The Last Drop

It’s a little late in the month to show the true spirit, but I had to show support in some fashion. Even if I happened to stumble on my black history finds. No one has to know Here’s to remembering a legend and their influence on our current musical landscape.

Aretha Franklin, Aretha Arrives - Yep, another first album from a well respected (and prolific) artist. I know the hits, but what a difference it makes to hear original recordings. It’s like being invited into the anticipation and excitement of first hearing her voice. That voice. You never forget the way her voice made you feel the first time you heard it. Aretha Arrives only magnifies that sensation with the added rustic appeal from the 1967 Atlantic recording techniques. It’s just this powerful and emotive wall of sound (not as dramatic as Phil Spector) that is…intense. In that great kind of way. I mean, come on, Whitney Houston’s mother was one of her background singers. Completely unfair. She performs a wide spectrum of covers, starting with the The Stones’ “Satisfaction”, turned into this funk inspired jam, hitting even Sinatra’s “That’s Life” for an inspiring gospelified R&B anthem. She covers the spectrum of R&B material and styles with equally amounts of technique and unbridled emotion. Simply, this is a wide-eyed, head shaking, awe inspiring album. Such a shame that is not in print in America anymore (thank you to Offbeat Music for importing this and letting me purchase the last copy!)