50 Aretha Franklin Songs You Better Have…Or Else

Posted October 28, 2013 by J Matthew Cobb in Features

“When the Battle Is Over”
(1970)
Writer: Jessie Hill, Malcolm Rebennack
Producer: Tom Dowd
from the album Spirit in the Dark

Rock heads got a chance to sample Aretha on Southern swampy rock on “When the Battle Is Over,” a tune highly flourished with the raging guitar sorcery of Duane Allman. By this time, producer Tom Dowd had found refuge at Criteria Studios in sunny Miami, Florida, where the production value rivaled that of Atlantic studios in New York. Dowd had secured the space for very long periods, which oftentimes was cited as Atlantic South. Before Allman formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969, he was featured on dozens of albums with Rick Hall’s Muscle Shoals Rhythm Band. He reunited with the fellows on this Aretha tune right before his star would explode from all the chatter that surrounded his work with Eric Clapton on the Derek & the Dominos’ “Layla.”

“Willing to Forgive”
(1994, #26 pop)
Writer: Babyface, Daryl Simmons
Producer: Babyface
from the album Aretha Franklin Greatest Hits (1980-1994)

Using the lavish Quiet Storm decorum of a Babyface slow jam, “Willing to Forgive” gives Aretha room to play the scorned woman dealing with a cheater of a boyfriend. What clearly set this number apart from the other is that Aretha has no time to cry over the pain. She’s hurt, and plainly says it in the chorus, but she’s too “busy thinkin’ that I’m gonna mess around some time.” And with all the vocal gusto of her best ‘70’s output, the track’s smooth contemporary soul doesn’t hinder Franklin from pouring out her all. A few years later, Babyface tried to reprise Franklin on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack using “It Hurts Like Hell.” This one reigns as Babyface’s greatest accomplishment on the Queen of Soul.

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
(1986, #21 pop)
Writer: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Producer: Keith Richards
from the album Aretha

There are endless remakes of the Rolling Stones’ 1968 Delta blues classic “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” floating around, but Aretha’s take – featured in the 1986 film of the same name starring Whoopi Goldberg – easily qualifies as one of the greats. Although the Stones’ take is almost eternal, Aretha pours on the feisty croons, the jazzy trademarks and the mean squalls as Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood work their guitar riffs into the bluesy organ-pumped hissy fit. The marriage of the Stones and Aretha is a long time comin’, since Franklin dazzled them with her R&B cover of “Satisfaction” back in 1967.

“Wonderful”
(2003, #33 pop)
Writer: Aleese Simmons, Ron “Amen-Ra” Lawrence
Producer: Ron Lawrence
from the album So Damn Happy

A bit of breathy and airy in places, a 61 year old Aretha takes on the task of recording a song using an effective Mary J-meets-Frankie Beverly old-school soundscape. She even pokes fun at her age when she talks about her love using “old school love saying that I’m the only one.” It scored her yet another Grammy.

“Satisfaction”
(1967)
Writer: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Producer: Jerry Wexler
from the album Aretha Arrives

If you hit a home run with an Otis Redding tune, you might as well go for a second. “Respect” opened Aretha’s timeless Atlantic debut, and “Satisfaction” opens the festivities on Aretha Arrives, the anticipated follow-up. Much of Aretha Arrives feels like shallow echoes of what she cooked on her I Never Loved a Man…, but her cover of the Otis Redding take of the Rolling Stones’s “Satisfaction,” is full of satisfaction. There’s Aretha’s Sunday morning belting, blistering brass, Spooner Oldham’s juicy organ and a tempo shift reminiscent of Motown glory.

“You’re All I Need to Get By”
(1971, #19 pop)
Writer: Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
Producer: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin
from the album Aretha’s Greatest Hits

In no way could Aretha’s take outshine the eternal performance of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell heard on the Ashford & Simpson-produced original, but she vowed “for you I’ll do my best.” Designed as a bonus feature on Aretha’s second compilation of hits for Atlantic, Franklin pumped her signature soul glides into her verses and challenges her backing vocalists to match the same kind of gusto that’s been projecting from her pipes. With some fast rap skills being executed on the song’s self-indulgent bridge (“Cause we got a love with some R-ah-E-S-P-C-T, ohh!”) and a forceful shout delivered at the two minute-thirty second mark, Franklin does everything in her power to top the Motown classic. And she comes very close.

“Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby)”
(1972, #73 pop)
Writer: Jim Doris
Producer: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd
from the album Young, Gifted & Black

After listening to the hearty jam that was “Rock Steady,” people curiously flipped the single over to hear Aretha’s reading of Lulu’s 1969 pop hit, “Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby).” Franklin, no stranger to a cover tune, approaches this song with Quiet Storm grace, as she marinates the keys alongside fellow labelmate Donny Hathaway on the organ. The session also sported Stax legend Al Jackson on the drums. Two of the producers of Lulu’s set were also there at the New York studio to witness this feat – Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin. What’s so remarkable out the outcome of this power ballad is that although it never was slated for radio, it managed to work its way up the R&B charts, becoming a Top Ten hit.

“Every Girl (Wants My Guy)”
(1983)
Producer: Luther Vandross
Writer: Luther Vandross
from the album Get It Right

By the early Eighties, chain smoking had taken a toll on Aretha’s pipes. But Luther Vandross – a self-proclaimed Arethaologist – finds a way to get her to dig deep and explore the depths of her lower range. On “Every Girl (Wants My Guy),” a cheeky uptempo gem he produced that went below the radar (did go to number 7 r&b), Aretha does just that. And in those very moments is where she unearths an icy sex appeal that rivals almost anything she’s ever attempted that deep inside the lower cavities of her pipes. Thanks to Luther’s smart penmanship, he designs a work that shows the tough skin of her diva prowess: “Oh, I’m hot tonight like dynamite, so I know I can keep that man/When it comes to love I’m a cut above any other woman.” There are traces of paranoia in the song, as if she questions her own superpowers. Things get mighty interesting halfway into the song when she starts to chat with her friend Kitty and quickly realizes she’s on a three-way call. Think of this as Aretha’s “It’s Over Now.”

“Son of a Preacher Man”
(1970, #13 pop)
Writer: John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins
Producer: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tow Dowd
from the album This Girl’s In Love With You

The song was originally intended to go to Aretha, but she turned the song down, leaving Brit soul singer Dusty Springfield the opportunity to nail her version first. The song became an international hit on Springfield, but Aretha’s take, attached to the back side of “Call Me,” also saw some chart visibility thanks to her meatier vocal attacks. Give some of the credit to the fact that Franklin was the daughter of a preacher man.

“I Say a Little Prayer”
(1968, #10 pop)
Writer: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Producer: Jerry Wexler
from the album Aretha Now

With the Sweet Inspirations in the background, Aretha found a clever way to smother Dionne Warwick’s hit song without losing its cool. She kept the bosa nova soul of the original and spread it open using her background power. It wasn’t as big as her more high-octane soul hits, but it once again presented Aretha in a relaxed pop element. It’s a friendly flashback to her Columbia sides. Even with most people familiar to Warwick’s version, the song was a major hit for Franklin in the UK, where it became her biggest hit until it was surpassed by “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).”