RESPECT

ARETHA FRANKLIN

SONGWRITER: OTIS REDDING

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: RESPECT

LABEL: ATLANTIC

GENRE: SOUL

YEAR: 1967

Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was minister. At the age of 18, she embarked on a secular-music career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While Franklin's career did not immediately flourish, she found acclaim and commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records in 1966. Hit songs such as "Respect", "Chain of Fools", "Think", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", and "I Say a Little Prayer", propelled her past her musical peers. By the end of the 1960s, Aretha Franklin had come to be known as "The Queen of Soul".

Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You(1967), Lady Soul(1968), Spirit in the Dark(1970), Young, Gifted and Black(1972), Amazing Grace(1972), and Sparkle(1976) before experiencing problems with her record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. She appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers before releasing the successful albums Jump to It(1982), Who's Zoomin' Who?(1985), and Aretha(1986) on the Arista label. In 1998, Franklin returned to the Top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced song "A Rose Is Still a Rose"; later, she released an album of the same name which was certified gold. That same year, Franklin earned international acclaim for her performance of "Nessun dorma" at the Grammy Awards; she filled in at the last minute for Luciano Pavarotti, who canceled his appearance after the show had already begun. In a widely noted performance, she paid tribute to 2015 honoree Carole King by singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the Kennedy Center Honors.

"Respect" is a song written and originally released by American recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. The song became a 1967 hit and signature song for soul singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few changes in the lyrics, the stories told by the songs have a different flavor. Redding's version is a plea from a desperate man, who will give his woman anything she wants. He won't care if she does him wrong, as long as he gets his due respect when he brings money home. However, Franklin's version is a declaration from a strong, confident woman, who knows that she has everything her man wants. She never does him wrong, and demands his "respect". Franklin's version adds the "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" chorus and the backup singers' refrain of "Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me...".

Franklin's cover was a landmark for the feminist movement, and is often considered one of the best songs of the R&B era, earning her two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It was also included in the list of "Songs of the Century", by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Franklin included a live recording on the álbum Aretha in Paris(1968).

What you want

Baby, I got

What you need

Do you know I got it?

All I'm askin'

Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)

Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home

(Just a little bit) mister (just a little bit)

I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone

Ain't gonna do you wrong, 'cause I don't wanna

All I'm askin'

Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)

Baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit)

Yeah (just a little bit)

I'm about to give you all of my money

And all I'm askin' in return, honey

Is to give me my propers

When you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a)

Yeah, baby (just a, just a, just a, just a)

When you get home (just a little bit)

Yeah (just a little bit)

Ooh, your kisses

Sweeter than honey

And guess what?

So is my money

All I want you to do or me

Is give it to me when you get home (re, re, re, re)

Yeah, baby (re, re, re, re)

Whip it to me (respect, just a littlebit)

When you get home, now (just a little bit)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care, TCB

Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me)

(Sock it to me, sock it to me)

A little respect (sock it to me, sock it to me

Sock it to me, sock it to me)

Whoa, babe (just a little bit)

A little respect (just a little bit)

I get tired (just a little bit)

Keep on tryin' (just a little bit)

You're runnin' out of fools' (just a little bit)

And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit)

(Re, re, re, re) 'spect

When you come home (re, re, re, re)

Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit)

And find out I'm gone (just a little bit)

I got to have (just a little bit)

A little respect (just a little bit).

AC/DC

HIGHWAY TO HELL

SONGWRITERS: BON SCOTT; ANGUS YOUNG & MALCOLM YOUNG

COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA

ALBUM: HIGHWAY TO HELL

LABEL: ALBERT-ATLANTIC

GENRE: HARD ROCK

YEAR: 1979

Highway to Hell is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It was the band's fifth studio album released internationally and the sixth to be released in Australia. It was the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who died early the following year on 19 February 1980.

By 1978, AC/DC had released five albums internationally and had toured Australia and Europe extensively. In 1977, they landed in America and, with virtually no radio support, began to amass a live following. The band's most recent album, the live If You Want Blood, had reached number 13 in Britain, and the two albums previous to that, 1977's Let There Be Rock and 1978's Powerage, had seen the band find their raging, blues-based hard rock sound. Although the American branch of Atlantic Records had rejected the group's 1976 LP Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, it now believed the band was poised to strike it big in the States if only they would work with a producer who could give them a radio-friendly sound. Since their 1975 Australian debut High Voltage, all of AC/DC's albums had been produced by George Young and Harry Vanda. According to the book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, the band was not enthusiastic about the idea, especially guitarists Angus Young and Malcolm Young, who felt a strong sense of loyalty to their older brother George:

Being told what to do was bad enough but what really pissed off Malcolm and Angus was they felt that George was being treated disrespectfully by Atlantic, like an amateur with no great track record when it came to production ... Malcolm seemed less pleased with the situation and went so far as to tell Radio 2JJ in Sydney that the band had been virtually "forced" to go with an outside producer. Losing Harry was one thing. Losing George was almost literally like losing a sixth member of the band, and much more.

Living easy, livin' free

Season ticket, on a one way ride

Asking nothing, leave me be

Taking everything in my stride

Don't need reason, don't need rhyme

Ain't nothin' that I’d rather do

Going down, party time

My friends are gonna be there too

I'm on the highway to hell

On the highway to hell

Highway to hell

I'm on the highway to hell

No stop signs, speed limit

Nobody's gonna slow me down

Like a wheel, gonna spin it

Nobody's gonna mess me 'round

Hey, satan!

Paid my dues

Playin' in a rockin' band

Hey mama! Look at me

I'm on my way to the promised land

I'm on the highway to hell

Highway to hell

I'm on the highway to hell

Highway to hell

Don't stop me!

I'm on the highway to hell

On the highway to hell

I'm on the (highway to hell)

On the highway (to hell)

Highway to hell

I'm on the highway to hell

Highway to hell

Highway to hell

Highway to hell

Yeah I'm going down all the way

On the highway to hell.

THE GREAT PRETENDER

THE PLATTERS

SONGWRITER: BUCK RAM

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: THE GREAT PRTENDER/45RPM

LABEL: MERCURY

GENRE: R&B

YEAR: 1955

"The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single on November 3, 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management. The song reached the UK charts peaking at number 5.

Buck Ram reports that he wrote the song in about 20 minutes in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in order to have a song to follow up the success of "Only You (And You Alone)". Stan Freberg parodied this version.

In 2004, the song was voted 360th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone. Plas Johnson played tenor saxophone.

The song was repopularized in 1987 by Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock band Queen. Mercury's version reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart. In one of his last videotaped interviews in spring of 1987, Mercury explained that the song was particularly fitting for the way he saw his career and being on stage.

Mercury's music video for the song featured him parodying himself in many of his Queen guises through video medium over the years, including visual re-takes of "Radio Ga Ga", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "It's a Hard Life", "I Want to Break Free", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "One Vision", and "I Was Born to Love You". It was directed by David Mallet in February 1987, and also featured fellow Queen member Roger Taylor and actor Peter Straker in drag. The video was also notable for Mercury having shaved off his trademark moustache, which he had sported for much of the 1980s.

Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender

Pretending that I'm doing well

My need is such I pretend too much

I'm lonely but no one can tell

Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender

Adrift in a world of my own

I've played the game but to my real shame

You've left me to grieve all alone

Too real is this feeling of make-believe

Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal

Yes, I'm the great pretender

Just laughin' and gay like a clown

I seem to be what I'm not, you see

I'm wearing my heart like a crown

Pretending that you're still around

Too real is this feeling of make-believe

Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal

Yes, I'm the great pretender

Just laughin' and gay like a clown

I seem to be what I'm not, you see

I'm wearing my heart like a crown

Pretending that you're still around

"IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD"

DUKE ELLINGTON'S ORIGINAL

SONGWRITER: DUKE ELLINGTON; MANNY KURTZ & IRVING MILLS GAVE

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

INSTRUMENT: PIANO

ALBUM: “IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD”

LABEL: THE BRUNSWICK

GENRE: JAZZ

YEAR: 1935

On April 30, 1935, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra introduced “In a Sentimental Mood.” Recorded on the Brunswick label and featuring Otto “Toby” Hardwick on alto saxophone, the composition went onto the pop charts on July 13, rising to number fourteen.

"In a Sentimental Mood" is a jazz composition by Duke Ellington. He composed the piece in 1935 and recorded it with his orchestra during the same year. Lyrics were written by Manny Kurtz; Ellington's manager Irving Mills gave himself a percentage of the publishing, so the song was credited to all three.

According to Ellington, the song was born in Durham, North Carolina. "We had played a big dance in a tobacco warehouse, and afterwards a friend of mine, an executive in the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, threw a party for Amy. I was playing piano when another one of our friends had some trouble with two chicks. To pacify them, I composed this there and then, with one chick standing on each side of the piano." The recording featured solos by Otto Hardwicke, Harry Carney, Lawrence Brown, and Rex Stewart.

Ellington recorded a version with John Coltrane which appears on Duke Ellington and John Coltrane(1963) and Coltrane for Lovers(2001). The original was recorded in F major, starting on D minor and with the bridge in Db major. But the version Ellington and Coltrane version was performed in Bb minor or D-flat major, with an interlude in A major.