Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way That I Loved You
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On this week’s episode, we discuss the 10th album by Aretha Franklin, and her first for Atlantic Records, the groundbreaking I Never Loved a Man the Way That I Loved You.
The Queen of Soul had made a series of decidedly un-soulful albums when her career began with Columbia Records. Discovered by the legendary John Hammond (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Billie Holiday), he tried to mold her into the next Billie Holiday with big band and string arrangements, and ignored those very things that made her special. The move to Atlantic Records saw her teaming up with Jerry Wexler, who understood exactly what made Aretha Franklin unique. Backed by some of the most legendary session musicians around, Franklin and Wexler produced an album full of gospel-infused soul that showed the world what it had been missing, a singer and musician of unparalleled emotion and power. Popular music would never be the same again.
THINGS WE DISCUSSED ON THIS EPISODE
Aretha’s father was a famous preacher who founded the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan in 1932. The church became the center of the Civil Rights Movement in Detroit. Early on Joe Von Battle, a record store owner and record producer in Detroit that specialized in Gospel and R&B, recorded and released several albums on the Battle label by Reverend Franklin, which often featured his daughter.
Aretha had a very special relationship with Sam Cooke. She recorded two of his songs for I Never Loved a Man the Way That I Loved You: “Good Times” and “A Change is Gonna Come.”
Here she is pictured with civil rights leader L.C. Bates and Sam Cooke.
Here is Aretha performing a song off of her fifth LP for Columbia, Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington on the Steve Allen show in 1964.
After nine albums with Columbia Records, where her vocal and musical talents were extremely underutilized by the label, Aretha jumped ship to Atlantic Records.
Here is Aretha signing with Atlantic Records. She is pictured with Jerry Wexler and her ex-husband Ted White.
Watch Otis Redding performing his song “Respect” at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 where he acknowledges that after Aretha Franklin recorded it, it was essentially her song.
Watch Aretha sing "Do Right Woman" on the Merv Griffin show November of 1967.
And here is the version of Do Right Woman” by the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Watch Aretha steal the show singing “Think” from the movie The Blues Brothers.
