Bargain Audio CDs & Priceless Collection (series)

Who's Zoomin Who

by Aretha Franklin

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Aretha Franklin, Peter Wolf (vocals); Corrado Rustici (guitar, synthesizer); William "Doc" Powell, Steve Khan, Mike Campbell, Ray Gomez, Carlos Santana (guitar); Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet); Clarence Clemons (saxophone); Walter Afanasieff, Preston Glass, Nat Adderley Jr.(keyboards); Benmont Tench (organ); Randy Jackson (synthesizer, bass); Robert Kandor (synthesizer); Louis Johnson, Nathan East (bass); Narada Michael Walden (drums, percussion); Stan Lynch, Yogi Horton (drums); Andy Narell (steel drums); Steve Kroon (percussion); Greg Gonaway (tambourine); The Charles Williams Singers, Carolyn Franklin, Sylvester, Jeanie Tracy, Vicki Randle, Jim Gilstrap, Preston Glass, Kitty Beethoven (background vocals).

The Eurythmics: Annie Lennox (vocals, keyboards); David A. Stewart (guitar, keyboards).

Recorded at The Automatt, San Francisco, California; United Sound, Detroit, Michigan; The Plant, Sausalito, California; Right Track, New York, New York.

Personnel include: Aretha Franklin (vocals); Eurythmics (vocals); Clarence Clemons (saxophone); Peter Wolf.

Recording information: 1985.

When the Reverend C.L. Franklin passed away in 1984, daughter Aretha (who was close to her father) rebounded from this personal tragedy by cutting 1985's WHO'S ZOOMIN' WHO? with producer Narada Michael Walden. The resulting album is full of famous names, contained three Top 20 singles and was Franklin's highest-charting album since 1972. Hitting the upper reaches of the charts were "Freeway Of Love," the title track and "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves," a feminist anthem written by and recorded with the Eurythmics. The Top 5 "Freeway" found Lady Soul backed by the Santana rhythm section and featured a ripping sax solo by Clarence Clemons.

Other famous cameos on ZOOMIN' include Dizzy Gillespie playing trumpet on the Franklin-penned "Integrity," and Carlos Santana and Peter Wolf contributing guitar and vocals respectively on "Push. Amidst the flood of slick R&B, Van McCoy's "Sweet Bitter Love" is a slow-burning highlight in which Franklin's exquisite singing cuts through the numerous drum machines and lite funk rhythms populating most of this record.