Research by Lisa Leclair
Not only is today International Womens Day, but it’s also the 50th anniversary of Aretha Franklin’s seminal album, I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You). It was the eleventh album of her career, but her first for Atlantic Records. This was also her first time working with producer Jerry Wexler, who paired her with a powerful Muscle Shoals backing band, helped procure the covers on the track list, and provided the support to propel to the title “Queen of Soul.”
In an interview with Mojo Magazine, Wexler reflected, “How did we manage to get that performance out of her when Columbia had failed? The material and environment at Columbia just wasn’t conducive to her letting go and finding her voice in the music. We provided that environment. It was that easy. We gave her the room to do it her way.”
This is also the album that paired Franklin with her most iconic song, “Respect,” which later became a #1 hit, and would go on to win two Grammy Awards in 1968 for “Best R&B Recording” and “Best Female R&B Solo Vocal Performance.” What many people don’t realize is that, the song was actually written in 1965 by Otis Redding. While his version was written from the perspective of a man pleading to a woman, Franklin’s version became a Civil and Women’s Rights anthem. At the Monterey Pop Festival that summer, Otis Redding affectionately described the song as one “that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine. This girl, she just took this song.”
The album also gave Franklin her first big hit with the title track “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You),” which sat at the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts for seven weeks. Another feminist anthem appears on this album, “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man.” Though it was written by two men (Chips Moman and Dan Penn), it was Aretha’s final touches that brought it to life. During a break in the recording session in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a fight broke out between her then-husband Ted White and trumpeter Melvin Lastie, who White felt was being too flirtatious with his spouse. The next morning, they found White and Franklin were gone, leaving the song unfinished. Weeks later, Franklin finished the track herself with the help of her sisters Carolyn and Erma on backing vocals. In an interview with Vox Magazine, Penn said, “It’s still one of the best records I’ve ever heard by anybody – not ’cause it’s my song, but just that record. It’ll reach out and get you in your heart.”
And closing out the album is a cover of Sam Cooke‘s beautiful anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come,” originally released in 1964 as a song of hope to the African-American community. In Aretha’s voice, the song also becomes a reassurance to generations of women.
To date, Franklin has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling artists of all time. Always a pioneer, in 1987, she was the first female inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Still recording and still touring, Aretha is still an important influence, in music and beyond.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article reported Franklin wrote the song “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” not Chips Moman and Dan Penn. Thank you to KEXP listener David for the heads-up! KEXP regrets the error. Thursday, March 9th
