Aretha Franklin Live At Fillmore West (180Gv)

Personnel: Aretha Franklin (vocals, electric piano); Ray Charles (vocals, electric piano); King Curtis (soprano & tenor saxophones); Billy Preston (organ).

The Kingpins: Cornell Dupree (guitar); Truman Thomas (electric piano); Jerry Jemmott (bass); Bernard Purdie (drums); Pancho Morales (congas).

The Memphis Horns: Andrew Love, Lou Collins (tenor saxophones); Jimmy Mitchell (baritone saxophone); Wayne Jackson, Roger Hopps (trumpets); Jack Hale (trombone).

The Sweethearts Of Soul: Margaret Branch, Brenda Bryant, Pat Smith (background vocals).

Recorded live at Fillmore West, San Francisco, California on February 5 and 7, 1971. Originally released on Atlantic (7205). Includes liner notes by David Nathan.

When Aretha Franklin recorded 1971's LIVE AT FILLMORE WEST, she was backed by a group of veteran session musicians on a mix of popular interpretations along with some of her trademark numbers. Opening with Otis Redding's "Respect," Franklin made Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With" her own with the help of Billy Preston's joyous organ playing while Bread's saccharine "Make It With You" was injected with a healthy shot of sexy sassiness.

Aretha Franklin's underrated piano playing and a healthy display of her gospel roots make FILLMORE one of the more special recordings in Lady Soul's vast canon. Franklin's skill on the eighty-eights particularly shines on her swinging treatment of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and the jubilant "Don't Play That Song." Franklin also plays electric piano on "Dr. Feelgood," and from this point on she turns Bill Graham's hall into a Baptist church. Between the call-and-response of her background singers and King Curtis' skillful band-leading/saxophone playing, Franklin's high point came when she brought Ray Charles out for the reprise of the testimonial "Spirit In The Dark" followed by the uplifting "Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)."