Aretha’s Gold - Aretha Franklin
Released - June 1969

14 years ago - We were celebrating our 5 year anniversary

I wanted to do something special

So i flew Merry Clayton up to Toronto from LA

She sang Gimme Shelter on our Rolling Stones show

Merry and I became close

And she shared all kinds of stories with me

Really good stories involving Aretha and Billy Preston

… So good that I can’t share them here

But i will credit Merry with turning me on to Aretha

Fast forward to a couple years ago

I’m at lunch with the Massey Hall staff

And we’re picking albums for the upcoming season

We all realised that it was time for some serious soul music

So we jumped at the chance to take on the queen

And perform Aretha’s Gold

I put the word out to my soul singers

Each one of them politely declined

They were aware of the weight 

and knew their limitations 

That is the sign of a true professional

Then Wade put me in touch with Divine Brown

and everything became clear

Divine is worth googling

She is a star

and she is confident in her ability to sing Aretha

Aretha’s Gold is a soul album

and a rock n’ roll album

being in the hall with that voice will be all that’s needed

to give you goosebumps

and yes

I’m bringing in a big band

To all the rockers who have been there for CAL

Through the thick and thin

I implore you to seek out this show

given our recent global circumstances

This show has everything that you need to get back in the groove

‘What you want?

Baby i got it’

Craig Martin

Founder

Classic Albums Live