Lady Soul

Last updated

Lady Soul
ArethaFranklinLadySoul.jpg
Studio album by
Aretha Franklin
ReleasedJanuary 22, 1968
RecordedFebruary 16 – December 20, 1967
Studio FAME Studios
Genre
Length28:41
Label Atlantic (SD 8176)
Producer Jerry Wexler
Aretha Franklin chronology
Take a Look
(1967)		Lady Soul
(1968)		 Aretha Now
(1968)
Singles from Lady Soul
  1. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
    Released: September 1967
  2. "Chain of Fools"
    Released: November 1967
  3. "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone"/"Ain't No Way"
    Released: March 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]

Lady Soul is the twelfth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin released in early 1968 by Atlantic Records. The album stayed at #1 for sixteen weeks on Billboard 's R&B album chart, and it hit number 2 on the pop album chart (underneath Paul Mauriat) during a year-long run. [5]

Contents

Background

Lady Soul was Franklin's third R&B chart-topper and reached number two on the Billboard 200, tying with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You for her highest-charting album on the pop chart. The album also included some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools" (number 2 Pop), and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (number 8 Pop), and "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" (number 5 Pop). It sold more than a million copies in the United States. The album was reissued on Rhino Records in a deluxe edition in 1995.

Gospel/R&B singer Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston) and her group the Sweet Inspirations are credited as background vocals on several tracks, along with Aretha's sisters Carolyn Franklin and Erma Franklin. Eric Clapton, at the time a member of the band Cream, is credited as the guitarist on the track "Good to Me as I Am to You".

Lady Soul peaked at number 1, number 2 and number 3 on Billboard's Black Albums, Pop Albums and Jazz Albums charts respectively. The single "Ain't No Way" – B-Side of "(Sweet, Sweet, Baby) Since You've Been Gone" – peaked at number 9 on the Black Singles chart and number 16 on the Pop Singles chart.

Legacy

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [6]

In 2003, the TV network VH1 named Lady Soul the 41st greatest album of all time. In 2003 and 2012, it ranked at number 85 on Rolling Stone 's list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". [7] It rose to number 75 in a 2020 reboot of the list. [8] The album was rated the 29th best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork . [9]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Jerry Wexler with Tom Dowd as and recording engineer.
A Side
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chain of Fools"
2:46
2."Money Won't Change You"
2:08
3."People Get Ready"
3:42
4."Niki Hoeky"
2:31
5."(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
2:44
B Side
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone"
2:25
2."Good to Me As I Am To You"
  • Franklin
  • White
3:56
3."Come Back Baby"
2:25
4."Groovin'"
2:57
5."Ain't No Way"
4:17
CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chain of Fools" (Unedited Version)
  • Covay
4:22
2."(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Mono Single Version)
  • Goffin
  • King
  • Wexler
2:49
3."Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)" (Mono Single Version)
  • Franklin
  • White
2:49
4."Ain't No Way" (Mono Single Version)
  • Carolyn Franklin
4:12

Notes

Charts

Chart (1968)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Pop Albums2
U.S. Billboard Top Soul Albums1
U.S. Billboard Top Jazz Albums3

Singles

Year releasedTitle US
Pop 		US
R&B
September 7, 1967
(Atlantic single #2441)		"You Make Me Feel Like A (Natural Woman)"82
November 22, 1967
(Atlantic single #2464)		"Chain of Fools"21
February 9, 1968
(Atlantic single #2486)		"Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)"51
"Ain't No Way"168

Note: Numbers in italic (following original single release information) denote peak positions on Billboard's "Top/Best Selling R&B Singles" and "Hot 100" charts respectively – courtesy BPI Communications and Joel Whitburn's Record Research Publications.

Personnel

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Bush, John. "Lady Soul - Aretha Franklin | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  3. ↑ Q, issue 7/93, p. 106.
  4. ↑ Hoard, Christian David; Brackett, Nathan, eds. (November 2, 2004). "Review: Lady Soul". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 214–217. ISBN   978-0-7432-0169-8.
  5. ↑ "Aretha Franklin", Billboard.
  6. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (February 7, 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN   0-7893-1371-5.
  7. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  8. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  9. ↑ "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
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