Aretha Franklin I Say a Little Prayer

Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer, she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records -- «Respect,» «I Never Loved a Man,» «Chain of Fools,» «Baby I Love You,» «I Say a Little Prayer,» «Think,» «The House That Jack Built,» and several others -- earned her the title «Lady Soul,» which she has worn uncontested ever since. Yet as much of an international institution as she's become, much of her work -- outside of her recordings for Atlantic in the late '60s and early '70s -- is erratic and only fitfully inspired, making discretion a necessity when collecting her records.