The first five albums coincide with a shift in Aretha’s success at Atlantic Records. After an unparalleled string of genre-defining hits from 1967-1973, Aretha’s success slowed. Popular music shifted, but Aretha did not. The change began with 1973’s Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky), produced by Quincy Jones. Expected to be a triumph, the album tanked. Things did turn back around momentarily with 1974’s Let Me In Your Life and 1976’s Sparkle. However, the other 5 albums released from 1974-1979 disappointed commercially.

So, why exclude them from contemporary formats? The story goes that when Aretha left Atlantic Records in 1979, she left with the masters to these 5 albums. That means, Aretha, not Atlantic, owns the rights to these albums. So? Aretha has complete control over the reissuing of this material. As a result, these five albums have never been reissued, remastered, or even released to CD, or cassette, or digital. To this day, they are only officially available on vinyl and 8-track. Only once, on an out-of-print 1994 box set The Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings, were 4 songs from these five albums reissued. The same lack of reissue/digital release can be said for the sixth album, which was released on Aretha’s own label in 2011.

With Everything I Feel In Me (1974)

This album indicated that Hey Now Hey with Quincy Jones wasn’t a one-time fluke. Just two years after the 1-2-3 punch of Aretha: Live at the Fillmore West, Young, Gifted & Black, and Amazing Grace, this album confirmed a slowdown in success. Produced by Aretha’s A-team: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Tom Dowd, something doesn’t connect like old times. For one, the covers don’t strike like they used to. That’s a sign, because Aretha can essentially demolish any cover she’s presented. The essentials come in the form of Aretha’s self-penned title cut, and her sister Carolyn’s extremely catchy contribution “Without Love”. There’s a first hint of disco here with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, a zipping string cut with freestyle-esque spoken word bits. Yet, in 1974, it feels out of place on this largely R&B album.

Essentials: “Without Love”, “With Everything I Feel In Me”

You (1975)

This is the final effort Aretha released with Jerry Wexler at the boards (who signed her and produced her first big hits). Her own composition “Mr. DJ (5 For The DJ)” opens the album. It’s upbeat, but a far cry from “Sister From Texas” and “Rock Steady”. She demolishes the Van McCoy composition “Walk Softly”, and title track “You”. Fun fact: The title track also appeared on Natalie Cole’s debut album Inseparable, also released in 1975. Natalie went on to end Aretha’s 8-year winning streak of the Best Female R&B Performance Grammy with Inseparable’s “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”. There have been rumors that the song was offered to Aretha but she turned it down. Imagine Aretha cutting through that.

Essentials: “Walk Softly”, “You Got All The Aces”, “You”

Sweet Passion (1977)

Riding high off the success of Sparkle in 1976, Aretha hoped to keep the hits coming. This time around, Aretha linked up with Lamont Dozier of the Motown trio Holland-Dozier-Holland. That trio’s hit compositions (for those unaware) include “Baby Love”, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, “Heat Wave”, “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Nowhere To Run”, to name just a few. The first side overpowers, driven by the trippy “Break It To Me Gently” and Aretha’s flawless composition “When I Think About You”. Side B’s “Mumbles/I Got The Music In Me” is strange but enjoyable with some first-class scatting from Aretha, and Aretha’s self-composed title track is, once again, stellar. Out of these five 70’s albums, Sweet Passion is probably the catchiest and most cohesive. She also did a massive cover of “You Light Up My Life” that didn’t make the album. Good luck hunting that one down in high quality.

Essentials: “When I Think About You”, “Break It To Me Gently”, “Sweet Passion”

Almighty Fire (1978)

This one was supposed to resurrect Aretha. Sparkle (which Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced in its entirety), momentarily returned Aretha to prominence in 1976. Enlisting Curtis to produce again was a no brainer. Unfortunately, lightning doesn’t strike twice here. Almighty Fire didn’t fare even half as well as Sparkle. It just doesn’t hit like their previous work. “More Than Just A Joy” has a “Something He Can Feel”-meets-”At Last” progression while “Keep On Loving You” is akin to the Soul Train themes from the mid-70’s. Despite what it lacks, Almighty Fire does close with a stellar cut, “I’m Your Speed”. A stark contrast from the rest of the album, this Aretha composition is just Aretha accompanying herself on piano. It’s one of only two Aretha songs without any rhythm to it, and it’s hauntingly beautiful.

Essentials: “I’m Your Speed”

La Diva (1979)

Aretha’s final album on Atlantic Records was a stark contrast from her first, I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You). Gone were the days of groundbreaking gospel-infused soul music. Instead, Aretha pursued the overpowering disco trend with the help of Van McCoy (“The Hustle”), who tragically passed away right before the release of La Diva. This album always gets mis-labeled as a straight-up disco LP, but it’s not. There are disco tracks, but they do not dominate this LP. Those disco moments are cute though, including opener “Ladies Only” and “Only Star”. She gets funky on “It’s Gonna Get A Bit Better” and “Reasons Why”. Her son Clarence’s composition “I Was Made For You” is a beautiful ballad, and the soulful arrangement of “Honey I Need Your Love” harkens back to her brilliant cover of Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me”. And for what it’s worth, the final track on the album “The Feeling” is a straight up disco bop that is required listening.

Essentials: “The Feeling”, “Honey I Need Your Love”, “Only Star”

Aretha: A Woman Falling Out Of Love (2011)

After years of delays, Aretha followed up 2003’s So Damn Happy and 2008’s This Christmas, Aretha with her final body of mainly original material. Much of the album was recorded in the mid-late 2000’s, but Aretha was determined to release the album independently. She shopped it around and finally secured distribution exclusively through Wal Mart with a May 2011 release date. Most of it is, hm, not revelatory or worth revisiting (and that’s coming from someone who recently got “Aretha made me.” tattooed on their ribs), but there are two shining exceptions. First is her growling, smoldering cover of B.B. King’s “Sweet Sixteen”. Vocally, she’s as immaculate and unrestricted as only Aretha can be. She juices every bit of emotion out of this blues classic. Second, is a duet with gospel powerhouse Karen Clark-Sheard, “Faithful”. A Richard Smallwood composition, the two channel their spiritual upbringing for Aretha’s final gospel recording. Even on this, Aretha singing gospel remains a magical and unmatched event. Aretha: A Woman Falling Out Of Love is likely out of print and no longer listed on Wal Mart’s website, but is available on Amazon.
Essentials: “Sweet Sixteen”, “Faithful” 

A deal was reportedly in the works to reissue the elusive 5 Aretha Franklin albums in a box set back in 2012. Roger Friedman (who broke the news of Aretha’s condition before her death) reported that Aretha reached a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, but no further information ever came to be. It’s unfortunate because the reissues were set to include a dozen unreleased tracks from the various sessions, essentially an album of material on it’s own. Will we ever see these 6 albums released to streaming services? Only time will tell. Until then, enjoy the shining moments with the help of YouTube.

The post The 6 Aretha Franklin Albums You Can’t Stream appeared first on THE 97.

When it comes to acquiring music I always love a good story and even more, a challenge. Amerie’s Because I Love It is one of those albums that has both. It holds a special place in my heart not only because of the two aforementioned factors, but also because of how amazing the album is. Because I Love It is Amerie’s magnum opus. But, have you even heard of Because I Love It?

Here’s the thing, most people (in the US especially) don’t know about it. The album never received a ‘proper’ release in the US or Canada, and the ‘release’ it did receive happened almost a year and a half after it’s initial release. Even still, tracking down a copy was no easy task. Sure, there are copies on Amazon, but I wanted more. I finally tracked down the Taiwan edition, which contains a bonus remix, because that’s how I roll.

Gotta Work

I can pinpoint the exact moment that I became interested in Because I Love It. In spring 2009 as Amerie prepared her fourth album In Love & War, she caught my attention. I loved the sound of “Why R U” that album’s first single and needed to explore her catalog. When I discovered that Because I Love It was by and large unreleased in the US, it peaked my interest. I started researching reviews and information on the album. A review I found described the album’s closer “All Roads” as “somewhere between Mariah Carey and Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin'”. Ding ding ding! Those are the magic words. An album with a Mariah-esque song is somewhere hard to find? Challenge accepted. I needed that album, and so my search began.

I did not actually get my hands on Because I Love It until nearly 4 years later. When I did, it was a big victory. The Taiwanese version of the album was my goal, because I wanted the “Take Control (Remix)” featuring singer Se7en. All the songs. I want them all, and on a cd, please and thank you. Finally getting that import in my hands was an extremely gratifying moment amongst my musical memories. The work paid off. Even better, the CD-quality version of the album highlighted quite a few things musically that my low-quality bootleg missed.

Because I Love It: Background

Originally titled None Of The Above according to an un-linkable, yet frequently sourced Vibe article, Amerie aimed to continue her adventurous and diverse musical direction with album number three. She refused (and still refuses) to be classified into one specific genre. While she’s generally considered an R&B artist, she incorporates soul, funk, pop, hip hop, and DC go-go into her sound.

Because I Love It is full of rich and diverse sounds, seemingly centering on 80’s inspirations. Even though it’s Amerie’s first album without producer Rich Harrison (Amerie’s entire debut All I Have & “1 Thing”, Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love”, Jennifer Lopez’s “Get Right”) at her side, she flourishes. From the edgy, 80’s “World’s Famous”-sampling “Some Like It”, to the spy movie-esque first single “Take Control”, she hits every mark to make this a memorable, career-defining body of work.

Singles

Both singles sound like the extravagant, catchy songs we expect from Amerie. Lead single “Take Control” finds Amerie co-writing with Cee-Lo, who also lends background vocals to fill out the song. “Gotta Work” on the other hand, leans heavily on the DC-driven go go sound which propelled “1 Thing” to legendary status. “Gotta Work” is built on a sample of Aretha Franklin’s sister Erma Franklin’s cover of Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin'”. The song is fast paced, motivational, and invigorating. It’s like “1 Thing” on steroids.

Standout Album Cuts

Digging in beyond the singles, there’s a unique reworking of Curtis Mayfield’s “Make Me Believe In You“. The track, retitled “Make Me Believe” hits much harder than Mayfield’s original. With the addition of brass, it transforms the song away from his masterful funk and into a moment from the late 60’s/early 70’s soul music that prefaced funk. Also, those flute parts you hear are performed by Amerie. The woman is a talent without limits.

The aforementioned “All Roads” concludes the standard track list beautifully. It more than lives up to the Mariah Carey-Journey comparison. Fluttering keys merge with aggressive drum changes as Amerie vocally shows us what she’s really got (which is A LOT). And of course, there’s a key change to seal the deal as the song climaxes. This is the perfect album closer.

“Crush”, is the album’s midpoint and it’s standout cut. Built on a piano loop masquerading for a bass, the song refuses classification. It’s not quite pop, not quite R&B, but it’s an essential for every breezy summer drive with the windows down. “I need your arms around me. Please let me be your everything. I’ll be your girl for just tonight. Boy don’t you know? You are my crush” she sings on the chorus over crashing synths. It perfectly captures the feelings that run rampant during a crush. The song was planned as a single but it never came to fruition. However, a stellar remix by Johnny Douglas did find its way online.

The Release, Or Lack There Of

Because I Love It first released in the U.K. on iTunes on May 11, 2007. A physical release followed days later in the U.K. Shortly thereafter, the album was released throughout the rest of Europe and Japan. It peaked at #4 on the U.K. R&B Albums chart. The album became available in CD form in the United States about 3 months later, in August 2007. It was only available through one big-box retailer, as an online exclusive. A US release allegedly happened in September of 2008, but there’s no evidence to corroborate this claim. Furthermore by that point, Amerie already departed Columbia Records and moved on to Def Jam.

The real question is why?

I don’t want to speculate and get hit with the stingers, but there could have been some trepidation on Columbia’s part on account that Amerie could upstage another R&B singer (*cough* Beyoncè *cough*) also on their roster. This album surely had the power to advance her position of power within the words of pop and R&B. More likely though, the stifled release can be attributed to the performance of “Take Control”. The song did not even crack the Top 50 on Billboard R&B charts, let alone the Hot 100. In comparison, “1 Thing” peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. While “Gotta Work” never received an official US release, the song has been used in numerous commercials and trailers. Most people have probably heard it before, whether they realize it or not.

There’s not a lot of information on the reasoning, and Amerie hasn’t been asked about it, so for now, it’s a mystery. What’s more of a mystery is that the album is no longer available in the United States (if it ever was). Also in the United States, it was never released on iTunes, and to this day cannot purchased digitally on any outlet, nor streamed on any platform including Spotify and Tidal. In contrast, Because I Love It readily available in European countries any beyond for both digital purchase and streaming.

With all that said, it’s still surprising that considering the overall critical acclaim for the album, someone didn’t think to give it a real release in the US. NME went as far as to call it “bar-raising pop”, AllMusic described the album as “more colorful and varied than All I Have and Touch“, and The Guardian called her “one of the greatest singers in pop music” and described the album in two words: “Spectacular work.”

If you want to hear Because I Love It start to finish in the US you have 2 choices:

1. Buy it. Used copies readily available on Amazon these days.

2. Download it through back channels. However, let me caution you: Most of the downloads out there are a low quality rip of the album. You’re better off spending the few dollars for the CD and getting the good quality. It makes a difference (really), and it’s worth it!

The post Amerie’s Because I Love It: An Amazing, Under-appreciated, Hard-To-Find Album appeared first on THE 97.