The Queen of Soul (4-CD Box)

4 CDs with Aretha's best from her years with Atlantic Records.

THE QUEEN OF SOUL creates a rich musical portrait of Franklins incomparable run at Atlantic between 1967 and 1976. Packed with 87 songs arranged chronologically, the set opens with generous selections from the first five studio albums she recorded for the label I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Aretha Arrives, Lady Soul, Aretha Now, and Soul 69. Recorded between 1967 and 1968, all five of the albums topped the R&B charts and gave the world classics like (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think, and the #1 smash Respect. The set also mixes in several rare outtakes of songs like It Was You from Aretha Arrives and Talk to Me, Talk to Me from Soul 69.

The collection also spotlights the great music Franklin recorded in the 1970s, including the two albums she released to open the decade This Girls in Love with You and Spirit in the Dark. The former boasted an electrifying version of the Bands The Weight with Duane Allman on slide guitar, while the latter featured the hit Dont Play That Song.

Along with several singles from this era (Spanish Harlem and Bridge Over Troubled Water), THE QUEEN OF SOUL also gathers up several live performances with Spirit in the Dark (Reprise with Ray Charles) from Aretha Live at the Fillmore West (1971), plus several songs from her live album Amazing Grace (1972). The latter recording won the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1973 and remains Franklins best-selling album to date.


Tracklisting:

CD 1
01. I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)*
02. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man*
03. Respect*
04. Drown In My Own Tears*
05. Soul Serenade*
06. Don't Let Me Lose This Dream*
07. Baby, Baby, Baby*
08. Dr. Feelgood (Love is a Serious Business)*
09. Good Times*
10. Save Me*
11. Baby, I Love You*
12. Satisfaction*
13. You Are My Sunshine*
14. Never Let Me Go*
15. Prove It*
16. I Wonder*
17. Ain't Nobody Gonna Turn Me Around*
18. It Was You (Aretha Arrives Outtake)*
19. (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman*
20. Chain of Fools*
21. People Get Ready
22. Come Back Baby
23. Good To Me As I Am To You
24. Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)
25. Ain't No Way

CD 2
01. Think
02. You Send Me
03. I Say a Little Prayer
04. The House That Jack Built*
05. You're a Sweet Sweet Man
06. I Take What I Want
07. A Change
08. See Saw
09. My Song*
10. I Can't See Myself Leaving You
11. Night Life
12. Ramblin'
13. Today I Sing the Blues
14. River's Invitation
15. Pitiful
16. Talk To Me, Talk To Me (Soul '69 Outtake)*
17. Tracks of My Tears
18. The Weight
19. Share Your Love With Me
20. Pledging My Love/the Clock
21. It Ain't Fair
22. Sit Down and Cry
23. Let It Be
24. Eleanor Rigby
25. Call Me

CD 3
01. Son of a Preacher Man
02. Try Matty's
03. The Thrill is Gone (From Yesterday's Kiss)
04. Dark End of the Street
05. You and Me
06. You're Taking Up Another Man's Place (Spirit In the Dark Outtake)
07. Don't Play That Song
08. Why I Sing the Blues
09. Spirit In the Dark
10. My Way (Spirit In the Dark Outtake)
11. One Way Ticket
12. Pullin'
13. Border Song (Holy Moses)
14. A Brand New Me
15. You're All I Need To Get By
16. Bridge Over Troubled Water
17. Spanish Harlem
18. Lean On Me
19. Spirit In the Dark [Reprise with Ray Charles - Live, 1971]

CD 4
01. Rock Steady
02. Young, Gifted and Black
03. All the King's Horses
04. Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool For You Baby)
05. Day Dreaming
06. Mary, Don't You Weep [Live, 1972]
-With James Cleveland & The Southern California Community Choir
07. Climbing Higher Mountains [Live, 1972]
-With James Cleveland & The Southern California Community Choir
08. Precious Memories [Live, 1972]
-With James Cleveland & The Southern California Community Choir
09. Master of Eyes (the Deepness of Your Eyes)
10. Angel
11. Somewhere
12. So Swell When You're Well
13. I'm In Love
14. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
15. Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I Am Going To Do)
16. Look Into Your Heart
17. Sparkle
18. Something He Can Feel

(*) Mono Recordings
All other recordings appear in Stereo

Original recordings produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones & Curtis Mayfield

See booklet for further details on each track's personnel, recording dates and composers.
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Reviews:

"an 87-track, four-disc box set that covers Aretha Franklin's Atlantic career, spanning from 1967's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" to 1976's "Something He Can Feel." Over the course of the set, all of Aretha's best-known songs, including all of her Top Ten pop and R&B singles, are included. For fans who only know the singles, the set is primarily notable for the wealth of album tracks and forgotten singles that are included, which nearly equal the hits in terms of quality. Stopping just short of her move to disco, The Queen of Soul just misses being a totally comprehensive collection, but it remains definitive -- it may miss some of her later hits, but every one of her greatest tracks is in the box. The Queen of Soul is one the cornerstones of any Soul collection."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine -All Music Guide
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"Aretha Franklin's recording career did not begin with her signing to Atlantic Records -- she cut some fine gospel sides in the '50s, and in 1961 she signed with Columbia Records, who hoped to groom her into a jazz-leaning singer in the manner of Dinah Washington. But Aretha's first single for Atlantic, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," was her first defining career moment, the point where she made good on her considerable promise, and it was clear that producer and Atlantic co-owner Jerry Wexler understood Franklin's abilities in a way Columbia did not. Aretha Franklin's years at Atlantic brought her commercial success and a well-earned reputation as America's finest soul singer, and The Queen of Soul is a four-disc set that brings together 87 songs from Franklin's 1967-1979 tenure with the label.

On the surface, this doesn't appear to be an especially impressive collection [...] But give this a spin and nearly all quibbles are forgotten: no matter what she's singing, Franklin sounds excellent on this material, ranging from soul classics to pop standards to deep gospel, and if the hits and acknowledged classics dominate this set, the sheer scope of these four discs leaves room for some welcome surprises (such as a cover of "Eleanor Rigby" that Franklin reworks into the first person, and a Johnny Ace tribute that melds "Pledging My Love" with "The Clock"), and the emotional force and innate intelligence of Aretha's performances are evident no matter what she does. (And the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, her backing band on many of these selections, know exactly what to do with these songs, and hearing them interact with Franklin is a big part of the pleasure of this music.) The Queen of Soul is hardly the definitive Aretha Franklin set, but as an introduction to her peak years at Atlantic, this is splendid stuff and a rewarding listen from front to back."

Mark Deming -All Music Guide