Aretha Franklin

Songwriter: Joe Junior

Producer: Joe Von Battle

[Verse]
The day is past and gone
The evening shades appear
May we all, may we remember, remember well
For the night of death draws now
We lay our garments, our garments by
Upon our beds to rest
For death shall disrobe, it's gonna disrobe us all
Of all, of all we, what we possess
Wonder if you know, I wonder if you mind, I wanna know why
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
For death shall disrobe, disrobe us all
Lord, Lord, Lord, oh oh...

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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