# 33 Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul
Fella's if you really want to glean some good wisdom as to the wants and needs of women my suggestion would be to get your noses out of the Sexual Experience thread and pick up this album as soon possible. Hell, PM me. I'll hook a brother up.
Everything I ever learned about the proper care and treatment of a woman I learned from Aretha , at least all the good things anyway, and upon a recent listening to this album I can only say that Aretha tells me I have so much more to learn. (in case you're wondering if you should necessarily be taking relationship advice from a recently divorced man I'll tell you without that Aretha wouldn't have liked her at all).
In the opening song Chain of Fools the first few bars of the spring reverb saturated guitar followed by a full chorus lead in barely gets you set up for Aretha soulfully droppin' the truth "For 5 long years I thought you were my man, but I found out I'm just a link in yo' chain". If that doesn't make you feel guilty for having a penis it means you ain't got one.
The album continues steady and upbeat with Money Won't Change You and then slows down with the absolutely gorgeous rendition of Curtis Mayfield's People Get Ready. Of course there's the classic (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Good to Me as I am to You (my personal favorite), the beautiful and elequently tender ballad Aint No Way, and her unique interpretation of the classic Young Rascals hit Groovin'.
This album is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Aretha's discography, but it is my favorite, and she has produced a couple of jazz albums which are good as well, but I didn't really want to reach for something so close to what we're inching toward. To say that Aretha is an icon of American music would be a gross understatement. Her voice is the perfect fusion of Jazz melody and soulful pop sensibility, and undoubtedly the music we listen to today would not be the same without her.