Naim Go Deeper : Aretha

Aretha Franklin, March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018, is widely regarded as greatest singer of modern times. The Queen of Soul began her journey as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan where her father C. L. Franklin was minister.

The music of Lady Soul will continue to be celebrated so we thought we’d put together a playlist of a few rarities and of course many classics for our Naim community to enjoy on on their systems, specifically crafted for pure musical performance, a lot like Aretha and her songs.

With over nearly 6 decades of music, we chose our top 3 tracks:

I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)

This monster soul duet with the late George Micheal, song was Franklin's first and only UK number-one hit, and only her fourth top 10 achievement in the country since "I Say a Little Prayer", nearly two decades earlier. Grammy Awarded track was an A&R Clive Davis mastermind campaign to re-establish Aretha as an 80’s icon - other duets he set up included Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and The Eurythmics.

Young, Gifted and Black

Covering the Nina Simone written Civil Rights Movement anthem, Aretha accompanies herself on piano. Her signature gospel harmonies marry the hymnal yet funky track. It is also the title track from her impressive eighteenth studio album released in 1972 which won her the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal.

Think

Although many of Aretha’s songs were written for her by other people, including Otis Redding and Carole King, this was written by Aretha and her first husband, Ted White. The original 1968 country blues jam became a celebrated feminist anthem. Aretha once agains sings about the oppressive patriarchy and put it in its place with her soulful style and lyrics. NB: she re-recorded it for cult comedy classic ‘Blue Brothers’.

To listen on Spotify: click here,
or on TIDAL: click here.