Spirit In The Dark

About

Aretha Franklin was so busy and prolific in the late 1960s and early 1970s that some of her albums tended to be overlooked—especially within the popular media, where some writers didn’t consider pop singers to be serious artist. Remarkably, 1970’s <i>Spirit in the Dark</i> is one of those lesser-heralded album, despite the fact that it features multiple hit single, including “Don’t Play That Song”—a deceptively upbeat tale of infidelity and betrayal that became a chart succe. “Don’t Play That Song” had originally been recorded by Ben E. King, but Franklin had a way of making other singers’ tunes her own—and here, she just walks in and takes over with her version. That sense of confidence would help steer much of <i>Spirit in the Dark</i>. Franklin walked into the recording sessions for the album just five weeks after giving birth to her third child, bringing along two B.B. King songs she wanted to perform. While her interpretation of King’s “The Thrill is Gone” is sultry and smoky, it’s her piano-playing that shines here—and that’s saying a lot, because her vocal is absolutely impeccable. She shows it off again later on, with a committed version of King’s “Why I Sing the Blue.” .

via Apple Music

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