Lady Soul is the twelfth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin released in early 1968 by Atlantic Records. The album stayed at #1 for sixteen weeks on Billboard`s R&B album chart, and it hit number 2 on the pop album chart (underneath Paul Mauriat) during a year-long run.[5]

Background

Lady Soul was Franklin`s third R&B chart-topper and reached number two on the Billboard 200, tying with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You for her highest-charting album on the pop chart. The album also included some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools" (number 2 Pop), and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (number 8 Pop), and "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You`ve Been Gone" (number 5 Pop). It sold more than a million copies in the United States. The album was reissued on Rhino Records in a deluxe edition in 1995.

Gospel/R&B singer Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston) and her group the Sweet Inspirations are credited as background vocals on several tracks, along with Aretha`s sisters Carolyn Franklin and Erma Franklin. Eric Clapton, at the time a member of the band Cream, is credited as the guitarist on the track "Good to Me as I Am to You".

Lady Soul peaked at number 1, number 2 and number 3 on Billboard`s Black Albums, Pop Albums and Jazz Albums charts respectively. The single "Ain`t No Way" – B-Side of "(Sweet, Sweet, Baby) Since You`ve Been Gone" – peaked at number 9 on the Black Singles chart and number 16 on the Pop Singles chart.

Legacy

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]

In 2003, the TV network VH1 named Lady Soul the 41st greatest album of all time. In 2003 and 2012, it ranked at number 85 on Rolling Stone`s list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[7] It rose to number 75 in a 2020 reboot of the list.[8] The album was rated the 29th best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[9]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Jerry Wexler with Tom Dowd as and recording engineer.

Notes

• Chain of Fools (Unedited Version) was originally issued on the 1973 compilation album The Best of Aretha Franklin.

Charts

Singles

Note: Numbers in italic (following original single release information) denote peak positions on Billboard`s "Top/Best Selling R&B Singles" and "Hot 100" charts respectively – courtesy BPI Communications and Joel Whitburn`s Record Research Publications.

Personnel

• Aretha Franklin – vocals, backing vocals, piano
• Eric Clapton, Bobby Womack, Joe South, Jimmy Johnson – guitar
• Tommy Cogbill – bass guitar
• Spooner Oldham – piano, electric piano, organ
• Bernie Glow, Joe Newman, Melvin Lastie – trumpet
• Tony Studd – trombone
• King Curtis – tenor saxophone
• Frank Wess, Seldon Powell – flute, tenor saxophone
• Haywood Henry – baritone saxophone
• The Sweet Inspirations – backing vocals
• Carolyn Franklin – backing vocals
• Cissy Houston – backing vocals
• Roger Hawkins, Gene Chrisman – drums
• Warren Smith – vibraphone

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1968 (U.S.)