What You See Is What You Sweat

What You See Is What You Sweat
Studio album by Aretha Franklin
Released	July 2, 1991
Genre	New jack swing [1] [2] house [2]
Length	44:23
Label	Arista
Producer	Clive Davis (exec.) Burt Bacharach Carole Bayer Sager David "Pic" Conley Aretha Franklin Michel Legrand Oliver Leiber Gene Lennon Bruce Roberts Joshua Thompson David Townsend Luther Vandross Narada Michael Walden Elliot Wolff
Aretha Franklin chronology
Through the Storm (1989) What You See Is What You Sweat (1991) Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings (1992)
Singles from What You See Is What You Sweat
"Everyday People" Released: June 1991 "Someone Else's Eyes" Released: September 1991 "What You See Is What You Sweat" Released: 1991 "Ever Changing Times" Released: January 1992

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Calgary Herald	C− [4]
Entertainment Weekly	C+ [5]
NME	4/10 [6]
People Magazine	(mixed) [7]

What You See Is What You Sweat is the thirty-third studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on July 2, 1991, by Arista Records. It peaked at number 153 on Billboard 's album chart, dropping off after seven weeks. This was Franklin's first new release in the Nielsen SoundScan era.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Everyday People"	Sly Stone	Narada Michael Walden	3:50
2.	"Ever Changing Times" (duet with Michael McDonald)	Burt Bacharach Bill Conti Carole Bayer Sager	Bacharach Bayer Sager	4:54
3.	"What You See Is What You Sweat"	David Conley Derrick Culler Gene Lennon Joshua Thompson	Conley David Townsend	4:24
4.	"Mary Goes Round"	Elliot Wolff Oliver Leiber	Wolff Leiber	3:06
5.	"I Dreamed a Dream"	Alain Boublil Herbert Kretzmer Jean Marc Natel Claude-Michel Schonberg	Conley	4:17
6.	"Someone Else's Eyes"	Bruce Roberts Bacharach Bayer Sager	Roberts Bacharach Bayer Sager	4:57
7.	"Doctor's Orders" (duet with Luther Vandross)	Vandross Hubert Eaves III	Vandross	4:35
8.	"You Can't Take Me for Granted"	Aretha Franklin	Franklin	5:12
9.	"What Did You Give"	Franklin	Michel Legrand	5:01
10.	"Everyday People" (Shep Pettibone Remix)	Stone	Walden Pettibone	4:07

Personnel

• Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, piano, background vocals
• Luther Vandross - duet vocal
• Michael McDonald - duet vocal
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
• Peter Schwartz – additional keyboards
• Michel Legrand – synthesizer
• Franck Thore – Pan pipes
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Burt Bacharach – keyboards
• Marcus Miller – bass guitar
• Thierry Eliez – piano
• Elliot Wolff – keyboards, drum programming
• Teddy F. White – guitar
• Al Turner – bass guitar
• Buster Marbury – drums
• Michael Boddicker – keyboards, programming
• Larry Fratangelo – percussion
• Hubert Eaves III – keyboards, drum programming
• Charles Scales – synthesizer
• Rick Iantosca – acoustic guitar
• Oliver Leiber – keyboards, drum programming, guitar
• Jason Miles – keyboards
• Dominique Bertram – bass guitar
• Joshua Thompson – keyboards, guitar, synthesizer
• Vernon Black – guitar
• Randy Waldman – keyboards
• Onita Sanders – harp
• André Ceccarelli – drums
• Louis Biancaniello – keyboards, programming
• Larry Williams – programming
• David Foster – keyboards, programming
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion
• Candy Dulfer – saxophone
• Guy Vaughn – drum programming
• David Townsend – guitar
• Narada Michael Walden – drums, programming
• Nat Adderley Jr. – keyboards
• Bobby Wooten – keyboards, electric piano, drum programming, synthesizer
• David Boruff – saxophone
• Rudolph Stansfield – piano
• Jean-Marc Benais – guitar
• Gene Lennon – programming
• Skip Anderson – keyboards
• Cindy Mizelle – background vocals
• Jesse Richardson – background vocals
• Sandra Feva – background vocals
• Brenda Corbett – background vocals
• Fonzi Thornton – background vocals
• Diane Green – background vocals
• Sherry Fox – background vocals
• Portia Griffin – background vocals
• Margaret Branch – background vocals
• Jarvis Barker – background vocals
• Nikita Germaine – background vocals
• Skyler Jett – background vocals
• Jeanie Tracy – background vocals
• Tony Lindsay – background vocals
• Gwen Guthrie – background vocals
• Tawatha Agee – background vocals
• Donna Davis – background vocals
• Marj Haber – background vocals
• Esther Ridgeway – background vocals
• Gloria Ridgeway – background vocals
• Gracie Ridgeway – background vocals

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [8]	34
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [9]	14
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [10]	19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [11]	26
US Billboard 200 [12]	153
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [13]	28

References

1. Unterberger, Richie. "Aretha Franklin – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network . Retrieved July 27, 2016.
2. Molanphy, Chris (November 15, 2024). "Say a Little Prayer Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate . Retrieved February 17, 2025.
3. AllMusic review
4. Obee, Dave (July 28, 1991). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald .
5. Linden, Amy (July 26, 1991). "What You See Is What You Sweat". Entertainment Weekly .
6. Quantick, David (August 10, 1991). "Long Play". NME . p. 30. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
7. "Picks and Pans Review: What You See Is What You Sweat". People Magazine . August 5, 1991.
8. "Austriancharts.at – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
9. "Norwegiancharts.com – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
10. "Swedishcharts.com – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
11. "Swisscharts.com – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
12. "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
13. "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 19, 2018.