I want to add some Aretha Franklin to my music collection. Where should I start?

Question

I love pretty much everything I hear by Aretha Franklin, and I'm looking for recommendations (essential albums, compilations) to get started. I'm mostly interested in her classic period (the 60s), and I'm a fan of deluxe editions or remastered compilations. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Try iTunes.

Or go on eBay, there are often CDs that are rare if you are not close to CD shops. You might want to get the very best of Aretha with the boxed 4CD set called Queen of Soul (green cover), complete with big booklet inside. The booklet itself won a Grammy for best liner notes. This features over 70 of Aretha's very best.

Other "must haves":
I Never Loved a Man (the way I loved you)
Aretha: Lady Soul
Aretha Now
Aretha in Paris (featuring live versions of all of her 1967 and 1968 hits)
This Girl's in Love with You
Spirit in the Dark
Aretha Live at the Fillmore West
Amazing Grace (if you like gospel)
Young, Gifted and Black
Let Me in Your Life
Jump to It
Who's Zoomin' Who

Aretha's 90s work is not the greatest, and there is not much of it. Her voice was really starting to decline then. She quit smoking in the early 90s but then she gained weight, and the damage from smoking was showing very much.

Aretha's pre-Respect work (1967 and before) features her on Columbia/Sony. Any of those CDs are very good, if only to see what a marvellous singer she was but yet so unrecognized as a major talent during the time. You might like to get:

Queen in Waiting
Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington
and if you can get the very first Columbia set (sometimes known as The Great Aretha Franklin: The First Twelve Sides), grab it, grab it, grab it!

Good luck, and happy soulful listening!

Answer 2

You can get all the songs by Aretha Franklin you want and none that you dont you can pick and choose. All you need to do is download limewire there is a free version available at www.limewire.com or you can get the pro but limewire pro does cost ya. GOOD LUCK!