Search - Aretha Franklin :: Live at Filmore West (Dlx)

Aretha at her Peak

Morgan Broman | Alexandria, VA United States | 07/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bill Graham was a master at creating an atmosphere at the Fillmore West that brought out the best in both an artist and an audience. Case in point: Aretha Franklin's 1971 concerts in which she showed the world again what an incredible singer she was (and still is in 2006). "Live at the Fillmore West" is just a crackling great show from start to finish. The Top-40 hits may have slowed down for Aretha in 1971, but her live performances were at their peak. This reissue adds a second disc of full performances and they are all keepers. Across 35 years you can still hear how she holds the audience in her hands and brings them on an emotional journey that owes much to her gospel roots. "Love the One You're With," "Dr. Feelgood," and even Bread's "Make it With You," get the full Franklin treatment. Her voice was never better. Things rise to a spectacular climax with the addition of Ray Charles on "Spirit in the Dark." Oh to have been there."

Prime live Aretha

John Ellis | New York, NY United States | 08/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thanks to Rhino for putting out this double CD culled from the too complete, OP and very expensive box set sold only through Rhino's Handmade label. Besides prime era Aretha live in front of a loving audience and a surprise duet with Ray Charles, she's got the great King Curtis behind her (the Handmade set included his complete performances as opening act too, available in part separately). In spite of the vastly superior talent of the backup on this, I always preferred the much maligned "Aretha in Paris" before, because she was so extraordinary (in part due to nervous energy) in front of the off-key backup band on that recording. Her live version of Willie Nelson's "Night Life" is still the best single recording on either set. But now complete in great sound, if you're buying only one live Aretha, this would be the one. She and Etta James are the queens of soul, and there is no one else who can approach their shared throne, to date. Here's hoping the complete "Paris", if there is any more (sets then were shorter) is issued too; maybe with digital technology the off notes behind her on that could even be straightened out. And there's still a mountain of Columbia Aretha to mine, particularly the undoctored studio recordings tricked up to be the fake live LP "Yeah!", which is almost as good as this."

Hey Nineteen!!!! You Paying Attention??

Thomas D. Ryan | New York | 07/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Hey Nineteen, that's `Retha Franklin.

She don't remember the "Queen of Soul".

Steely Dan wrote those words over twenty-five years ago, less than a decade after "Live at Fillmore West" first appeared. If these words held true then, then they must be even more so now (chances are good that today's 19-year olds don't remember Steely Dan either...). Re-released with unedited tracks and an extra disk, it now provides a golden opportunity for subsequent generations to get a taste of what soul music sounded like back when they were `keeping it real'.

During a raucous run-through of "Respect," Aretha introduces herself to the audience, stating, "I promise... you will have enjoyed this show as much as any that you've ever had an occasion to see." Three songs later, as I sat listening to her rather bizarre reading of "Eleanor Rigby," I had my doubts about that statement. By disk's end, though, I had to admit that she held true to her promise. "Live at Fillmore West" emphasizes the gospel influences of Aretha's music, with rave-ups and free form rhythmic workouts that hold you in their spell until the last song fades away. Even when the material slackens, the musicianship bolsters the pace of the show; Talk about your dream bands, the musicians supporting Aretha are all top-notch. King Curtis is bandleader, with Cornell Dupree on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, Billy Preston on organ, and the Memphis horns fleshing out the arrangements.

The contents of this 2-cd set were recorded March5-7, 1971, at a time when Aretha experienced an artistic resurgence that crossed cultural barriers. Most of her hit material from this era was derived from imaginative and often drastic re-workings of contemporary hits, and this mindset is exactly what provides the lion's share of material for this set. Some of it works well (Bread's "Make It with You," Paul Simon's "Bridge over Troubled Water"), and some of it doesn't (the above-mentioned "Eleanor Rigby," and a somewhat shaky reading of Steve Stills' "Love the One You're With"). The second half of the show is when the real heat kicks in, though. A powerful reading of "Doctor Feelgood" signals a mood change and brings some church spirit to the hippie Mecca that was most famous for hosting acts like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. From then on, the show feels more like a revival meeting than a concert. "Spirit in the Dark" is the show's climax, and also serves as the first encore. It is revelatory. Ray Charles makes a surprise guest appearance here, and his presence brings a loose, free-form feel that practically forces the band to intense energy levels. The original album release contained extremely edited versions of these tunes so they could fit on a single LP. Here, they are presented in full, stretching out for almost a full half-hour of deep-soul gospel music. Collaborations between "the Genius" and the "Queen of Soul" were rare, so this pairing is more than enough to recommend this set. Add in a bonus disk with alternate versions and a few extra tracks that never surfaced, and you have a very special re-release. Hey nineteen (or twenty-nine, or thirty-nine), you owe it to yourself to check this out.

A- Tom Ryan"