#388 Aretha Franklin, 'Young, Gifted and Black' (1972)

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The 18th album in 11 years for the 30-year-old Aretha Franklin, the title could not be more fitting if it tried. The recently crowded the Queen Of Soul would go on to win the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for this record.

Backed by some major players: Bernard Purdie (drums), Billy Preston (Hammond Organ), Donny Hathaway (Hammond Organ, piano) and the great Cornell Dupree (guitar), amongst many others, this album is the sum of its parts but the sum all adds up to one thing – Aretha. The title track, a cover of a Nina Simone track, is reminiscent of The Beatles’ ‘Good Night’ at the start but it breaks out into a gospel song so powerful that it truly makes you believe in a higher power. AMEN! Peppered with some other covers, a standout is her version of ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ a song that she absolutely makes her own. The album closes with a cover of the Elton John song, ‘Border Song.’ Not having yet reached the stratospheric levels of success that he would, John, to this day, recounts the level of joy, excitement and honour that he felt when his publisher called to say that Aretha Franklin would be covering this song. This was a major milestone in his career and it’s pretty cool to hear an artist of his stature so humbly tell this story night after night (he really does – I’ve seen him 3 times in the past year and he tells the same story word for word).

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