Legacy released this 18-track disc less than two months prior to the 11-CD/one-DVD Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia.
In a sense, The Great American Songbook is nothing more than a box-set sampler, but it shall remain an excellent overview of Franklin’s overlooked (or willfully ignored) early-‘60s releases, which were heavy on interpretations of songs written by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, George and Ira Gershwin, Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, and Irving Berlin.
While she had not fully blossomed and was years away from the gutsier material of her commercial peak -- only “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” scratched the Top 40 -- her voice was nonetheless supremely expressive, rooted in her gospel upbringing and drenched in soul.
She was no mere stylist; when she sings “Ooh, honey, I’d like to really melt your cold, cold heart,” there is as much fire as there is in any given line of “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman.” Even the earliest cuts here, taken from late 1960 and early 1961 sessions with the Ray Bryant Combo, are soul through and through.
(Note for fanatics: the mixes of "Trouble in Mind" and "Love for Sale" eliminate the fabricated crowd noise heard on Yeah!!!.).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Brown BookBilly Strayhorn | Aretha Franklin | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Try a Little TendernessJ. Campbell, Reginald Connelly, H. Woods | Aretha Franklin | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | It Ain't Necessarily SoGeorge Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | How Deep Is the OceanIrving Berlin | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:48 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Cold, Cold HeartH. Williams | Aretha Franklin | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Love for SaleCole Porter | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | How Glad I Am | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:32 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | SkylarkJohnny Mercer | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:50 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | This Bitter Earth | Aretha Franklin | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Ac-cent-tchu-ate the PositiveHarold Arlen, Johnny Mercer | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:16 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | What a Diff'rence a Day Made | Aretha Franklin | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Only the LonelySammy Cahn, James Van Heusen | Aretha Franklin | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie MelodySteven Chino Lewis, J. Schwartz | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:25 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 14 | God Bless the ChildB. Holiday | Aretha Franklin | Play | 03:03 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 15 | Say It Isn't SoIrving Berlin | Aretha Franklin | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 16 | Are You SureM. Wilson | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 17 | That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)B. Smith | Aretha Franklin | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 18 | Trouble In Mind (Mono Mix) | Aretha Franklin | Play | 02:54 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 57 mins | 132 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harold Arlen | Composer |
| 2 | Robert Ascher | Trombone |
| 3 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 4 | Michael Boland | Design |
| 5 | Ted Brosnan | Engineer |
| 6 | Ray Bryant | Piano |
| 7 | Hindel Butts | Drums |
| 8 | Sammy Cahn | Composer |
| 9 | J. Campbell | Composer |
| 10 | Harold Chapman | Engineer |
| 11 | Gary Chester | Drums |
| 12 | Jimmy Cobb | Drums |
| 13 | Reginald Connelly | Composer |
| 14 | George Duvivier | Bass |
| 15 | Mandy Eidgah | Project Director |
| 16 | Sticks Evans | Drums |
| 17 | Adam Farber | Project Director |
| 18 | Tommy Flanagan | Piano |
| 19 | Aretha Franklin | Piano, Primary Artist |
| 20 | George Gershwin | Composer |
| 21 | Ira Gershwin | Composer |
| 22 | Al Grey | Trombone |
| 23 | Roy Halee | Engineer |
| 24 | John Hammond, Sr. | Original Recording Producer, Producer |
| 25 | Teddy Harris | Piano |
| 26 | Ernie Hayes | Organ, Piano |
| 27 | Anthony Heilbut | Liner Notes, Producer |
| 28 | Belford C. Hendricks | Arranger |
| 29 | James Van Heusen | Composer |
| 30 | Milt Hinton | Bass |
| 31 | B. Holiday | Composer |
| 32 | Don Hunstein | Photography |
| 33 | R.M. Jones | Composer |
| 34 | Al Kasha | Original Recording Producer, Producer |
| 35 | George Knoor | Engineer |
| 36 | Frank Laico | Engineer |
| 37 | Bill Lee | Bass |
| 38 | Steven Chino Lewis | Composer |
| 39 | Buddy Lucas | Sax (Tenor) |
| 40 | Warren Lucky | Sax (Tenor) |
| 41 | J. Leslie McFarland | Arranger |
| 42 | Johnny Mercer | Composer |
| 43 | Robert Mersey | Arranger, Original Recording Producer, Producer |
| 44 | Cliff Morris | Engineer |
| 45 | Clyde Otis | Original Recording Producer, Producer |
| 46 | Hank Parker | Photography |
| 47 | Fred Plaut | Engineer |
| 48 | Cole Porter | Composer |
| 49 | James "Beans" Richardson | Bass |
| 50 | Ernie Royal | Trumpet |
| 51 | Leo Sacks | Producer |
| 52 | J. Schwartz | Composer |
| 53 | Bobby Scott | Arranger, Original Recording Producer, Producer |
| 54 | Al Sears | Sax (Tenor) |
| 55 | B. Smith | Composer |
| 56 | Vernon Smith | Photography |
| 57 | Sandy Speiser | Photography |
| 58 | Billy Strayhorn | Composer |
| 59 | Stanley Tonkel | Engineer |
| 60 | Maria Triana | Digital Editing |
| 61 | Robert Waller | Engineer |
| 62 | Richard Wess | Arranger |
| 63 | Chauncey Westbrook | Guitar |
| 64 | Mark Wilder | Mastering |
| 65 | H. Williams | Composer |
| 66 | M. Wilson | Composer |
| 67 | H. Woods | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |