Aretha's BEST album!........

You'll find a whole slew of her biggest hits in this set ("Chain Of Fools", "Natural Woman", "Since You've Been Gone"), as well as some alternate versions of them not found on the original release, but one of the best tracks on the album is Aretha's cover of the Rascals' hit "Groovin'". While I'm not big on cover songs, this one is SUPERIOR. Aretha sings it to perfection!

As perfect an album as Aretha ever made

I was a 13-year-old kid when I first picked this one up in the record store in February of 1968. Then, it was enough for me that it contained two established solid hits of Aretha's, "Natural Woman," and "Chain Of Fools." A third, "Since You've Been Gone," was quickly on the rise itself coinciding with the release of this LP. Since, by then, we knew how well (thanks to "Respect" and her version of the Stones' "Satisfaction" on `Aretha Arrives') she could take songs others had already done and make them into something stunningly new, "Niki Hokey," "Groovin'" and "People Get Ready" held great promise. They delivered. I was a bit young yet to understand the deep angst Aretha addressed in her sister's "Ain't No Way," but enough time and enough listens worked in that instance. (As "Since You Been Gone's" B-side, it charted as a single in its own right, too.)

However, one song would have to wait until seasoned adulthood for me to fully appreciate. `Seasoned,' in the sense of having been on both the winning and losing sides of love. "Good To Me As I Am To You," lyrically, is of the identical mind-set of "Respect," but this time Miss Franklin authored her own. It doesn't try to be any dance-jam like her signature hit, and in that sense, it comes off perhaps even more startling. Leslie Gore's "You Don't Own Me," was one thing, this was something ELSE. It's astonishing to realize how daring a thing it was then for a female singer, to lay it on the line like this: "Starting today, tomorrow, and forever more - If YOU can't find it in your heart to DO for ME, then, baby, just don't darken my front door!" On this song, Lady Soul wonders out loud to herself and her lover, if he'd be willing to lend her any portion of his last dollar, as quickly as she'd turn over her last dime to HIM. Aretha was sending two signals to her audience here, I think. First, she was telling us that whatever `heartbreak' song she'd sing in the future, she'd never sing of being anyone's doormat. Secondly, she sent a from-the-pulpit message to us that, when you've surrendered self-respect in a relationship, it's no longer one that can be called `love.'

I don't know how to recommend this album highly enough. Like the very best book you've ever read, it could very possibly change your life.

Let me concluded with nuts & bolts info, then. "Lady Soul," originally Atlantic LP 8176, was Aretha's third for Atlantic, and the last that was released in both mono and stereo versions. "Aretha Now" would show up in June of '68, and they'd all be stereo only from that one forward. Her original Atlantic 45's, with one or two exceptions, would remain in mono until the end of 1972. Get this album.

What an Amazing Voice

This is a stunning album. Aretha has one of those voices that is able to make you feel whatever it is she is singing about. It's no wonder she is considered the Queen. She puts other divas to shame with her great voice. "Natural Woman" and "Chain of Fools" are probably my favorites, but every song is just so good on this album. I highly recommend it.