On January 24, 1972, “Atlantic” label released “Young, Gifted and Black”, the nineteenth Aretha Franklin studio album. It was recorded August 1970 – February 1971, and was produced by Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin and Jerry Wexler. In 1972, the album won Aretha Franklin “Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance”. In 2003, the TV network “VH1” ranked it the 76th greatest album of all time.
Personnel:
- Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, acoustic piano, celesta, electric piano
- Donny Hathaway- organ, electric piano
- Billy Preston- organ
- Don Arnone – acoustic guitar
- Cornell Dupree- guitar
- Hugh McCracken- guitar
- Tom Dowd- horn arranger
- The Memphis Horns- horn section
- Hubert Laws- flute
- Wayne Jacksonof the Memphis Horns – trumpet
- Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns – tenor saxophone
- Neal Rosengarden – rumpet, vibraphone
- Eric Gale- bass
- Chuck Rainey- bass
- Robert Popwell- bass, percussion
- Bernard “Pretty” Purdie- drums
- Al Jackson, Jr.- drums
- Ray Lucas – drums
- Pat Smith – background vocals
- Ronald Bright – background vocals
- R. Bailey – background vocals
- Carolyn Franklin- background vocals
- Erma Franklin- background vocals
- Margaret Branch – background vocals
- Ann S. Clark – background vocals
- The Sweet Inspirations- background vocals
- Sammy Turner – background vocals
- David Nathan – liner notes
- Stanislaw Zagorski – cover design
Track listing:
- Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby) – Jim Doris
- Day Dreaming – Aretha Franklin
- Rock Steady – Aretha Franklin
- Young, Gifted and Black – Weldon Irvine, Nina Simone
- All the King’s Horses – Aretha Franklin
- A Brand New Me – Theresa Bell, Jerry Butler, Kenny Gamble
- April Fools – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
- I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – Jerry Butler, Otis Redding
- First Snow in Kokomo – Aretha Franklin
- The Long and Winding Road – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) – Thom Bell, William Hart
- Border Song (Holy Moses) – Bernie Taupin, Elton John
musicalphabet 