| Songs of Faith | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1965 | |||
| Recorded | 1956 | |||
| Venue | New Bethel Baptist Church (Detroit, Michigan) | |||
| Genre | Gospel | |||
| Length | 31:29 | |||
| Label | Checker | |||
| Producer | Joe Von Battle | |||
| Aretha Franklin chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Songs of Faith | ||||
Songs of Faith is the first live album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released in 1965 by Checker Records. [3] The album was recorded in 1956 by J-V-B Records at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, when Franklin was aged 14.
Aretha Franklin's recording career began in 1956 with the help of local record label J-V-B Records. Recording equipment was installed in the New Bethel Baptist Church and nine tracks were recorded, featuring Franklin on vocals and piano. [4] In 1956, J-V-B released Franklin's first single, "Never Grow Old", backed with "You Grow Closer". A second single, "Precious Lord (Part One)" backed with "Precious Lord (Part Two)" was issued in 1959. These four tracks, with the addition of "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood", were released on side one of the 1956 album, Spirituals(J-V-B 100), which was reissued in 1962 under the same title by Battle Records (Battle 6105). [5]
In 1965, Checker Records released Songs of Faith, featuring the five tracks from the 1956 Spirituals album, with the addition of four previously unreleased recordings.
MCA reissued the original 9 track album on Compact Disc in 1991 as Aretha Gospel. After Aretha's passing in 2018, UMG/Geffen Records reissued it as Songs of Faith: Aretha Gospel.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood" | William Cowper | 4:26 |
| 2. | "Precious Lord" (Part One) | Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey | 3:23 |
| 3. | "Precious Lord" (Part Two) | Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey | 2:51 |
| 4. | "You Grow Closer" | Joe B. Junior | 2:43 |
| 5. | "Never Grow Old" | Traditional | 2:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Day Is Past and Gone" | Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey, Joe B. Junior, Isaac Watts | 4:57 |
| 2. | "He Will Wash You White As Snow" | Joe B. Junior | 4:18 |
| 3. | "While the Blood Runs Warm" | Ralph Bass, Sonny Thompson, Harold Smith | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Yield Not to Temptation" | Sonny Thompson, Harold Smith, Horatio Richmond Palmer | 2:56 |
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This discography documents the releases of albums and singles by Aretha Franklin. Widely regarded as the "Queen of Soul", she has sold over 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling R&B female artists of all time. Billboard ranks her as the 34th Greatest Artist of all time. Franklin has scored 73 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, the most among women for nearly 50 years until Nicki Minaj passed her in 2017. Billboard listed her as the 41st Top Gospel Artist of the 2010s. She has accumulated 20 No. 1 hits on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
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Clarence LaVaughn Franklin was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. Known as the man with the "Million-Dollar Voice", Franklin served as the pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit from 1946 until he was shot and wounded in 1979. Franklin was the father of the American singer and songwriter Aretha Franklin. He was also the father of five other children, including Vaughn Franklin, Erma Franklin, Cecil Franklin, Carolyn Franklin and Carol Ellan.
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New Bethel Baptist Church is a Baptist church located at 8430 C. L. Franklin Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA. Founded in 1932, the church was led by C. L. Franklin from 1946 until 1979 and was at the center of the civil rights movement in Detroit. Robert Smith Jr. has been the pastor since 1982. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
Joe Von Battle was an American record store owner and pioneer black record producer in Detroit, Michigan, between the 1940s and 1960s. He set up the J.V.B. and Battle record labels, was one of the first independent black record producers, the first to record Rev. C. L. Franklin and his daughter Aretha Franklin, and influential in the career of John Lee Hooker and other blues musicians.
