Don't send me no doctorrrrr Fillin' me up with all those pills I got me a man named Dr. Feelgood. He takes care of all my pains and my ills Name's Dr. Feelgood and taking care of business is this man's game and after one visit to Dr. Feelgood YOU can see why feel good is his name! oh! ohh!! ohhh!! Good God almighty the man sure makes me feel GOOOOOOD!
Backed up with a claustrophobic arrangement on loan from God and perhaps the most ecstatic vocals Aretha's ever done, it is one of the most literate and adult dissertations on the joys of sex and an indispensable addition to your late night record collection
"A Change Is Gonna Come" is a fitting coda to this monumental epic of an album. A cover of Sam Cooke's chilling protest anthem, she turns it into a tribute and statement that her darkest days are behind her. Does she even try to top the song? Nope; For not even Aretha could top Cooke's most mountainous moment (and the greatest soul single in recorded time, in my opinion). What she does, however, is personalize the song and create a good composite sketch of its beauty.
Where Sam creates an insane sermon, carrying the anger of 52 million ex-slaves all too well; Aretha makes it into a personal moral of perseverance. There is an inner peace in her interpretation, her phrasing bursting with a quiet serenity with her vocal rests sounding like sighs. It's as if she has just got out of a dark place and she won't ever be there again. "A Change Is Gonna Come" is Aretha on the road to happiness; possessing the knowledge that through a positive outlook and strong sprit, good will ultimately come to you.
It came back to her in multitudes. After two more tormenting years, she dumped Ted White and continued with a slew of releases, ranging from great to brilliant to breathtaking. Some were influenced by jazz (Soul 69, The Other Side Of The Sky) some were gritty southern funk (Sprit In The Dark). Some were deep soul epics (Lady Soul), some were gorgeous pop (Aretha Arrives, Aretha Now, Young Gifted And Black, Let Me In Your Life, The Girls In Love With You) while yet others were live albums (Live at Fillmore West, Amazing Grace). All of them have one thing in common: you should buy them. Now.
Article comments
1 - Elvira Black
This is terrific, Robert.
2 - Michael J. West
A damn fine article about a damn fine album. One of my favorites (although, blasphemically, I never much cared for her version of "Respect"; I've always preferred Otis Redding's original).
That said, I have one tiny, tiny nit to pick:
Out of all the living soul geniuses, (her, Stevie, Sly, Prince)
James Brown doesn't count as a living soul genius?
3 - Robert lashley
Elvira: Thank you
Michael: I can dig it, and you're right. I should put the godfather at the end of that caption.
4 - Bryan
"I Never Loved A Man The Way That I Love You" would make a terrific title for a lesbian anthem.
5 - ART
OK LANG
6 - Paul Hill
I have been a fan of Aretha Franklin since she was 14. I heard her as a small boy on a crusade with her father and her voice changed my life. I watched her get pregnant at 14 and again only a few years later, marry and divorce Ted White, hoped she'd find happiness with Ken Cunningham, even Glenn Thurman, but I don't think anything will ever compensate for the early loss of her mother and the eternal desire to please her father. I watched her siblings die one by one and the ups and downs of each of her children and wondered how she could ever be so strong. I think one scripture encapsulates this marvelous woman, "Raise up a child in the way (she) is to go and when (she is)old, they will not depart from it." Her faith has kept her sober, strong and unbending. I've watched her go and come back and I'm glad she's back.
7 - lilkunta
What album had a pic of an abused Aretha? Ive never seen that!
Also, Ive read varous AF interviews & she says Ted was emotionally abusive. She detailed her time in Alabama hen me made them leave after just 1 song being recorded. Bue h was physically abusive as well?