Released in 1968, #85 on the Rolling Stone top 500 albums list, and chock full of timeless hits. I gotta say my excitement to listen to this album is pretty high from the get-go. I feel like this is the kind of album I should know, like those lists of “100 books you have to read once in your life.” Not knowing Aretha Franklin’s entire catalog feels like not reading Shakespeare. Of course I already know about half of the songs, but listening to them all together is gonna be fun.

“Chain of Fools” took me straight back to the pizza joint in my hometown that played exclusively 60’s hits in their basement where we’d feast on the buffet every Friday night. It’s about a womanizer who treats Aretha wrong, but in my youth I would have sworn it was about the “Chain of Fools” who let my hungry ass loose on all-you-can-eat sausage pizza pies.

Aretha’s rendition of “People Get Ready” was one of those soulful slow-dance jams that I’m such a sucker for, not to mention it’s widely recognized as one of the greatest songs of all time - the original, written by Curtis Mayfield, was written the year after Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech, and has been covered by artists of all races in the years since. It was played by members of the Civil Rights movement and embraced as an “unofficial anthem” of the movement. If that’s not amazing context, I don’t know what is. Aretha Franklin’s version was goose-bump raising.

“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” is just such a perfectly-written song. I have no words to do it justice. I loved the blues jam “Good To Me As I Am To You,” which I hadn’t heard before (Again I’m a sucker for a 3/4 time song). And “Groovin’”, which I know as a beach music classic, Aretha’s version is super smooth and relaxing.

This album got me thinking again about albums that I really want to have on vinyl. This is certainly one of them. I’ve gotten that vibe from newer albums as well, but it seems like it’s only certain kinds of music that make me think the record would sound awesome. I’m gonna start tracking what albums I’d add to my hypothetical vinyl collection to see what I learn.

New/Rediscovered Jams

“People Get Ready”
“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”
“Good To Me As I Am To You”
“Ain’t No Way”

Originally part of Why Music Curation is More Important Than Ever.