Thursday, February 28, 2008

Soul Fixin'

Aretha: Rare & Unreleased
Speaking of Aretha, I thought it was appropriate to make mention of the album Aretha Franklin: Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul. The album, a collection of rare and unreleased recordings from Aretha's reign at Atlantic Records, was released in October '07. Aretha: Rare & Unreleased is a must-have album. During the 13 years Aretha spent at Atlantic, she was at her musical best. The output of music was nothing short of brilliant. Jerry Wexler, Arif Madrin and Tommy Dowd were producers who made a big difference. Included on Aretha: Rare & Unreleased are Aretha's recordings of the Beatles "The Fool On The Hill", the Isaac Hayes and David Porter gem " You're Taking Up Another Man's Place", Frank Sinatra's classic " My Way" and "At Last", the Etta James classic. Alternate takes of "Rocky Steady", "That's The Way I Feel About Cha" and "I'm In Love" are also on the album. Listening to tracks like "I'm Trying To Overcome" and "Heavenly Father" makes you wonder why they were unreleased for over 30 years.

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