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Aretha is the twenty-sixth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released on September 30, 1980, by Arista Records. This is Franklin's second eponymous album, and her first for Arista Records after a 12-year tenure with Atlantic Records.[4]

Aretha
Studio album by Aretha Franklin
Released	September 30, 1980
Recorded	April – July 1980
Genre	Soul funk pop
Length	39:23
Label	Arista
Producer	Chuck Jackson Arif Mardin Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin chronology
La Diva (1979) Aretha (1980) Aretha Sings the Blues (1980)
Singles from Aretha
"United Together" Released: October, 1980 (US) "What a Fool Believes" Released: February, 1981 (US) "Come to Me" Released: May, 1981 (US)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Billboard	(unrated)[2]
Robert Christgau	B−[3]

Franklin's first Arista single release, "United Together", reached number 3 on the Soul chart and crossed over to number 56 on Billboard's Hot 100. The album itself peaked at number 47 and spent 30 weeks on the Billboard album chart.

The album's opening track, "Come to Me", appeared again on Franklin's 1989 album, Through the Storm.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Come to Me"	Willard Gene Price	3:42
2.	"I Can't Turn You Loose"	Otis Redding	3:55
3.	"United Together"	Phil Perry, Chuck Jackson	5:02
4.	"Take Me With You"	Phil Perry, Terry Coleman, Chuck Jackson	4:05
5.	"Whatever It Is"	Mark Gary, Eddie Setser, Jerry Michael	3:38
6.	"What a Fool Believes"	Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald	5:13
7.	"Together Again"	Aretha Franklin, Phil Perry, Chuck Jackson	3:34
8.	"Love Me Forever"	Franklin, Rev. Patrick Henderson, Kenny Moore	4:47
9.	"School Days"	Franklin	4:54

Personnel

• Aretha Franklin – vocals, keyboards, piano, backing vocals
• David Foster – piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer
• David Paich – piano, Hammond organ
• Todd Cochran – synthesizer, programming
• Steve Porcaro, Bob Christianson – additional synthesizer
• Ed Greene, Yogi Horton, Jeff Porcaro, Bernard Purdie – drums
• Francisco Centeno, Scott Edwards, Louis Johnson, James Jamerson, Mike Porcaro – bass guitar
• Michael McGlory, Cornell Dupree, Paul Jackson Jr., Steve Lukather, David T. Walker, David Williams – guitar
• George Devens – percussion
• Richard Tee, Michael Lang – keyboards
• Tony Coleman – keyboards, bass guitar, backing vocals
• Michael Brecker, Seldon Powell, David "Fathead" Newman – tenor saxophone
• Lew Del Gatto – baritone saxophone
• Dave Tofani, David Sanborn – alto saxophone
• Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff – trumpet
• Barry Rogers – trombone
• Jerry Hey – horns
• John Clark, Peter Gordon – French horn
• Jonathan Abramowitz, Jack Barber, A. Brown, Peter Dimitriades, Harold Kohon, Harry Lookofsky, Joseph Malin, Alan Shulman, Mitsue Takayama, Gerald Tarack, M. Wright, Frederick Zlotkin, F. Zoltin – strings
• Strings and Horns arranged by Arif Mardin and Benjamin Wright
• Kitty Beethoven, Ortheia Barnes, Estelle Brown, Tony Coleman, Brenda Corbett, Preston Glass, Larry Graham, Jennifer Hall, Chuck Jackson, Liz Jackson, Edie Lehmann, Myrna Matthews, Marti McCall, Claytoven Richardson, Esther Ridgeway, Gloria Ridgeway, Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith, Hamish Stuart, The Sweet Inspirations, Jeanie Tracy – backing vocals

Production

• Produced by Chuck Jackson (tracks 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9) and Arif Mardin (tracks 1, 2, 6 and 8).
• Co-producer on track 9: Aretha Franklin
• Engineers: Lee DeCarlo and Frank Kejmar (tracks 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9); Jeremy Smith (tracks 1, 2, 6 and 8).
• Additional engineer: Lewis Hahn
• Assistant engineers: Michael O'Reilly, Stewart Whitmore
• Mixing on tracks 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9: Reginald Dozier
• Re-mixing: Lewis Hahn and Gene Paul (tracks 1–7 and 9); Arif Mardin and Michael O'Reilly (track 8).
• Re-mix assistant on track 8: Joe Mardin
• Recorded at MCA Whitney Recording Studios (Glendale), Record Plant (Los Angeles), Sound Labs Studios (Hollywood) and Atlantic Studios (New York City).
• Edited at Cherokee Studios (Los Angeles).
• Mixed at MCA Whitney Recording Studios and Cherokee Studios.
• Mastering: Ken Perry and Bill Inglot at Sterling Sound (New York).
• Art direction and design: Ria Lewerke-Shapiro
• Photography: George Hurrell

Charts

References

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