"Call Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

. The song was co-produced by

Jerry Wexler Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin.

Background

Franklin came up with the idea for the song after she saw a young couple engaged in deep conversation on New York's Park Avenue. Before they parted, Franklin heard them say to each other: "I love you... call me." With the exception of Franklin on piano, musical backing for "Call Me" was handled by members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

Chart performance

"Call Me" was released as a single in January 1970 from Aretha's '' This Girl's in Love with You'' album and became another hit for her, spending two weeks at number one on the US R&B Singles chart, while reaching number 13 on the

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

chart.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of '' This Girl's in Love with You''. Main performance *

– vocals, acoustic piano, additional keyboards *Brenda Bryant – background vocals *

Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston ( ''née'' Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, Houston embar ...

– background vocals * Pat Lewis – background vocals Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section * Barry Beckett – electric piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

* Roger Hawkins – drums * Eddie Hinton – guitar *

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone. He is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was born in Sheffield, Alabama and attende ...

– bass * Jimmy Johnson – guitar Production *Ron Albert – engineer * Tom Dowd – producer *Chuck Kirkpatrick – engineer * Arif Mardin – producer, arranger *

– producer

Cover versions

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

's rendition of the song for her 1971 album '' Everything Is Everything''. This version was nominated for a

Grammy 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 pre ...

in the Best Female R&B Vocal Category. *In 1991, R&B singer Phil Perry recorded a version of this song for his album, ''The Heart of the Man'', which reached number one on the Hot R&B Singles Chart.

Samples

Danny! Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer. Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he premiered h ...

sampled it in 2004 for his song "When You Get There" *Later in 2004, Kanye West also sampled it for Slum Village's hit "Selfish".

References