Aretha Franklin

Released: October 12, 1968

Songwriter: Willie Nelson Walter Breeland Paul Buskirk

Producer: Jerry Wexler

Thank you very much

Tell me...tell me, do you like the blues?
Do you really like the blues? Good
Mmm...

In the evening, when the sun goes down
You’re gonna find me
Doin’ what I’m doin’ right now, and that's just sitting around
The night life, it ain’t no good life
But it’s my life, yes it is, mmm...

And all good people, good people, just like you and me
They’re sitting around dreaming
Sitting around dreaming about that used to be
Well, the night life, ask anybody in it, it ain’t no good life
But that’s alright because it’s my life, oh, yes it is

Oh, listen to the blues, to the blues and what they’re playing
I wonder tonight, are you really listening to the blues
To the blues and what they’re saying
What they seem to be playing to me that’s, that many people have loved
And they seem to be saying to me that many people have lost
Well, listen, they might not have loved at all
If they had know that they couldn’t pay the cost

Oh, they tell me, yeah, they tell me, yeah, they tell me, yeah, they tell me
They tell me that life is just an empty scene
They say that is older than the oldest broken hearts
And they tell me that is newer than the newest stood dreams
Well, the night life, what I’m doin’ right now ain’t no good life
But that’s alright with me, because it’s my life, yes it is
Ooh, I tell you that the night life sure ain’t no good life
Well, but it’s my life, yeah

Aretha Franklin is both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known simply by her first Aretha. She is the reigning and undisputed “Queen Of Soul” with a legacy that spans five decades. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Aretha began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin’s church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Aretha embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records with modest success.

After moving to Atlantic Records in 1967, she released a steady string of US top ten hits through 1973 including “Spanish Harlem”, “Chain Of Fools”, “Baby I Love You”, “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “Daydreaming”, “The House That Jack Built”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", ”Think“ and her first chart-topper “Respect” – a song that also won Aretha her first of 18 Grammys. During this time, several of her songs were also successful overseas.

By the mid-70s, Aretha’s commercial success waned and she left Atlantic for Clive Davis' Arista Records in 1980. Her 1982 song “Jump to It,” returned her to the top 40 for the first time in six years. 1985’s Who’s Zoomin' Who? got her back into the top 10 twice with its title track and “Freeway Of Love”. Four more songs reached the top 40 through 1986.

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