Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
ARETHA FRANKLIN
Studio Albums: Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo (1961) | The Electrifying Aretha Franklin (1962) | The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin (1962) | Laughing on the Outside (1963) | Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington (1964) | Runnin' Out of Fools (1964) | Yeah!!! (1965) | Soul Sister (1966) | Take It Like You Give It (1967) | I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967) | Aretha Arrives (1967) | Lady Soul (1968) | Aretha Now (1968) | Soul '69 (1969) | Soft and Beautiful (1969) | This Girl's in Love with You (1970) | Spirit in the Dark (1970) | Young, Gifted & Black (1972) | Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973) | Let Me in Your Life (1974) | With Everything I Feel in Me (1974) | You (1975) | Sparkle (Soundtrack) (1976) | Sweet Passion (1977) | Almighty Fire (1978) | La Diva (1979) | Aretha (1980) | Love All the Hurt Away (1981) | Jump to It (1982) | Get It Right (1983) | Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985) | Aretha (1986) | Through the Storm (1989) | What You See Is What You Sweat (1991) | A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998) | So Damn Happy (2003) | This Christmas, Aretha (2008) | Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love (2011) | Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics (2014) | Readers’ Poll Results
Notable Live Albums: Aretha in Paris (1968) | Aretha Live at Fillmore West (1971) | Amazing Grace (1972) | One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (1987)
You don't get the moniker "Queen of Soul" without having a killer discography to back it up. Aretha Franklin stands head and shoulders above her peers as the penultimate soul singer. Many folks think of her career as beginning with 1967’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, but she started out singing gospel before being signed by the great John Hammond at CBS Records. Despite the label trying to make her into a version of Dinah Washington, this early period in her career has been shamefully overlooked and deserves a good listen. The voice and style are unmistakably Franklin, but the lack of substantial material made her and CBS a lousy fit.
The career-changing move to Atlantic Records quickly established Franklin as the Queen of Soul. Only someone with the talent of Franklin can take an Otis Redding song and make it her own for eternity. The opening track on I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is "Respect," which Redding sang in 1965, and Franklin’s version became a ‘60s anthem. Upon hearing her version, Redding told producer Jerry Wexler, "That girl done stole my song." It wouldn't be the first time Franklin either gained full or partial ownership of someone else's song. 1968’s Aretha Now features arguably the definitive version of "I Say a Little Prayer" and 1971’s "Bridge Over Troubled Water"(co-ownership with Simon & Garfunkel) are two examples.
Franklin's impressive run of critically acclaimed albums from 1967 to 1970 quickly cemented her legacy as one of the great artists of all time. Still, the three albums she released after 1970’s Spirit in the Dark made her the undisputed Queen of Soul. Any argument to the contrary was rendered invalid by Aretha Live at Fillmore West (1971), Young, Gifted & Black (1972), and Amazing Grace (1972). The latter was recorded at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, with Reverend James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. Not only was Amazing Grace the biggest selling live gospel music album of all time, but it was also Franklin's biggest of her career. Recording two critically and commercially successful live albums in consecutive years, with one being a gospel album, is a feat that has not nor will ever be matched.
Franklin continued to make studio recordings until 2014, with some misses along the way, but it does not diminish her incredible body of work. Anyone who researches the history of American music must include Franklin's catalog.
Terry’s 3 Favorite Aretha Franklin Albums of All Time:
1. Aretha Live at Fillmore West (1971)
2. I Never Loves a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
3. Amazing Grace (1972)
VISIT Aretha Franklin’s Official Store
LISTEN & WATCH: