She Don't Remember The Queen Of Soul

Hey nineteen
That's 'retha Franklin
She don't remember the Queen of Soul
Hard times befallen the soul survivors
She thinks I'm crazy, but I'm just growing old                                                                        (Hey Nineteen, Steely Dan)

This is my favorite 'retha song.  It's from her first Atlantic Records album "I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You" and it's also the title of the song.  Aretha was originally signed by Columbia Records where she failed to find commercial success singing the pop tunes and Broadway show music that the label insisted she record.  When Columbia decided not to renew her contract, Jerry Wexler at Atlantic pounced and signed her with a plan was to tap her gospel music background to create a new brand of soul music. In January 1967 he brought Aretha to the recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

They were having trouble figuring out an intro to the song when Aretha sat down at the electric piano and came up with the opening you hear on the record.

The single was released in March 1967 and became her first Top 10 hit.  The follow up release off the album was "Respect" (written by Otis Redding) and the rest is history.

Aretha's vocal is phenomenal.