30 Greatest Hits - Franklin, Aretha (Cassette 1985)

Aretha Franklin, daughter of a famous Pentecostel pastor, inevitably began singing in a church choir at a very early age and it was clear then that she had the gift of a deep, raw talent. Her vocal style, even as a young child, was capable of such immense power and volume. She began her musical career recording secular tracks for Columbia Records, none of which really bought her much chart recognition. Signed by John Hammond at the dawn of the 1960's, he tried invain to nurture her talent effectively. By the time of 1966, all she had released on the Columbia label was a string of minor...

This pulls off what most artists' collections do not. It actually gives you every major hit, that is, up to the issue date(1986). I can live without "Freeway Of Love" or "Jump To It", which came later. I like them also, but I just consider those songs the contemporary Aretha. The classic Queen of Soul resides in this neat little thirty song package. The only thing it doesn't have much of is Aretha's considerable gospel side. But even that gets a taste or two I bought this double CD collection for chump change from a used CD section. I can't believe someone traded it in! This is the most...

To hear (ugh) Clear Channel-controlled radio stations these days, you'd think that Aretha Franklin was a one-hit wonder rather than the greatest female soul singer in American history. (And it's not unreasonable to argue that one can maybe strike the words "female" and/or "soul" from that claim.) But as phenomenal a single as "Respect" was, it doesn't even begin to poke at the surface of the sheer breadth and depth of Aretha's discography. This thirty-song set attempts to scratch that surface, and it largely succeeds, though every greatest-hits collection brings with it a few quibbles from...