Sparkle (soundtrack)

Music from the Warner Bros. Picture "Sparkle"
Soundtrack album by Aretha Franklin
Released	June 1, 1976
Recorded	April–May 1976
Studio	Curtom Studios (Chicago, Illinois)
Genre	R&B soul
Length	33:07
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Curtis Mayfield
Aretha Franklin chronology
You (1975) Music from the Warner Bros. Picture "Sparkle" (1976) Sweet Passion (1977)
Curtis Mayfield chronology
Let's Do It Again (1975) Sparkle (1976) Give, Get, Take and Have (1976)

Music from the Warner Bros. Picture "Sparkle" is a soundtrack album and twenty-fourth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield. Released on June 1, 1976, the disc is the soundtrack album for the 1976 Warner Bros. motion picture Sparkle , starring Irene Cara. The songs on the soundtrack feature the instrumental tracks and backing vocals from the film versions, with Franklin's voice taking the place of the original lead vocalists.

This album returned Franklin to Gold status after two low-selling albums With Everything I Feel in Me (1974) and You (1975). The first single release, "Something He Can Feel", was a No. 1 R&B hit for her and reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it was Aretha's only pop Top 40 hit during the second half of the 1970s. "Something He Can Feel" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female at the 19th Annual Grammy Awards in 1977. The album itself reached the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified Gold for US sales of over 500,000 copies. In 2009, it was reissued on Rhino Records' budget Flashback Records label. The songs "Something He Can Feel" and "Hooked on Your Love" were covered by En Vogue on their 1992 multi-platinum hit album Funky Divas .

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B [2]
Rolling Stone	(not rated) [3]

Original LP release

All tracks are written by Curtis Mayfield.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sparkle"	4:13
2.	"Something He Can Feel"	6:21
3.	"Hooked on Your Love"	5:00
4.	"Look into Your Heart"	4:04

Side two

No.	Title	Length
5.	"I Get High"	4:11
6.	"Jump"	2:19
7.	"Loving You Baby"	3:48
8.	"Rock with Me"	3:11

Charts

Chart (1976)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	18
U.S. Billboard Top R&B Albums	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1976	"Something He Can Feel"	Billboard Hot 100	28
		Hot Soul Singles	1

• Curtis Mayfield, Phil Upchurch, Gary Thompson - guitars
• Rich Tufo, Floyd Morris - keyboards
• Quinton Joseph - drums
• Henry Gibson - congas, cowbell
• Lucky Scott - bass

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1976 (U.S.)

References

1. Sparkle at Allmusic.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: F". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved February 24, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
3. Palmer, Robert (August 12, 1976). "Sparkle". rollingstone.com.