounded like was influenced by the progressive soul of labelmate Donny Hathaway. She was playing piano more, and alternately going back to her gospel roots and experimenting at the same time. On the YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK album, it sounds like she's biting off more than she could chew (Roberta Flack, she was not), but some of the singles during this era were sterling - "Rock Steady" (b/w "Oh Me Oh My [I'm A Fool For You Baby]"), "Spirit In The Dark," "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," even "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Very true. She was also influenced by the singer-songwriters (Carole King and Joni Mitchell in particular), which lead her to start composing more tracks.

On the other hand, if we can extend into the pre-comeback '80s, her cover of "What a Fool Believes" from ('81?) is one of my all-time least favorites.

This was also back when anything Stevie Wonder wrote was a guaranteed runaway hit (Aretha's "Until You Come Back...," B.B. King's "To Know You Is To Love You," Rufus'"Tell Me Something Good").

there are 2 volumes of "atlantic unearthed" stuff out right now, on rhino. the "soul sisters" volume leads off with an amazing outtake from "spirit," aretha backed by the dixie flyers. doing "my way." magnificently--it's on a par with sly doing "que sera sera." worth getting, as is the "soul brothers" disc.

Rhino to release rarities comp in October

Among the goodies are covers of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Suzanne".

And I thought she was the only singer ever not to sing "Suzanne."

Rhino Handmade to issue unreleased live show from '72

Spirit in the Dark, people. Her version of "The Thrill is Gone" may surpass B.B. King's. Yup.

NOTHING IS FUCKING WITH, EVER HAS FUCKED WITH, OR EVER WILL FUCK WITH "Day Dreaming"

came to this thread to make a milder assertion of ^^^

anyone heard that late 70s album produced by curtis? saw it in a 2nd hand shop at the weekend but wasnt sure whether to get it or not.

NOTHING IS FUCKING WITH, EVER HAS FUCKED WITH, OR EVER WILL FUCK WITH "Day Dreaming"

^^^^^truth.

the long spirit in the dark w.ray charles on live at fillmore is GODHEAD too. and spanish harlem (was that 70s?)

http://www.detroitnewstime.com/regional/98354-footage-from-the-1972-amazing-grace-concert-that-made-aretha-franklin-a-legend-will-see-a-theatrical-release-and-even-has-mick-jagger-bopping-around-in-the-crowd.html#

The Atlantic Albums Collection coming from Rhino/Atlantic November 13. Includes the following:

I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You
Aretha Arrives
Lady Soul
Aretha Now
Aretha In Paris
Soul '69
I Say A Little Prayer
This Girl's In Love With You
Spirit In The Dark
Don't Play That Song
Live At Fillmore West (deluxe 2CD edition)
Amazing Grace
Young, Gifted & Black
Hey Now Hey: The Other Side Of The Sky
Let Me In Your Life
Sparkle
Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live In Philly, 1972
and a 2CD compilation of rarities, outtakes, etc.

Does not include With Everything I Feel In Me, You, Sweet Passion, Almighty Fire, or La Diva.

...or, the 'albums nobody cares about'.

Kind of odd, since a couple of those fit within the chronology of the selections.

I'm sure their omission isn't gonna spark some huge outcry, but it would have been interesting to hear them.

I'd love to hear those albums, particularly how Disco Aretha sounds.

...or, the 'albums nobody cares about'.

i think aretha has embargoed those albums, because as i recall none have ever been available in north america on CD.

the first ("with everything...") is not bad, "almighty fire" has its moments; the others are definitely embarrassing to different degrees. the fact that, despite their rarity and the high profile of A.F., they haven't really been the object of even a minor cult suggests that, yes, they are pretty marginal.*

* that said, i just bet the dusty groove description of each says something like "another great, groovy album by aretha, with some soulful vocals and funky tracks."

They're easily found in used record stores too, but I tend to forget.

Apparently they all came out on CD in Europe in the last few years; some outfit from Estonia is selling copies of all five. The CD of La Diva even has bonus tracks (including the aforementioned version of "What a Fool Believes"). They're all attributed to Warner Music EU and have bar codes and everything, so I have the feeling they're legit. But I don't care enough to pay $20 each plus shipping.

On eBay, btw.

The idea of Aretha going disco is attractive.

some outfit from Estonia

sounds legit

lol, here are the actual dusty groove "reviews":

You:

A great little record from Aretha – and on that always seems to get overlooked! The album's arranged by Gene Page, and it's got a sweet slightly funky electric side that opens up a whole new side of Aretha's style.

Almighty Fire:

Killer late 70s work from Aretha Franklin – and a set that features production by Curtis Mayfield, in a style that's quite similar to his work with the lady on the Sparkle soundtrack! Aretha somehow sounds deeper here in Curtis' company than on some of her other 70s recordings – and there's a definite Curtom bent to the entire production, given that Rich Tufo handles all the arrangements, and backings feature instrumentation from both him and Mayfield. The album's nicely restrained at most points – never reaching too far to fall into cliche – and Franklin's vocals are as great as ever.

Sweet Passion:

One of Aretha's sadly overlooked 70s gems – a great little session produced by Lamont Dozier, with a mix of smooth soul, driving rhythms, and just the right amount of rough edges to keep things real, very much in the tone of Lamont's own strong work for the ABC label at the same time.

With Everything...:

Mellow sexy Aretha – with warm arrangements by Arif Mardin, and plenty of nice electric piano by the great Richard Tee.

i mean, fair enough, but i sometimes wonder what it would take for D.G. to just admit, "We can't lie, this record is /famous soul singer/ way past his prime, and it kind of sucks."

This is the thread where we describe an album in a Dusty Groove Blurb-stylee

Just realized that--unless they've been added to one of the albums--this will probably be missing some non-Lp singles like "The House That Jack Built", "Spanish Harlem", "You're All I Need To Get By", and "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

There's a 2CD rarities comp included—I'm sure those will be on there.

including the aforementioned version of "What a Fool Believes"

I remember this as being pretty great.

I really like it, though it doesn't trump the original.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/aretha-franklin-spirit-in-the-dark/amp/

Good piece! So glad he concentrated on her piano.

Spirit and Young, Gifted, and Black are two of my favorites of hers, and don’t get nearly the attention they deserve.

Let Me In Your Life was really striking, w variety unified by dynamics, detail, atmosphere: title track by Bill Withers, incl. the suddenly quiet, dead-on bridge before the resurge---will she scare him away? "Every Natural Thing" by Eddie Hinton, couple originals, with "If You Don't Think" especially appealing, rhythmically suave and flirtatious (confident!) xpost "Til You Come Back To Me" by Stevie (and others), country soul "With Pen In Hand," rocking 60s Aretha "Eight Days On The Road," rippling, hovering "A Song For You"(prob. overrecorded, but her version is the keeper)---smoking the 70s with Cornell Dupree, Pretty Purdie, Deodato, Donnie Hathaway, Joe Farrell, many others,

xgau's take, from Rock Records of the 70s or whatever:

Aretha Franklin: Let Me in Your Life [Atlantic, 1974]
Welcome Tom and Jerry (Dowd and Wexler) back--this isn't great Aretha, but it rocks steady even on the ballads. If she doesn't get away with "The Masquerade Is Over," she does renew "A Song for You" with a fresh electric piano part and a good helping of indiscreet interpretation. Guided indiscretion, that's the key--her great gift is her voice, but her genius is her bad taste. B+ Fuck the grade, but he's not entirely wrong, like does justify "What A Fool Believes" and a number of other kitschy choices over the years.

Young, Gifted & Black is an astonishing album. Daydreaming! All The Kings Horses!

oooh I haven't heard "If You Don't Think" in ages

Young, Gifted & Black, Spirit In The Dark and Sparkle are the only 70s albums I have of hers. They're all fantastic. I need to check out some of the others.

Young, Gifted & Black is an astonishing album. Daydreaming! All The Kings Horses!

Spirit in the Dark is one of my 50 favorite albums.

I've gotten really into "the albums nobody cares about" recently, particularly You and Almighty Fire.

idk how i've lived my life so long without memorizing every second of sparkle. it's almost too good--i have to shield my eyes.

i recently discovered a friend shot the cover photo of Spirit In The Dark!

He has since photographed me... quite a plummet.

Until You Come Back To Me is perfect.

Only vaguely knew the song It Ain't Fair until recently and never knew that was Duane Allman on guitar. That track smokes.

i recently discovered a friend shot the cover photo of Spirit In The Dark!

This is finally happening, for real this time:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/business/media/aretha-franklin-amazing-grace-film.html

more here

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6027-aretha-franklin-documentary-amazing-grace-set-to-premiere

sick burn

Congratulations to Sydney Pollack finally directing a great movie.

— Peter Labuza (@labuzamovies) November 27, 2018

Ha. It’s showing in NYC now?

in a week

And only for a week:

https://filmforum.org/film/amazing-grace

Aaron Cohen, author of the essential 33 1/3rd book on Amazing Grace, will give an introduction at the December 8 8:00pm showing (which is sold out).

I saw Cohen talk about Curtis Mayfield once. He’s worth listening to.

Has anyone else seen Amazing Grace?. It is exhilarating.
I can also confirm that the aforementioned Aaron Cohen is a standup person and also a skilled musical historian/educator.

One of the Vinyl Me Please swap titles for June (what you can get instead of the normal subscription titles for the month) was their pressing of Spirit In The Dark. I received it yesterday and am spinning now.

I somehow missed that this edition was the MONO MIX--I didn't even know there was a mono mix! I guess it was done for AM radio or something? They say it's the "First Official Mono Vinyl Release". It's probably just a Stereo fold-down, but it still sounds lovely, really brings out the piano and especially the bass.

Have been on the lookout for an affordable vinyl copy of this for ages. VMP annoy me a lot but they do repress some fantastic stuff.

It's on sale for $25 (or $23 if you're a member) for the next day or so:

https://www.vinylmeplease.com/products/aretha-franklin-spirit-in-the-dark?variant=39326877483098

Looking again at the item description, they kind of bury the info that it's in Mono.

I'm fine with the mono but I fear the postage to the UK would kill me