Amazing Grace (Aretha Franklin album)

Amazing Grace
Live album by Aretha Franklin
Released	June 01, 1972
Recorded	January 13–14, 1972
Genre	Gospel, Soul
Length	85:43
Label	Atlantic (#2-906), Rhino
Producer	Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin chronology
Young, Gifted and Black (1972) Amazing Grace (1972) Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973)

Amazing Grace is a 1972 album by Aretha Franklin. It ultimately sold over two million copies in the United States alone, earning a Double Platinum certification. As of 2011 it is still the biggest selling disc of Aretha's entire fifty year recording career. The double album was recorded 'Live' at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972. It won the 1972 Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance and also stands as the biggest selling Gospel album in history.

A film documenting the making of the album was set to be released in 1972, but was shelved by Warner Bros.

Track listing

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(B+)
Rolling Stone	(favourable)

Disc 1

1. "Mary Don't You Weep" (Inez Andrews)
2. "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" /"You've Got a Friend" (Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey, Frank Frazier) / (Carole King)
3. "Old Landmark"
4. "Give Yourself to Jesus" (Robert Fryson)
5. "How I Got Over" (Clara Ward)
6. "What a Friend We Have In Jesus" (Joseph Scriven, Charles Converse)
7. "Amazing Grace" (John Newton)

Disc 2

1. "Precious Memories" (Traditional)
2. "Climbing Higher Mountains" (Traditional)
3. Remarks by Reverend C.L. Franklin
4. "God Will Take Care of You" (Traditional)
5. "Wholy Holy" (Marvin Gaye, Renaldo Benson, Alfred Cleveland)
6. "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
7. "Never Grow Old" (Traditional)

Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings

"Amazing Grace" was remastered and re-released in 1999 as two-Compact Disc set with many unreleased takes.

Disc 1

1. Organ Introduction (On Our Way)
2. Opening Remarks
3. On Our Way
4. Aretha's Introduction
5. Wholy Holy
6. You'll Never Walk Alone
7. What a Friend We Have in Jesus
8. Precious Memories
9. How I Got Over
10. Precious Lord (Take My Hand)
11. You've Got a Friend
12. Climbing Higher Mountains
13. Amazing Grace
14. My Sweet Lord (Instrumental)
15. Give Yourself to Jesus

Disc 2

1. Organ Introduction (On Our Way)/Opening Remarks
2. On Our Way
3. Aretha's Introduction
4. What a Friend We Have in Jesus
5. Wholy Holy
6. Climbing Higher Mountains
7. God Will Take Care of You
8. Old Landmark
9. Mary Don't You Weep
10. Never Grow Old
11. Remarks by Rev. C.L. Franklin
12. Precious Memories
13. My Sweet Lord (Instrumental)

Documentary

"Amazing Grace", the documentary/concert film directed by Sydney Pollack for Warner Bros., was set to be released as part of a double bill with Super Fly in 1972. However the film ended up in the studio vaults for over 38 years. While producer Alan Elliott is overseeing the project after Pollack's death in 2008, the credit on the film will read "a film by Sydney Pollack." Elliott has worked since 2008 to piece together the backstory of "Amazing Grace." As of September 2010, no date has been set for the release. Elliott says, "Maybe because it's history now. Here is one of the most famous artists in the world, as she was then, doing something that nobody had ever done, or has really done since. So I think the film is going to find a wider audience, not just because of its gospel roots, but because of its historical value."

Personnel

• Aretha Franklin - vocals, piano
• Rev. James Cleveland - piano, vocals
• Rev. C.L. Franklin
• Chuck Rainey - bass
• Cornell Dupree - guitar
• Kenneth Lupper - organ
• Pancho Morales - percussion, conga
• Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - drums
• Southern California Community Choir - background vocals