Tag Archives: Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin: Jump To It

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In July 1982, “Arista” label released “Jump To It”, the thirtyfirst Aretha Franklin studio album. It was recorded 1981 – 1982, at “Mediasound Studios” in New York City, “Record Plant” and “The Village Recorder” in Los Angeles, “Soundsuite” in Detroit, and was produced by Luther Vandross and Aretha Franklin. The album received the “American Music Award” for “Best Soul Album”.

Personnel:

  • Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, rhythm and vocal arrangements
  • Levi Stubbs – lead vocals
  • Doc Powell– guitar
  • Steve Love – guitar
  • George Duke– piano
  • Sonny Burke– keyboards
  • Nat Adderley, Jr.– keyboards, rhythm arrangements
  • Luther Vandross– keyboards, backing vocals, rhythm and vocal arrangements
  • Marcus Miller– bass, keyboards, synthesizer, synthesizer and rhythm arrangements
  • Francisco Centeno, Louis Johnson– bass
  • Yogi Horton, Buddy Williams– drums
  • Errol “Crusher” Bennett – congas, percussion
  • Paulinho Da Costa– percussion
  • George Young – soprano saxophone
  • Paul Riser, Leon Pendarvis, Jr., Jerry Hey– horn and string arrangements
  • Four Tops– backing vocals, vocal arrangements
  • Erma Franklin, Pam Vincent, Sandra Dance, Brenda White, Cissy Houston, Fonzi Thornton, Michelle Cobbs, Phillip Ballou, Tawatha Agee, Norma Jean Wright, Alexandra Brown, Darlene Love, Paulette McWilliams, Stephanie Spruill, Brenda Corbett – backing vocals
  • Michael Brauer – recording, mixing
  • Carl Beatty, Lee Keifer – additional engineering
  • Michael Christopher, Karat Faye, John Hanlon, Harry Spiridakis, Don Wershba, Warren Woods
  • Ria Lewerke-Shapiro – art direction, design
  • Harry Langdon – photography
  • Sue Reilly – lettering
  • Sephra Herman – production coordinator

Track listing:

  1. Jump to It – Luther Vandross, Marcus Miller
  2. Love Me Right – Luther Vandross
  3. If She Don’t Want Your Lovin’ – Sam Dees
  4. This Is for Real – Luther Vandross
  5. (It’s Just) Your Love – Luther Vandross, Marcus Miller
  6. I Wanna Make It Up to You – Aretha Franklin
  7. It’s Your Thing – O’Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley
  8. Just My Daydream – Smokey Robinson

Aretha Franklin: Through the Storm

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In May 1989, “Arista” label released “Through the Storm”, the thirty-fifth Aretha Franklin studio album. It was recorded in 1988, and was produced by Narada Michael Walden, Walter Afanasieff, Arif Mardin, Joe Mardin and Aretha Franklin.

Personnel:

  • Aretha Franklin– lead and backing vocals, acoustic piano, vocals engineer
  • James Brown – lead vocals
  • Whitney Houston– lead vocals
  • Elton John– lead vocals
  • Four Tops– vocals
  • Reggie Griffin – guitar
  • Corrado Rustici – guitar, rhythm guitar
  • Steve Khan– guitar
  • Narada Michael Walden– Simmons drums, synthesizer, arrangements
  • Aaron Zigman– bass vocal, keyboards
  • David Foster– electric piano, synthesizer
  • Robbie Kondor – synthesizer, acoustic piano
  • David Paich– acoustic piano
  • Walter Afanasieff– keyboards, synth bass, drum programming
  • Ren Klyce– Fairlight CMI programming, additional keyboards
  • Louis Johnson– bass guitar
  • Jerry Knight – bass guitar
  • Yogi Horton– drums
  • Jeff Porcaro– drums
  • John Robinson– drums
  • George Devens – percussion
  • Steve Kroon – percussion
  • Greg “Gigi” Gonaway – cymbal
  • Marc Russo– saxophone solo
  • Kenny G– saxophone
  • Andy Snitzer – tenor saxophone
  • Kenneth Hitchcock – baritone saxophone
  • Chris Botti– trumpet
  • Kent Smith – trumpet
  • Mike Davis – trombone
  • Arif Mardin– arrangements
  • “Bongo” Bob Smith – drum programming
  • Sammy Merendino – additional drum samples
  • Joe Mardin – programming, sequencing, recording, mixing
  • Claytoven Richardson– backing vocals
  • Edie Lehman – backing vocals
  • Siedah Garrett– backing vocals
  • Kitty Beethoven – backing vocals
  • Margaret Branch – backing vocals
  • Brenda Corbett – backing vocals
  • Liz Jackson – backing vocals
  • Skyler Jett – backing vocals
  • Melisa Kary – backing vocals
  • Marti McCall – backing vocals
  • Rod Hui – recording, mixing
  • Mike Iacopelli – recording , vocal recording
  • Darren Klein – engineer, mixing
  • Lincoln Clapp – engineer
  • David Frazer – engineer
  • Marlene Cohen – art direction
  • Peter Max – cover art
  • Norman Parkinson – photography

Track listing:

  1. Gimme Your Love – Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen
  2. Mercy – Siedah Garrett, Glen Ballard
  3. He’s the Boy – Aretha Franklin
  4. It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be – Albert Hammond, Diane Warren
  5. Through the Storm – Albert Hammond, Diane Warren
  6. Think – Aretha Franklin, Ted White
  7. Come to Me – Willard Eugene Price
  8. If Ever a Love There Was – Pamela Phillips Oland, Todd Cerney

Hugh McCracken

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On March 28, 2013, Hugh C. McCracken died aged 70. He was musician (guitar, harmonica), arranger and producer, best known as session musician. McCracken  recorded with Graham Parker, Yoko Ono, Eric Carmen, Loudon Wainwright III, Lou Donaldson, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, The Four Seasons, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Hank Crawford, Jerry Jemmott, Dr. John, Gary Wright, Donald Fagen, Jimmy Rushing, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B. King, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Monkees, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Idris Muhammad, James Taylor, Phoebe Snow, Bob Dylan, Linda McCartney, Ron Carter, Rusty Bryant, Marlena Shaw, Deodato, Carly Simon and Andy Gibb. From 1969-1972, McCracken was member of Mike Mainieri’s White Elephant Orchestra.

Aretha Franklin: Aretha Now

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Aretha_Franklin_-_Aretha_Now

On June 14, 1968, “Atlantic” label released “Aretha Now”, the fifteenth Aretha Franklin studio album. It was recorded December 1967 – April 1968 at “Atlantic Studios” in New York, and was produced by Jerry Wexler. The album was certified Gold in the US by the “RIIA”.

Personnel:

  • Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, piano
  • Spooner Oldham – organ, electric piano, piano
  • Tommy Cogbill – guitar, bass
  • Jimmy Johnson – guitar
  • Bobby Womack – guitar
  • Jerry Jemmott – bass
  • Roger Hawkins – drums
  • The Sweet Inspirations – backing vocals
  • Carolyn Franklin: backing vocals
  • Wayne Jackson: trumpet
  • Charlie Chalmers: tenor saxophone
  • Andrew Love: tenor saxophone
  • Floyd Newman: baritone saxophone
  • Willie Bridges: baritone saxophone
  • Tony Studd: bass trombone
  • King Curtis: tenor saxophone
  • Seldon Powell: tenor saxophone
  • Frank Wess: tenor saxophone, flute
  • Haywood Henry: baritone saxophone
  • Bernie Glow: trumpet
  • Melvin Lastie: trumpet
  • Joe Newman: trumpet
  • Tom Dowdand, Arif Mardin – arrangements
  • Robert Honablue: engineer

Track listing:

  1. Think – Aretha Franklin, Teddy White
  2. I Say a Little Prayer – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
  3. See Saw – Steve Cropper, Don Covay
  4. Night Time Is the Right Time – Big Bill Broonzy
  5. You Send Me – Sam Cooke
  6. You’re a Sweet Sweet Man – Ronnie Shannon
  7. I Take What I Want – Isaac Hayes, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges, David Porter
  8. Hello Sunshine – Jimmy Cliff, King Curtis, Ronald Dean Miller
  9. A Change – Dorian Burton, Clyde Otis
  10. I Can’t See Myself Leaving You – Ronnie Shannon

Eurythmics: Be Yourself Tonight

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Eurythmics_-_Be_Yourself_Tonight

On April 29, 1985, “RCA” label release “Be Yourself Tonight”, the fifth Eurythmics album. It was recorded in January 1985, and was produced by David A. Stewart.

Personnel:

  • Annie Lennox – vocals, keyboards, keyboard sequencers, keyboard programming
  • David A. Stewart – electric and slide guitars , 6-string octave guitar, keyboards, sequencers, bass sequencer, drum programming, mixing
  • Mike Campbell– guitar
  • Benmont Tench– organ
  • Stevie Wonder– harmonica
  • Dean Garcia– bass guitar, wood stomping
  • Nathan East– bass guitar
  • Olle Romo– drums, wood stomping
  • Stan Lynch– drums
  • Dave Plews – trumpet
  • Martin Dobson – saxophones
  • Sadie (and other uncredited performers) – gravel stomping
  • Michael Kamen– strings , celeste, keyboard
  • Aretha Franklin– vocals
  • Angel Cross – backing vocals
  • The Charles Williams Singers – backing vocals, gospel choir
  • Elvis Costello– harmony vocals
  • Shelly Yakus – recording
  • Don Smith – engineer, mixing
  • Adam Williams – , drum programming, engineer, mixing
  • Jay Willis – engineer assistant
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Laurence Stevens – art direction, design
  • Paul Fortune – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, except where noted.

  1. Would I Lie To You
  2. There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)
  3. I Love You Like a Ball and Chain
  4. Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves
  5. Conditioned Soul
  6. Adrian
  7. It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)
  8. Here Comes That Sinking Feeling
  9. Better to Have Lost in Love (Than Never to Have Loved at All)

Nina Simone

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On April 21, 2003, Eunice Kathleen Waymon aka Nina Simone, died aged 70. She was singer, songwriter, musician (piano), arranger, and civil rights activist. In her career, Simone has recorded more than forty albums. Many famous musicians have cited Simone as their influence, among the others: Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves , Sade , Beyoncé,  Janis Joplin , Nick Cave, Jeff Buckley, Van Morrison, Elkie Brooks, Lena Horne, Bono, Cat Stevens, Peter Gabriel, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, Elton John, Alicia Keys and Lana Del Rey. John Lennon cited Simone’s version of “I Put a Spell on You” as a inspiration for the Beatles’ song “Michelle”.

For her work, Simone received various awards including:

  • In 2000, “Grammy Hall of Fame Award”for her interpretation of “I Love You, Porgy”
  • Honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the “University of Massachusetts Amherst” and “Malcolm X College”
  • Honorary degree by the “Curtis Institute of Music”
  • In 2002, city of Nijmegen, in Netherlands, named a street the “Nina Simone straat”
  • In 2009, Simone was inducted into the “North Carolina Music Hall of Fame”
  • In 2010, her home town Tryon, in North Carolina, placed her statue in the “Trade Street”

Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You

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Aretha_Franklin_–_I_Never_Loved_a_Man_the_Way_I_Love_You

On March 10, 1967, “Atlantic” label released “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You”, the eleventh Aretha Franklin studio album. It was recorded in January and February, 1967 at “Fame Studio”, “Muscle Shoals” and “Atlantic Recording Studios”, in New York, and was produced by Jerry Wexler.  In 2003, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked the album at number 83 ranking on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of all Time”.

Personnel:

  • Aretha Franklin – vocals, piano
  • Jimmy Johnson– guitar
  • Chips Moman– guitar
  • Dewey Oldham– keyboards
  • Tommy Cogbill– bass
  • Gene Chrisman – drums
  • Charles Chalmers– tenor saxophone
  • King Curtis– tenor saxophone
  • Charles Chalmers– tenor saxophone
  • Willie Bridges – baritone saxophone
  • Melvin Lastie – trumpet, cornet
  • Carolyn Franklin– backing vocals
  • Erma Franklin- backing vocals
  • Cissy Houston– backing vocals

Track listing:

  1. Respect – Otis Redding
  2. Drown in My Own Tears – Henry Glover
  3. I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) – Ronnie Shannon
  4. Soul Serenade – Curtis Ousley, Luther Dixon
  5. Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream – Aretha Franklin, Ted White
  6. Baby, Baby, Baby – Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin
  7. Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business – Aretha Franklin, Ted White
  8. Good Times – Sam Cooke
  9. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man – Dan Penn, Chips Moman
  10. Save Me – Curtis Ousley, Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin
  11. A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke

 

Aretha Franklin: Let Me In Your Life

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Let_Me_In_Your_Life

On February 25, 1974, “Atlantic” label released “Let Me in Your Life”, the twenty-first Aretha Franklin studio album. It was recorded April – September 1973, at the “Whitney Studios” in Glendale, and was produced by Jerry Wexler and Aretha Franklin.

Personnel:

  • Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, acoustic and electric piano
  • Donny Hathaway- acoustic and electric piano
  • Bob James- organ, keyboards
  • David Spinozza- guitar
  • Cornell Dupree- guitar
  • Hugh McCracken– guitar
  • Deodato- arranger, electric piano
  • Kenneth Bichel- synthesizer
  • Richard Tee- keyboards
  • Stanley Clarke– bass
  • Chuck Rainey- bass
  • Willie Weeks- bass
  • Rick Marotta- drums
  • Bernard “Pretty” Purdie- drums
  • Pancho Morales – percussion
  • Ralph MacDonald- percussion
  • Arif Mardin- string arranger
  • Gene Orloff- concert master
  • Joe Farrell- tenor saxophone, flute
  • Ernie Royal- trumpet
  • Gwen Guthrie- backing vocals
  • Margaret Branch – backing vocals
  • Cissy Houston- backing vocals
  • Ann S. Clark – backing vocals
  • Sylvia Shemwell – backing vocals
  • Myrna Smith- backing vocals
  • Judy Clay- backing vocals
  • Deirdre Tuck Corley – backing vocals

Track listing:

  1. Let Me in Your Life – Bill Withers
  2. Every Natural Thing – Eddie Hinton
  3. Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing – Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
  4. I’m in Love – Bobby Womack
  5. Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do) – Clarence Paul,Stevie Wonder, Morris Broadnax
  6. The Masquerade is Over – Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel
  7. With Pen in Hand – Bobby Goldsboro
  8. Oh Baby – Aretha Franklin
  9. Eight Days On the Road – Michael Gayle, Jerry Ragovoy
  10. If You Don’t Think – Aretha Franklin
  11. A Song for You – Leon Russell

Aretha Franklin: Young, Gifted And Black

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ArethaFranklinYoung,Gifted&Black

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
  • Don Arnone – acoustic guitar
  • Cornell Dupree- guitar
  • Hugh McCracken- guitar
  • Donny Hathaway- organ, electric piano
  • Billy Preston- organ
  • Eric Gale- bass
  • Chuck Rainey- bass
  • Robert Popwell- bass, percussion
  • Bernard “Pretty” Purdie- drums
  • Al Jackson, Jr.- drums
  • Ray Lucas – drums
  • The Memphis Horns- horn section
  • Andrew Love (of the Memphis Horns) – tenor saxophone
  • Neal Rosengarden – trumpet, vibraphone
  • Wayne Jackson (of the Memphis Horns) – trumpet
  • Hubert Laws- flute
  • Tom Dowd- horn arrangements
  • Pat Smith – backing vocals
  • Ronald Bright – backing vocals
  • R. Bailey – backing vocals
  • Carolyn Franklin- backing vocals
  • Erma Franklin- backing vocals
  • Margaret Branch – backing vocals
  • Ann S. Clark – backing vocals
  • The Sweet Inspirations- backing vocals
  • Sammy Turner – backing vocals
  • Stanislaw Zagorski – cover design
  • David Nathan – liner notes

Track listing:

  1. Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby) – Jim Doris
  2. Day Dreaming – Aretha Franklin
  3. Rock Steady – Aretha Franklin
  4. Young, Gifted and Black – Weldon Irvine, Nina Simone
  5. All the King’s Horses – Aretha Franklin
  6. A Brand New Me – Theresa Bell, Jerry Butler, Kenny Gamble
  7. April Fools – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
  8. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – Jerry Butler, Otis Redding
  9. First Snow in Kokomo – Aretha Franklin
  10. The Long and Winding Road – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  11. Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) – Thom Bell, William Hart
  12. Border Song (Holy Moses) – Bernie Taupin, Elton John