Aretha Franklin “Lady Soul” 1968. Today, March 25th, would have been Aretha’s 80th birthday (b. 1942, d. 2018). Lady Soul was her 12th studio LP and it is considered one of the best albums of all-time. It went to #1 on the Soul Album chart, to #2 on the Pop Album chart and to #3 on the Jazz album chart in ’68 and had four Top 20 hits (two of those went to #1 on the R&B chart). Lady Soul boasts a huge and noteworthy backing band including Eric Clapton, Bobby Womack, King Curtis and Cissy Houston among many others. It is such a classic that to me it feels like a greatest hits record with some of my favorite Aretha songs: “Chain of Fools” (#2 US), “Money Won’t Change You” (originally by James Brown, 1966), “Since You’ve Been Gone” (#5 US), “Come Back Baby” (written by Walter Davis and made popular by Ray Charles) and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (#8 US). Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, King recorded her own version of “A Natural Woman” for her 1971 Tapestry album. Mary J. Blige recorded it in ’95, scoring a place in the Top 100 and Celine Dion did her version in 1995 as well, going to #31 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the US and to #47 in Canada. Franklin’s version is hands-down the best of the bunch.