Aretha Franklin - Young, Gifted and Black

Opaque mustard yellow vinyl LP

Like its predecessor, Spirit in the Dark, 1972's Young, Gifted and Black found Aretha moving with soul music's elite into a progressive phase that opened up the emotional content of her work even further. All the King's Horses mourns the death of her first marriage, while Day Dreaming and A Brand New Me point toward what we'd now call "healing." Two stabs at social comment, Nina Simone's title cut and, intriguingly, Elton John's Border Song, round out this impressive portrait.