I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)

And of course since this is the Internet and not some tea-and-crumpets salon, I'm afraid I'm going to have to prod you further regarding your nitpicking of I Never Loved a Man.

Because to my ears, there's enough consistency of sound to explain why critics view this as a cohesive album that more than warrants its place on the Great List. And at the same time there's still a surprising diversity of sound in the arrangements. For a more obscure example, there's "Save Me", which cops the intro to Them's "Gloria" to marvelous effect.

Then there are the covers of what were essentially soul standards, taken in some odd directions here, like Ray Charles' "Drown in My Own Tears". Aretha's arrangement strips the original of the basic hook that makes the chorus so memorable, and in the process makes the song completely her own. In fact, I listened to this album several times before it fully kicked in for me that it's the same song.

All of which forces me to ask, "Why must you nitpick this album, Mendelsohn? I have to nitpick, Klinger. What else are we going to do? Talk about how great this record is? Or how it launched the career of the finest female singer of our generation?

We are sorry...

Or why it isn't higher on the list? Debating perfection is boring. And if we are going to talk about perfection, please let me direct your attention to pictures of Faith Ford in business attire. My nitpicking is purely an exercise in rhetoric. Yes, this album is great.

Yes, Franklin's vocal work is still unmatched to this day. My issue lies solely with the backing band and production not be being nearly as good as it could have been, which forces Franklin to carry the record. Now, is my nitpickery completely unwarranted? I know, we aren't here to compare these records to one another, but hearing Franklin do some of the same soul standards always leads me down that path.

Plus, there is the fact that Redding did write "Respect", the song that Franklin is most famous for—and for good reason, as she completely blows Redding out of the water. I can't point to any certain song and say, "See? The band is terrible", because they aren't. Redding's band is just better; they had more pop and the sort of intangible qualities that you can't purchase or practice. Do you know what I mean? Franklin's band sounds flat in comparison.

Of course, I could be just be imagining things, like global warming, and this might just be a problem with my record player. Yeah, blow the fuzz off your needle, Mendelsohn, because you're clearly missing out on a few things. Because while it's true that the Stax group had more power, there's a lot to be said for the finesse of this Muscle Shoals group. Of course, I recall that there was some. But because the players are so deft, there's more room for one of my favorite things about this album—the backing vocals of the Sweet Inspirations, mostly arranged by Aretha's sister Carolyn.

I mentioned earlier how they help transform "Respect" into a whirligig, but they also somehow manage to anchor Aretha in her various flights of fancy. Of course, it's because of that sense that Aretha has really taken off on I Never Loved a Man that we're talking about it now.

Prior to this, she was recording at Columbia, who was eager to turn her into the next Dinah Washington. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting more than one Dinah Washington—and really, there's not much wrong with those early records in and of themselves in fact, they seem to be on their way toward a critical reevaluation.

But hearing the difference between those more restrained performances and these early Atlantic albums is like someone flipping on a light switch. And at least some of the credit can go to producer Jerry Wexler and those simpatico musicians. And, as you can see, a well-reasoned, fact-based argument puts my nitpickery to shame—as it should. Because what am I doing? I'm complaining about the Muscle Shoals contingent not being nearly as good as the Stax contingent, which, when you get right down to it, is like comparing fudge to fudge with nuts—they both taste awesome.

Unless you are allergic to nuts. A lot gets made out of certain artists "opening the door", for a bunch of other artists to make it big. Recently, I've heard some mumbling about how Adele's success is somehow tied to Amy Winehouse "opening the door" for her, although I'm still trying to figure out that correlation.

Samples of I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) by Aretha Franklin | WhoSampled

But be that as it may, do you think it would be safe to say that is was Franklin who kicked down the door in the first place and forced the criterati to take notice of the fairer sex? You know, you may be on to something there, Mendelsohn. Prior to Aretha Franklin, critics were less likely to view female pop musicians as artists in their own right.

• Sound Credit | I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You;
• Stage Fright.
• Down By The Station.
• Théorie et méthode de recherche en psychologie sociale (French Edition).

Perhaps it's thanks to her jazzish years at Columbia that she was distanced from, say, her Motown contemporaries and given a chance to be considered as something more than a singer. The Ku Klux Klan was a very real terrorist threat to life down south. People, especially black women, were fed up, and wanted respect. Aretha was here to offer it, along with an anthem.

You May Also Like

If you listen closely to both versions it becomes a feminist anthem with the change of one word. It would later become a hit for Ray Charles in The timing of the song makes it seem as if the band is inter-connected by a network of mycellium rather than musical know-how. This is the primary attraction to the entire record. This is a new, assertive, Aretha, singing songs and playing them from within, in a way no one had yet imagined.

Main navigation

The clip from the movie Muscle Shoals above tells of the odd atmosphere in the studio. Ted had met songwriter Ronnie Shannon at a barbershop in Detroit by chance. Ronnie had stopped in looking for Motown Records as White was having his hair cut. White asked him to wait, and spoke to him. Ronnie had come from his home in Georgia, seeking work as a singer and songwriter. Aretha would add lyrics in studio and cover it three years later.

King Curtis is an important part of the album altogether. Written by Aretha and Carolyn Franklin. She gave up her own semi-successful music career to help Aretha write songs, and sing backup with the eldest sister Erma. Carolyn was the arranger of the original composition. Needless to say, growing up singing gospel in the New Bethel church, where their father was preacher made the entire family amazing songwriters.

Written again by Aretha and Ted. One gets the feeling, though, after repeated close listens that Aretha is really grinding her axe with Ted on these recordings. The stories of her songwriting work seem more like Ted driving her as a product he believes in than a husband.

Counterbalance No. 81: Aretha Franklin's 'I Never Loved a Man...'

Aretha is fighting for autonomy, and winning. In the above video Aretha performs a version in , as a free woman. Franklin had a voice, too. He used it in his sermons and was a national star. Among other stars Sam Cooke had sought him out. At some point in her life, after traveling to California and visiting Sam Cooke, Aretha confided in her father that she wished to make secular music, a decision which Sam supported and spoke to her father about.

Sam was trying to woo Aretha to his label, RCA, however.