Aretha Franklin - This Is (1973)

I have to admit that soul music is fairly well down my list of favourite musical styles, but there are a few artists that I do love, and Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin are among them. When Franklin selected Quincey Jones to co-produce her 1973 album 'Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky)' with her, the collaboration was so productive that they recorded almost twice as many songs as were needed for the disc. By taking the seven extra songs that they laid down in those sessions, and adding three out-takes from 1970's 'Young Gifted And Black', we end up with a quite superb album of unheard material which could have easily been slotted in between the two parent albums. Bearing in mind that these songs were not considered good enough to release at the time they were recorded, the quality of them is astounding, and this album is the equal of any of her official releases of the period.  

Track listing

01 My Cup Runneth Over
02 I Need A Strong Man (The To-To Song) 
03 Heavenly Father 
04 This Is 
05 Sweetest Smile And The Funkiest Style
06 Tree Of Life 
07 Do You Know 
08 Can You Love Again 
09 Suzanne
10 I Want To Be With You