''Young, Gifted and Black'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in early 1972, by Atlantic Records. The album climbed to #2 on ''Billboard'''s R&B albums survey and peaked at #11 on the main album chart. It was quickly certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the RIAA. Its title was cut from " To Be Young, Gifted and Black", recorded and released by

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

in 1969. Franklin won a 1972

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

. In 2003, the television network VH1 named it the 76th greatest album of all time. In 2020, it was ranked number 388 by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Songs

''Young, Gifted and Black'' contains original songs written and performed by Franklin, such as " Day Dreaming" and "

Rock Steady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

". It also features

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of songs by other artists, including " To Be Young, Gifted and Black" by

, as well as "

I've Been Loving You Too Long "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (originally "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)") is a soul music ballad written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. Considered by music critics and writers to be one of Redding's finest performances and a ...

" by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

, "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatl ...

" by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

, and " Border Song (Holy Moses)" by Elton John.

Critical reception

Jason Birchmeier of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

wrote that "''Young, Gifted and Black'' certainly ranks highly among ranklin'sstudio efforts, with many arguing that it may be her greatest. ..If you really want to go song by song, you'd be hard-pressed to find any throwaways here -- this is quite honestly an album that merits play from beginning to end." In 2003, the television network VH1 named ''Young, Gifted and Black'' the 76th greatest album of all time. In 2020, the album was ranked number 388 by ''

'' in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2018, ''Rolling Stone'' writer

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Ble ...

praised Franklin's cover of "The Long and Winding Road" from the album as "the greatest of all Beatle covers — the one that improves most on the original and defines everything the song is about."

Track listing

Personnel

* Aretha Franklin – lead vocals (all), piano (1-4, 6, 8-12), celesta (5), piano, Fender Rhodes (7) *

Cornell Dupree Cornell Luther Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman,

– guitar (2-5, 7-12) *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally a ...

– guitar (1, 6) * Don Arnone – acoustic guitar (2) * Donny Hathaway – Hammond organ (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9), piano, Fender Rhodes (2) * Billy Preston – Hammond organ (4, 10, 12) * Chuck Rainey – bass guitar (2-5, 7, 9-12) *

Eric Gale Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. ''Early life and career'' Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, Gale grew up in a diverse household. His paternal grandfather was from Yorksh ...

– bass guitar (1, 6) * Robert Popwell – bass guitar (8), percussion (3) * Bernard Purdie – drums (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11) * Ray Lucas – drums (4, 10, 12) * Al Jackson Jr. – drums (1, 6) * Dr. John – percussion (3) *

The Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) on trumpet and Andrew Love (November 21, 1941 - April 12, 2012) on ...

– horns (3, 8) * Neal Rosengarden – trumpet (9),

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

(5) *

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...

– flute (2, 7, 11) * Pat Smith – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7–9, 11) *

Carolyn Franklin Carolyn Ann Franklin (May 13, 1944 – April 25, 1988) was an American singer-songwriter. Besides her own musical success, Franklin was best known as the daughter of prominent Detroit preacher and civil rights activist C. L. Franklin and the youn ...

– backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 8-10) *

Erma Franklin Erma Vernice Franklin (March 13, 1938 – September 7, 2002) was an American gospel and soul singer. Franklin was the elder sister of American singer/musician Aretha Franklin. Franklin's best known recording was the original version of " Piece of ...

– backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 8-10) * Margaret Branch – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7-11) * Ann S. Clark – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7–9, 11) *

The Sweet Inspirations The Sweet Inspirations were an American R&B girl group mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other R&B and rock artists. A founding member of the group was Dionne Warwick, who was later replaced by her aunt, Ciss ...

– backing vocals (1, 4, 6, 12) * Ronald Bright – backing vocals (12) * J. R. Bailey – backing vocals (12) *

Sammy Turner Sammy Turner (born Samuel Black, June 2, 1932, Paterson, New Jersey) is an American singer, who was popular at the end of the 1950s. Career He was born and grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, developing an early interest in singing and songwritin ...

– backing vocals (12)

Chart positions

Singles

References

{{Authority control 1972 albums Aretha Franklin albums Albums produced by Tom Dowd Albums produced by Arif Mardin Albums produced by Jerry Wexler Atlantic Records albums Rhino Records albums