Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign of The Queen of Soul

iTunes Review

Aretha Franklin began recording for Atlantic Records in the mid-60s and immediately established herself as one of the label’s most formidable stylists after years of floundering at Columbia Records. Her emotional intensity and dynamic vocal range wedded to instrumental backing that understood dramatic tension and groove made just about anything she sang worth hearing. These recordings rarely flag — from the late-1966 demos of “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You),” “Dr. Feelgood” and “Sweet Bitter Love” that feature Aretha sitting at the piano and freestyling her ambitious vocals, through outtakes from Aretha Arrives, Young, Gifted and Black onward through 1973. Her version of the Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill” sounds incongruous, the pastoral psychedelic ballad doesn’t translate as heart-gripping soul music, but the rare b-side of “Pledging My Love/ The Clock,” the Isaac Hayes- David Porter penned “You’re Taking Up Another Man’s Place,” Paul Anka’s “My Way,” and Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” all transform into Aretha Franklin tunes as she phrases her empathy as only Aretha can.