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Spirit in the Dark

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert ChristgauA[2]
Rolling Stone(favorable) [3]

Spirit in the Dark is the nineteenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, Released on August 24, 1970 by Atlantic Records. It received mostly positive reviews, but was met with middling sales, despite having two hit singles, "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", which peaked at #1 R&B, #11 on the Hot 100, and "Spirit in the Dark", peaking at #3 R&B and #23 Hot 100, in Billboard magazine. It was Aretha's first Atlantic album to fall short of Billboard's Top 20, but it is now considered to be one of Aretha's classic Atlantic LPs. In 1994, Rhino Records re-issued this recording on compact disc. Kanye West has sampled the album title song in his "School Spirit", found on the album The College Dropout.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Don't Play That Song"Ahmet Ertegün, Betty Nelson3:02
2."The Thrill Is Gone (From Yesterday's Kiss)"Rick Darnell, Roy Hawkins4:41
3."Pullin'"Carolyn Franklin, Jimmy Radcliffe3:38
4."You and Me"Aretha Franklin3:34
5."Honest I Do"Jimmy Reed, Ewart Abner3:19
6."Spirit in the Dark"Aretha Franklin4:03
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."When the Battle Is Over"Jessie Hill, Dr. John2:43
8."One Way Ticket"Aretha Franklin2:52
9."Try Matty's"Aretha Franklin2:32
10."That's All I Want from You"Fritz Rotter2:44
11."Oh No Not My Baby"Gerry Goffin, Carole King2:55
12."Why I Sing the Blues"B.B. King, Dave Clark3:05

Personnel

  • Aretha Franklin - lead vocals (All tracks), piano (tracks 1-6, 8-12)
  • Dave Crawford - organ (tracks 8-9, 12)
  • Howard "Buzz" Feiten - guitar
  • Jimmy Johnson - guitar (tracks 3, 5, 7, 11)
  • Jimmy O'Rourke - guitar (track 9)
  • The Sweet Inspirations - background vocals (tracks 4, 6)
  • Wylene Ivy - background vocals (tracks 3, 9-10, 12)
  • Margaret Branch - background vocals (tracks 1-2, 7-8, 11)
  • Tommy McClure - bass (tracks 1-2, 4, 6, 10)
  • Almeda Lattimore - background vocals (tracks 1-3, 9-12)
  • Harold "Hog" Cowart - bass (tracks 8-9, 12)
  • Jimmy O'Rourke - guitar (track 9)
  • Sammy Creason - drums (tracks 1-2, 4, 6, 10)
  • Ronald "Tubby" Ziegler - drums (track 9)
  • Roger Hawkins - drums (tracks 3, 5, 7, 11)
  • Pat Lewis - background vocals (tracks 3, 9-10, 12)
  • Duane Allman - guitar (track 7)
  • Cornell Dupree - guitar (tracks 8, 11-12)
  • Jim Dickinson - additional keyboards (tracks 1-2, 4, 6, 10)
  • Ray Lucas - drums (tracks 8, 12)
  • Charlie Freeman - guitar (tracks 1-2, 4, 6, 10)
  • Evelyn Green - background vocals (tracks 3, 9-10, 12)
  • Brenda Bryant - background vocals (tracks 1-2, 7-8, 11)
  • David Hood - bass (tracks 3, 5, 7, 11)
  • Mike Utley - additional keyboards (tracks 1-2, 4, 6, 10)
  • Barry Beckett - additional keyboards (tracks 3, 5, 7, 11)
  • Eddie Hinton - guitar (tracks 3, 5, 7, 11)

Chart History

Name Chart (1970) Peak
position
Spirit in the Dark U.S. Billboard Pop Albums 25
Spirit in the Dark U.S. Top R&B Albums 2

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Robert Christgau review
  3. ^ Amatneek, Bill (November 12, 1970). "Aretha Franklin: Spirit in the Dark : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2014-01-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)


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