Wednesday February 16, 2022 “I Never Loved A Man the Way That I Loved You” Aretha Franklin
Appropriately named the Queen of Soul, the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, Aretha Franklin, Lady Soul is a true superstar and one of the most influential Black artists. Her voice was so remarkable that the state of Michigan declared it a natural resource in 1985.
It has been suggested that Motown was courting Aretha early in her career but she was signed to Columbia by the legendary A&R scout John Hammond. Her stay at Cloumbia was often hampered by the label’s desire to have her sing jazz and pop oriented songs and her vocal skills weren’t pushed so she never had the breakout hit at Columbia that she deserved.
Jerry Wexler who then signed Aretha to his Atlantic Records recognized her power and took her to renowned FAME Studio in Muscle Shoals Alabama where she recorded the album that would begin her reign as the Queen of soul and would include today’s song as well as the iconic “Respect”.
In 2008, she was voted Greatest Singer Of All Time by the musicians and journalists selected by Rolling Stone magazine to name their favorite singers of the Rock era.
Jennifer Hudson stars in the 2021 biographical movie Respect focused on the life of this national treasure, Aretha Franklin. When Aretha interviewed Hudson about the role she, in Queenly fashion, suggested that Hudson would win an Oscar for her performance. The movie can be seen on Roku.
An intereseting side note, signature female anthems by Aretha “I Never Loved a Man…” and “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” were both written by men, Ronnie Shannon and Gerry Goffin respectively.
Stay safe and well…and when Aretha Franklin passed away, in 2018, the world lost a true legend of soul music, actually a legend of music in general with no labels associated with it.