Aretha Franklin Aretha Arrives

This Album was released at the beginning of Aretha Franklin's Heyday on Atlantic Records and she was well on her way to becoming an American Icon.A couple of the Albums Highlights are Satisfaction and Baby I Love You

Finally Got To Hear this classic!

I own the "Queen of Soul" boxed set & the inclusions from "Aretha Arrives" only whetted my appetite to hear the tracks which were left off.



Wow! Of course, we get the great "Baby I Love You" which has been unfairly overlooked on Oldies Radio who have just about worn out "Respect" & "Think". Her cover of "That's Life" is incredible. Like her Soul Brother, Otis Redding, she tears through "Satisfaction" which sounds like it was tailor made for her. "Prove It" is a wonderful ballad which deserves to be heard. To me, it surpasses "Natural Woman", maybe because radio has played "Natural Woman" to death. "Never Let Me Go" is a keeper as well!



All the tracks are fine, but for some reason the album doesn't come off as perfect to me which explains my 4 star rating.



Please don't hate me for finding a copy of this CD gem for $2 at my local Used CD Store. I'm thankful for the well-intentioned, but clueless young people who work there & tossed this in their budget bin. I have found other gems there too!



Worth checking out, especially if you aren't up for shelling out big bucks for the boxed set.

Her stunning sophomore Atlantic effort

It seems strange to me now, all these years later, that "Aretha Arrives" was the first Franklin album I ever bought, back when I was 13. This is, in part, because it was released between two others ("I Never Loved A Man" and "Lady Soul"), which were undisputed masterpieces, and have only grown in legendary regard. (Before long, I'd rectify matters, and own them all.) But in the late summer of 1967, even 16 Magazine, then the last word in setting teen taste, was urging its readers to familiarize themselves with this album. That too, in retrospect, seems quite an anomaly, given the publications' far more focused attention on idols of the time like The Monkees and Paul Revere & the Raiders. By then, teens were used to Aretha sharing the top ten of singles with those acts and others, but her album material was much more slanted to adult concerns. I guess I was ready.

In his superb essay for the Franklin boxed-set, "Queen of Soul," Atlantic's Jerry Wexler concludes, "In the years we recorded together ... I never heard Aretha utter a prejudiced remark. She was, for example, enamored of modern rock, show tunes, ballads, and was always culling albums in every genre for songs that might suit her... Her genius transcends all categories." A helping of the proof of that is certainly contained on this disc as Aretha commandeers country ("You Are My Sunshine") and rock ("Satisfaction" & "96 Tears"). Frank Sinatra's own version of "That's Life" wasn't even a year old when Aretha covered it. Not only did I like hers, of course, but also she revised and improved my appreciation of the original. The very emotional "Going Down Slow" showed the singer, for what by no means would be the last time, concerned with the state of her physical well-being: "You see, my health is failing, and I'm goin' down slow..." I'm an Aries like Aretha, and this one still hits home. The sublimely tender "Never Let Me Go" may be my all-time favorite ballad by her.

The pugnacious and punchy "Baby I Love You" was, of course, the LP's key single (and "Respect's" immediate follow-up), unabashedly and confidently concerned with the contentment of one's lover ("I'd deny my own self before I'd see you without it!"). It has lost none of its potency.

Yes, coming between the unparalleled achievements of "Never Loved A Man" & "Lady Soul", "Aretha Arrives" was always a little shadowed, but that's not because ANYthing was ever missing in its grooves. (In comparison, even the most rabid Beatles fan wouldn't argue that "Magical Mystery Tour" subsequently outdid "Sgt. Pepper" even though each is a great album.) If you have those other two, this is the next Franklin album that belongs in your collection. (Nuts & Bolts Dept: "Aretha Arrives" was originally Atlantic LP 8150, existed in mono and stereo versions, and released August 4, 1967. As a single, Atlantic 2427, "Baby I Love You" & "Going Down Slow" preceded the LP on July 10th.)