Soul Fixin'

Let Aretha Back In Your Life
Atlantic Records has reissued Aretha's 1974 LP, Let Me In Your Life. Released in the aftermath of the Quincy Jones produced Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of The Sky), and prior to the Mayfield produced Sparkle, Let Me In Your Life found Aretha working with legendary team of Wexler-Mardin-Dowd for the last time. This was the first album in which Aretha received co producing credit. The highlight of Let Me In Your Life is Aretha's amazing voice, a voice that isn't overshadowed by the songs, arrangements or sounds. Let Me In Your Life displays some of Aretha's finest vocal performances. The Stevie Wonder penned "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" is included on this set and turned out to be a #1 hit for Aretha. "I'm In Love," written by Bobby Womack after he married Sam Cooke's widow, topped the R&B charts as well. Testimony to Aretha's interpretative genius, she also scored a hit with Marvin & Tammi's "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing." Aretha came up short on Leon Russell's "A Song For You." Don't get me wrong, Aretha's version is great, but "A Song For You" belongs to Donny Hathaway. Unlike previous recordings, Aretha sang a few ballads, "Oh Baby," "With Pen In Hand," "Eight Days On The Road," and "If You Don't Think." Bill Withers' " Let Me In Your Life," "The Masquerade is Over," and "Every Natural Thing" are also included on the album. Let Me In Your Life began to mark the decline of Aretha's illustrious career with Atlantic Records. Disco was the new craze, Aretha tried to adapt to the new trends but failed with releases such as La Diva and You.