I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is the tenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin released on March 10, 1967, by Atlantic Records. It was Franklin's first release under her contract with the label, following her departure from Columbia Records after nine unsuccessful Jazz standard albums, and marked a commercial breakthrough for her, becoming her first top 10 album in the United States, reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200. Two singles were released to promote the album: "Respect" and "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)". The former topped the Billboard Hot 100, while latter reached the top 10.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 10, 1967 (1967-03-10)
RecordedJanuary 10 – February 26, 1967
Studio
GenreSouthern soul
Length32:51
LabelAtlantic
ProducerJerry Wexler
Aretha Franklin chronology
Take It Like You Give It
(1967)
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
(1967)
Aretha Arrives
(1967)
Singles from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
  1. "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"
    Released: February 10, 1967
  2. "Respect"
    Released: April 29, 1967
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]
Robert ChristgauA[3]
The Village VoiceA[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]

Although released to mixed critical response, the album over the years has been reappraised and is now regarded amongst one of the greatest and most influential albums, being included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, as well as in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The second single from the album "Respect" became Franklin's signature song and is ranked by the Rolling Stone as the greatest song of all-time.

Background

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is Aretha's first album with Atlantic Records. The title track was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.[6][7] After an altercation broke out between Franklin's then husband, Ted White, trumpeter Ken Laxton and FAME studios owner/producer Rick Hall, producer Jerry Wexler arranged to continue recording the LP at Atlantic Studios, New York. [8][9] The B-side, "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" was unfinished at FAME studios as the session ended abruptly. Members of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section were flown to New York to complete "Do Right Woman" and a number of other tracks (including "Respect"). There was a discrepancy in the tape recording speeds of the two studios. The foundation track of "Do Right Woman" recorded at Muscle Shoals and the later tracks added at Atlantic's New York studio are slightly out of tune with each other: Producer Chips Moman regretted that the piano was faintly sharp.[10]

The record spent several weeks at #2 on the main Billboard album chart and fourteen weeks at #1 in the magazine's Top R&B Albums chart. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1967, eventually selling nearly two million. It was voted number 352 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[11] It received a number 83 ranking on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 84 in a 2012 revised list[12] and 13 in the 2020 edition.[13] The album was also included in both the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2005) and 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008).[14] When Rolling Stone listed the "Women in Rock: 50 Essential Albums" in 2002 and again 2012, the album listed at number one.[15] The album included two top-10 singles: "Respect" was a number-1 single on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop singles chart, and "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" peaked at number 9. The album was rated the 10th best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[16]

Reception

In 1967, Rolling Stone chided the album for "the lack of versatility on the part of the sidemen. The drums weren't hard enough, the guitar was weak, and the production lacked polish."[17] In 2002, though, they placed the album at No.1 on their "Women in Rock: 50 Essential Albums" list. In 2003, the album was ranked No.83 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Music Critic Robert Christgau, gave the album an A, stating "Not all of the tracks sound inspired" but also stating that it was the best album she had made by that point.[18] Q included the album in their list of the "100 Greatest Albums Ever".[19] Q also gave the album 4 stars and said "[the album] came out in May 1967 and was number 2 in America within weeks ... now it stands untainted by time. She seemed so much a force of nature it's strange to recall that this was actually her tenth album ..."[20]

In the obituary for Aretha Franklin, Rolling Stone made this comment about I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You: "It puts the emphasis not just on the great songs, or the amazing music, but on the person speaking them, her world, her story and whatever journey she's on in life. It rings out like revealed truth happening in real time, a declaration of independence".[21]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Respect"Otis Redding2:29
2."Drown in My Own Tears"Henry Glover4:07
3."I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"Ronnie Shannon2:51
4."Soul Serenade"Curtis Ousley, Luther Dixon2:39
5."Don't Let Me Lose This Dream"Aretha Franklin, Ted White2:23
6."Baby, Baby, Baby"Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin2:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Dr. Feelgood"Aretha Franklin, Ted White3:23
8."Good Times"Sam Cooke2:10
9."Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"Dan Penn, Chips Moman3:16
10."Save Me"Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, Curtis Ousley2:21
11."A Change Is Gonna Come"Sam Cooke4:20
1995 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Respect" (Stereo version)Otis Redding2:28
13."I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (Stereo version)Ronnie Shannon2:47
14."Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (Stereo version)Dan Penn, Chips Moman3:14

Personnel

Musicians

Source:[22]
  • Aretha Franklin – piano, vocals
  • Spooner Oldham – keyboards, piano
  • Jimmy Johnson, Chips Moman – guitar
  • Tommy Cogbill – bass guitar
  • Gene Chrisman, Roger Hawkins – drums
  • Melvin Lastie – trumpet
  • Charles Chalmers, King Curtis – tenor saxophone
  • Willie Bridges – baritone saxophone
  • Carolyn Franklin – background vocals
  • Erma Franklin – background vocals
  • Cissy Houston – background vocals

Technical

  • Title track produced by Rick Hall (FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL), Remaining tracks Jerry Wexler (Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, NY)
  • Tom Dowd – arranger, recording engineer
  • Arif Mardin – recording engineer
  • Loring Eutemey – cover design
  • Jerry Schatzberg – cover photography

Charts

Chart (1967) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 36
US Billboard 200[24] 2
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25] 1
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[26] 254

See also

  • Album era
  • List of number-one R&B albums of 1967 (U.S.)

References

  1. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You at AllMusic
  2. Hoard, Christian. "Review: Lady Soul". Rolling Stone: 214–217. November 2, 2004.
  3. "Robert Christgau: CG: Aretha Franklin". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. Christgau, Robert (December 20, 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide to 1967". The Village Voice. New York. p. 69. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  6. "The day Aretha Franklin found her sound – and a bunch of men nearly killed it". The Guardian. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Atlantic picked her up and in early 1967 sent her to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals
  7. "Aretha's Greatest Albums: 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' (1967)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 16, 2021. The result – recorded at iconic Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama – was a new kind of soul power,
  8. Dobkin, Matt (2004). I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Making of a Soul Music Masterpiece. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp136-138
  9. "The day Aretha Franklin found her sound – and a bunch of men nearly killed it". The Guardian. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Atlantic picked her up and in early 1967 sent her to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals
  10. Dobkin, Matt (2004). I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Making of a Soul Music Masterpiece. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp160-161
  11. Colin Larkin, ed. (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 138. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  12. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  13. "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  14. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  15. Tatangelo, Wade (August 16, 2018). "Aretha Franklin remembered by Sarasota's Jerry Wexler, her legendary producer". Sarasota Herald. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  16. "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  17. Landau, Jon (November 23, 1967), "Aretha", Rolling Stone, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 16.
  18. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Album". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  19. Q 1/03, p. 54
  20. Q 7/93, p. 106
  21. "Aretha's Greatest Albums: 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' (1967)". Rolling Stone magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  22. "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You – credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  24. "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  25. "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  26. "貴方だけを愛して+3 | アレサ・フランクリン | ORICON NEWS" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
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