Album Reviews

So great were Aretha’s hit making abilities during the peak of her Atlantic era that a blockbuster like “Think,” which leads off this set, did not make it to 1971’s Aretha’s Greatest Hits (SD8295). The track from this set making to the hits album was “I Say A Little Prayer,” given a less introspective, more energetic reading than the Dionne Warwick original.

This short set of ten tunes, running less than a half hour, issued June, 1968, the same year Atlantic issued Lady Soul and Aretha in Paris, while not in the same league as the former, still packs a punch.

Aretha is in top belting form, backed by Spooner Oldham, Tommy Cogbill, Jimmy Johnson and the Memphis Horns, among others, and recorded at Atlantic Studios with Tom Dowd at the board. The backing singers, who do a stellar job aren’t even credited (The Sweet Inspirations?).

There’s a scorching “Night Time is the Right Time,” and even Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” goes from reflective to finger in the socket. Side two’s tunes are not as well known, but equally tasty, featuring strong, horn driven charts.

I have long thought Dowd’s engineering abilities have been overstated and that he often gets a distant, dynamically weak sound, compensated for by a relatively pure sound, and while that’s not the case here, Dowd “phones in” his production, panning instruments hard left and right and putting Aretha dead center and everyone and everything bathed in distancing reverb. Franklin appears off center on the final tune, “I Can’t See Myself Leaving You” because inexplicably, one channel is out of phase relative to the other. When I inverted phase to one channel (a phono preamp under review has that capability), she popped into the center.

In any case, a great, short burst of peak Aretha energy, and a fine analog transfer, make this a real treat for fans. There's not a bad track here, which is a good thing, since there are only ten.