About twenty years ago I decided I was going to collect all the albums on Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. This album was the first one off that list I purchased. I had heard “Respect” hundreds of times by then and was familiar vaguely with a couple other tracks, but sitting down to listen to this the first time was a truly exciting experience. I had heard Aretha before but had never listened to her.
“Respect” is undoubtedly the greatest cover song ever, unlikely to ever be equaled or surpassed.
My Rating:
Aretha Franklin created “the greatest voice of the sixties soul generation. When her first Atlantic single “I Ain’t Never Loved A Man (‘The Way I Love You’) hit Number One in the R&B charts, Number Five on Billboard in 1967, the girl-group sound grew up overnight. Heralding the arrival of the new, mature street-hip woman, Franklin drew the strength and conviction of her sound from the church that spawned her.”1
Aretha’s voice “wrecked microphones half a mile distant, she sang like a force of nature.”2
Franklin’s legend…“tends to reduce all other female soul singers to the runner0up category: ‘There are singers,’ said Ray Charles, ‘then there is Aretha. She towers above the rest. Others are good, but Aretha is great.’ “3 Who are we to disagree with Ray Charles?
“Aretha Franklin’s first album of genius bursts with the unstoppable freedom of an artist finally allowed to be herself, which is only one of the dozens of reasons its opening cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” is such a milestone.”4
“This was the album that made her a legend, inaugurating a run of LPs for Franklin on Atlantic that’s up there with any other series of records by any solo artist ever.”5
“Aretha Franklin's Atlantic label debut is an indisputable masterpiece from start to finish.”6
“I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You remains a treat for the ears, the brain, and the soul to this day, completely untouched by more than five decades of musical change. Few records are as timeless and consistently relevant, and that’s the way it will stay for the next five decades to come.”7
In case you can’t tell, I think this album is pretty great.
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Seth Jacobson wrote:
“The album opens with a cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect,” which is subverted into a feminist anthem. Sam Cooke’s civil rights classic “A Change Is Gonna Come” is similarly refocused - the struggle becoming that of Franklin. “Der. Feelgood” is startlingly confident, infused with a sexuality rarely heard before in a black female artist.” 8
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #29
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: 10
> “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” #9
> “Respect” #1
• RIAA certification: Gold | June 13, 196711
Released on March 10, 1967. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “Love Is Here And Now You're Gone” by The Supremes12
• Number one album: More of the Monkees by The Monkees13
• Number one movie: The Bible by John Huston14
• Most watched TV programs: The Red Skelton Hour, The Andy Griffith Show, The Jackie Gleason Show15
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Secret of Santa Vittoria by Robert Crichton16
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Everything But Money by Sam Levenson17
Other albums released that month
• Green, Green Grass of Home by Tom Jones
• I'm a Lonesome Fugitive by Merle Haggard
• Matthew and Son by Cat Stevens
• Johnny Mathis Sings by Johnny Mathis
• The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground, Nico
• King & Queen by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
• The Grateful Dead by Grateful Dead
• Back Up Train by Al Green
• Club Meeting by Billy Preston
• Eric Is Here by Eric Burdon & The Animals
• James Brown Sings Raw Soul by James Brown
• Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan by Waylon Jennings18
Sport
• Mar 4 Worlds Ladies' Figure Skating Championship in Vienna won by Peggy Fleming.
• Mar 6 Muhammad Ali is ordered by selective service to be inducted.
• Mar 14 NFL Draft: Michigan State defensive end Bubba Smith first pick by Baltimore Colts.
• Mar 25 29th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Dayton, 79-64; Bruins center Lew Alcindor (later named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) tournament MOP.19
Notable Births
• Mar 4 Evan Dando, American musician (The Lemonheads - "Mrs. Robinson"), born in Essex, Massachusetts.
• Mar 4 Sam Taylor-Johnson, English artist and film director (Fifty Shades film series), born in London, England.
• Mar 6 Connie Britton, American actress (Spin City, Friday Night Lights), born in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Mar 6 Özlem Türeci, German scientist (BioNTech - created 1st mRNA-based vaccine for COVID-19), born in Siegen, West Germany.
• Mar 7 Randel "Randy" Guss, American musician and drummer (Toad the Wet Sprocket), born in Detroit, Michigan.
• Mar 15 Pierre Coffin, French animator, film director, voice of the Minions (Despicable Me franchise), born in France.
• Mar 16 Lauren Graham, American actress and author (Gilmore Girls, Parenthood), born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Mar 17 Billy Corgan, American rock singer-songwriter and musician (Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness), born in Chicago, Illinois.
• Mar 17 Van Conner, American rock bassist and guitarist (Screaming Trees), born in Apple Valley, California.
• Mar 18 Andre Rison, NFL wide receiver (Michigan State University, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, KC Chiefs)20
Historical Events
• Mar 3 Grenada gains partial independence from Britain.
• Mar 6 2nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Merle Haggard and Bonnie Guitar win.
• Mar 6 Former union leader Jimmy Hoffa enters Lewisburg Federal Prison.
• Mar 6 Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Allilujeva approaches the US Embassy in New Delhi, India, and asks for political asylum.
• Mar 12 Indonesian congress strips President Sukarno of authority and names General Suharto as acting President.
• Mar 13 Congo sentences ex-premier Moise Tsjombe to death.
• Mar 14 JFK's body moved from temporary grave to a permanent memorial.
• Mar 15 Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT)-headquarter moves from France to Brunssum, Netherlands.
• Mar 18 Beatles' "Penny Lane" single goes #1.21
Notable Deaths
• Mar 4 Wilbur "Bullet" Rogan, American Baseball HOF pitcher, outfielder, manager (Kansas City Monarchs NgL, 1920-38), dies at 73.
• Mar 5 Mischa Auer [Ounskowsky], Russian actor (My Man Godfrey), dies from a heart attack at 61.
• Mar 5 Mohammad Mosaddegh, Prime Minister of Iran (1951-53) who was overthrown in a coup d'état aided by the CIA and the British SIS, dies at 84.
• Mar 7 Alice B. Toklas, American-Parisian avant-garde and companion to Gertrude Stein, dies at 89.
• Mar 11 Joseph Forte, British-American actor (Reefer Madness; Life With Luigi), dies at of a heart attack at 75.
• Mar 17 Richard Reeves, American character actor (The Adventures of Superman; Date With an Angel), dies from cirrhosis of the liver at 54.22
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime playlist: 132. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin
More! 132. v2.0 Bonus
All the videos: You're Welcome 132; I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin
Obrien, Lucy, She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Popular Music, revised and updated 25th Anniversary edition, 2020, p. 73.
Stanley, Bob; Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé, 2014, p. 108.
Ibid, p. 109.
Ibid.
Jacobson, Seth; 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, ed. by Robert Dimery; p. 129.
Ibid.
Box Office Survey Variety, March 15, 1967, p. 5
Ibid.