Aretha Franklin Aretha's Gold MOFI 45rpm 180 Gram Vinyl 2LP (NEW)

$

86

Serial #3112
Michael Fremer's 100 Recommended All-Analog LP Reissues Worth Owning - Rated 54/100!
 
  TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal 

  Aretha Franklin Aretha's Gold on Numbered Limited   Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP from Mobile Fidelity!
  Mastered From Original Master Tapes & Pressed at RTI!
  Strictly Limited To 4000 Numbered Copies!
 

  Astonishing Collection of The Queen of Soul's Greatest Songs for Atlantic   Records: Aretha's Gold Includes Nine Top Ten Hits: "Respect," "Chain of Fools,"   and "Think" Among Them
 
  Aretha Franklin made her Hall of Fame reputation at Atlantic Records between   1967-1968. This astonishing two-year period witnessed the singer score nine Top   10 hits and define soul music, a era chronicled on Aretha's Gold. Pairing with   producer Jerry Wexler and a flawless Muscle Shoals studio band, Franklin   unleashed bolder sides of her artistry kept under wraps during her tenure at   Columbia. The rest is history – a history that, until now, has never been in   heard in true audiophile sound. And if there's any voice you want to experience   to the most realistic extent, it's that of the vocalist Rolling Stone crowned   the Greatest Singer of All Time.
 
  Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's   180g 45RPM 2LP of Aretha's Gold presents Franklin's most seminal early Atlantic   songs with reference-standard sonics. Finally, hear the full range of the Queen   of Soul's depth, reach, and expressiveness. Complementing her timeless classics   with tremendous dynamics, restored balances, and stunning clarity, this   collectable analog set sheds new light on Franklin's power and technique,   honesty and confidence, enunciation and directness.
 
  Hear why Franklin is even better than you likely think or remember. You just   haven't been able to hear the Detroit native on a format that mirrors exactly   what went down in the studios when she recorded songs that, to this day, remain   the bar by which all other singers are measured. The same goes for Franklin's   backing band, known as the Swampers, whose instrumental savvy, feel, and   textures are so unique, the group is credited with creating its own style: The   Muscle Shoals Sound. On this vinyl edition of Aretha's Gold, experience every   picked guitar note, brushed snare, and fluid bass line. Seldom has a band and   vocalist ever made a more formidable, memorable, and emotional combination.
 
  The evidence plays out across these 14 songs, each a soul landmark, each   unforgettable thanks to Franklin's impassioned performances and empowering   attitude. The Sweet Impressions (Franklin's backing vocalists) and sweeping   string arrangements bolster the foundation, but the material belongs to   Franklin. A veritable hit parade, the track listing on Aretha's Gold reads like   a dictionary of soul.
 
  "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)," "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel Like)   A Natural Woman," "Chain of Fools," "Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby),"   "Think," "The House That Jack Built," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Baby I Love   You": All Top 10 hits. Plus five more tunes, including a riveting cover of Sam   Cooke's "You Send Me," that charted.
 
  You know the songs by heart. You know the voice by memory. But you've never   quite known them so intimately. Aretha's Gold on Mobile Fidelity gives the Queen   the royal treatment she deserves.
 
  "Mobile Fidelity's double 45rpm reissue of Aretha's Gold (originally   issued in 1969 as Atlantic SD 8227) gets off to not such a great sonic start   because though 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)' and 'Do Right Woman-Do   Right Man' are musical classics that belong at the head of the hits lineup, the   Rick Hall engineered recordings at his Fame Record Studios in Muscle Shoals,   Alabama pale in comparison to everything else in this molten set recorded at   Atlantic Studios in New York City. Once you get past those two tracks the sound   gets crazy stupid good compared to however you've previously consumed these   tracks, especially if you have the original 33 1/3 version of this hits package,   which was mastered strictly for bright, edgy and compressed commercial purposes   to pop on the kiddie phonographs. It's not that the original sounds bad—it kind   of sounds like a good juke box rendering, with lots of echo trailing off   Aretha's voice and a hard candy-apple glaze. But if you want to hear into   these mixes and especially if you want to feel as if you're right there in the   studio with Aretha, this is as thrilling as it gets. Hell, it's almost worth   buying just to hear Joe South's tremolo drenched guitar opening to Don Covay's   'Chain of Fools.' That is so deep! Also here: "Respect", "Dr. Feelgood",   "Baby, I Love You", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Think" and the   other Aretha hits arranged by Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd and engineered by Dowd   who has had his good engineering days and some not so good ones but for Aretha,   he brought his 'A' game. And Mo-Fi brings its AAA game. Mo-Fi spreads the   original's back cover photos across the inside gatefold to add visual interest. Fourteen of Aretha's greatest spread over four 180gram RTI cut sides sounding   better than ever and as good as they will ever sound, limited to 4000 copies.   Now, or kick yourself later. I got this a while back but didn't review because I   figured by the time I did, it would be sold out, but no! It's still available."   - Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, Music 10/11, Sound 9/11
 
  Features:
  • Numbered, Limited Edition - Strictly Limited To 4000 Numbered Copies
  • 45rpm
  • Production and Mastering by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
  • Specially Plated and Pressed on 180 grams of High Definition Vinyl
  • Special Static Free - Dust Free Inner Sleeve
  • Heavy Duty Protective Packaging
  • Mastered From Original Master Tapes
  • Pressed at RTI
 
  Selections:
  Side One:
  1. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
  2. Do Right Woman-Do Right Man
  3. Respect
  4. Dr. Feelgood
  Side Two:
  1. Baby, I Love You
  2. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
  3. Chain Of Fools
  Side Three:
  1. Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)
  2. Ain't No Way
  3. Think
  4. You Send Me
  Side Four:
  1. The House That Jack Built
  2. I Say A Little Prayer
  3. See Saw