Personnel: Aretha Franklin (vocals, arranger, piano, celeste); Rev. James Cleveland (vocals, director, piano); Southern California Community Choir (vocals); Cornell Dupree (guitar); Ken Lupper (organ); Chuck Rainey (bass); Bernard Purdie (drums); Pancho Morales (congas).
Producers: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Aretha Franklin.
Reissue producers: Patrick Milligan, Reggie Collins.
This edition of AMAZING GRACE contains two unedited live performances recorded at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, California on January 13-14, 1972. Includes liner notes by David Nathan, Reggie Collins & Patrick Milligan.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Long before she ascended the throne and donned the mantle of the Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin was a child of the church. Franklin's pedigree demanded such, since her father was the famous Reverend C.L. Franklin, and her mother was herself a gospel singer. AMAZING GRACE was Lady Soul's return to her roots after hitting the secular stride of her fantastic strings of albums on Atlantic.
Recorded over two days at Los Angeles' New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, AMAZING GRACE finds Franklin backed by her studio band and joined by a choir led by family friend and gospel icon James Cleveland. Franklin's singing is unfettered and filled with a spirit not heard in her secular material. Most interesting is her seamless choice of material. She gives pop songs by Marvin Gaye ("Wholy Holy") and Carole King ("You've Got A Friend") a spiritual sheen, placing them alongside more traditional fare by Clara Ward ("How I Got Over") and Thomas Dorsey ("Precious Lord, Take My Hand"). Equally impressive are Franklin's rich arrangements, her interaction with the Southern California Community Choir, and her often overlooked piano playing on such songs as "Never Grow Old."
