Aretha Franklin

Songwriter: J. Leslie McFarland J. Bailey

[Verse]
Feeling mighty blue
By myself
One old lonesome shoe
By myself
Now that love's behind me
You'll find me
By myself
I just sit and stare
At the floor
Just don't seem to care
Anymore
Since my baby's gone
Got a padlock on my door
That old black cat
Keeps hanging around
But I am not blaming him
Because things are bad
It isn't his fault
I've gone and lost
The only love
I ever had

[Outro]
Love
Love
I miss him so
It's no lie
And I'm so "double o"
I could die
So I'll be
Just me here
By myself

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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Aretha Franklin

Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo