Aretha Arrives is the eleventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on August 4, 1967, by Atlantic Records. Its first single release was "Baby I Love You", a million-selling Gold 45, which hit #1 R&B and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by her cover version of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in 1968. This was her second album for Atlantic. The sessions for the album were delayed because Franklin shattered her elbow in an accident during a Southern tour. She decided she was ready to record before her doctor thought she was ready. While she still did not have full mobility, she provided piano accompaniment on the slower songs and played with her left hand only on "You Are My Sunshine". In 2024, the song Prove It from the album was sampled by Canadian rapper Drake on his single The Heart Part 6.[3]

Aretha Arrives
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 4, 1967
RecordedJune 20–23, 1967
StudioAtlantic Studios,
(New York City, New York)
GenreDeep soul, Southern soul, R&B, soul
Length36:30
LabelAtlantic,
Rhino
ProducerJerry Wexler
Aretha Franklin chronology
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
(1967)
Aretha Arrives
(1967)
Take a Look
(1967)
Singles from Aretha Arrives
  1. "Baby I Love You"
    Released: July 1, 1967
  2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Not in the US)"
    Released: 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

Reception

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After the album's release, Rolling Stone stated: "...neither the sophistication nor the subtlety of the musicians involved gets in the way of the basic primitivism of Aretha's music. The best cuts on the record hit with tremendous immediacy and force, and do so in an entirely artistic way. The only hang-ups are the occasional reliance on unnecessary gimmicks, and the weakness of some of the material."[4]

In 2004, Q ranked the album at number 1 in its list of "20 Forgettable Follow-Ups to Big Albums".[5]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Satisfaction"Mick Jagger, Keith Richards2:35
2."You Are My Sunshine"Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell4:18
3."Never Let Me Go"Joe Scott2:50
4."96 Tears"Rudy Martinez2:12
5."Prove It"Randy Evretts, Horace Ott2:58
6."Night Life"Willie Nelson, Walt Breeland, Paul Buskirk3:10
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."That's Life"Dean Kay, Kelly Gordon4:25
8."I Wonder"Cecil Gant, Raymond Leveen4:21
9."Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"Carolyn Franklin2:31
10."Going Down Slow"St. Louis Jimmy Oden4:27
11."Baby, I Love You"Ronnie Shannon2:39

Personnel

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See also

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References

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Tracks and Personnel are from the LP liner notes.[3]

  1. ^ Aretha Arrives at AllMusic
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ a b "Aretha Arrives", Aretha Franklin, Atlantic 8150 (1967) LP.
  4. ^ Landau, Jon (November 23, 1967). "Aretha". Rolling Stone. Vol. 1, no. 2. p. 16.
  5. ^ "Rocklist.net...Q - 150 Rock Lists".