A trip to the sky

Among the albums that turn 50 this year, there is one rare psychedelic escapade that often gets overlooked but you cannot afford to miss

When you think of Aretha Franklin, the typical image that comes to mind is an incredibly talented singer, often accompanying herself on piano, commanding respect by mere virtue of being.

Twice named the greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, the undisputed Queen of Soul is famous for having brought the church (metaphorically and literally) to mainstream pop and R&B.

With global sales surpassing 75 million records, 112 charted singles in the US Billboard charts, 18 Grammy Awards, and countless other accolades (including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and being the first female inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), calling her legendary is a gross understatement.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of my favourite album of hers: Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky).

Often relegated to the shadows of her more commercially successful titles (I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Amazing Grace, and Who’s Zoomin’ Who?, among others), her 1973 effort is far from being her most popular, yet it’s definitely her most ambitious, progressive and audacious.

Produced by Quincy Jones, who assembled an army of hugely talented musicians (Billy Preston, Joe Farrell, Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson, Ray Brown, and Phil Woods, to name a few), the album saw Aretha deviate from her traditional hit-making “gospel meets R&B” formula.

The result? A spectacular journey through jazz, funk, blues, classical, and a fair dose of psychedelia during which Aretha jammed like there was no tomorrow, stretched the limits of her range and musicality, and even skipped church day to confess her love and lust for her lover’s blackness and manhood (I kid you not).

While she still works her usual magic in the track “Angel” (which topped the R&B charts), the real gems are her incredible take on Bobby Womack’s “That’s the Way I Feel About ’Cha” (7 minutes and 10 seconds of pure gold) and the beautiful madness of the closing track, “Just Right Tonight”, which is a proper trip.

She ended up not just experimenting, but really pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally expected of her.

I particularly recommend this 1973 German edition which sounds fantastic.

This is Aretha like you’ve never heard her before. Breaking conventions. Out of her comfort zone. Stretching the limits of her voice and her decorum. Reaching high, as she would, but to a different kind of divine.

Here you get to see an incredibly rare and irresistible side of arguably one of the most talented soul singers in history. She was at a stage of her career where she had nothing left to prove and was given a licence to have fun. And boy did she live up to the challenge.

We’ll never fully know exactly what awaits us on the other side of the sky, but this is the closest you can get to being among gods (with one goddess in charge).

Thanks for reading and/or listening. Happy spinning!