Happy 45th: Aretha Franklin, Spirit in the Dark

45 years ago today, Aretha Franklin released an album which is considered by critics to be one of the best of her entire career, even if its initial commercial response wasn’t quite as strong as that of the albums that bookended it.

Released late in the summer of 1970, Spirit in the Dark certainly wasn’t ignored by Aretha’s fans: when all was said and done, the first single, “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied),” had provided her with a #1 R&B hit and a #11 pop hit, and the second single – the title track – went to #3 on the R&B Singles chart and made it to #23 on the Hot 100. As an album, though, it became Aretha’s first effort for Atlantic Records to miss the top 20, something she’d managed with the previous six albums. As to the reason, consider that it was Aretha’s second album of the year – This Girl’s in Love with You had only just been released in January – and then keep in mind that when she came back in 1972 with Young, Gifted and Black, she was right back in the top 20 again, which is really all that matters.

If you’ve never heard the album, give it a spin, and if you find that the title track sounds familiar, it may be because it was sampled in Kanye West’s “School Spirit.” Beyond that and “Don’t Play That Song (You’d Lied),” there’s plenty more great material in the mix that you’ll enjoy discovering, but we’ll just say one more thing: Aretha’s version of “The Thrill is Gone” may not make you forget B.B. King’s definitive rendition, but the fact that she does indeed succeed in making it her own is a testament to just what a great interpreter of other people’s material she can be.