Available at both physical and digital retail outlets starting March 22, 2011

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The 50th anniversary of Aretha Franklin‘s arrival on the popular music scene is set for a major celebration in 2011. Signed to Columbia Records by the legendary John Hammond in the spring of 1960 (soon after her 18th birthday), Aretha released her debut album, Aretha (With The Ray Bryant Combo), on February 27, 1961.  Her coming of age at Columbia as a young artist in New York
is one of the great stories in the annals of popular music, and set the
stage for her ascendance as the Queen of Soul at Atlantic Records.

TAKE A LOOK: ARETHA FRANKLIN COMPLETE ON COLUMBIA marks the first time that Aretha’s entire Columbia
output, including master takes, unissued performances, rare mono mixes
and studio conversations, have been preserved in one deluxe 12-disc (11
CDs + DVD) box set.  The package is available for pre-order at www.arethafranklin.net in advance of its March 22, 2011, release at all physical and digital retail outlets through Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.  The suggested retail price for the box is $169.98.

TAKE A LOOK also includes a comprehensive 64-page booklet with never-before-seen photos by ColumbiaDon Hunstein; recollections by John Hammond,
who signed the young gospel singer; a discography of Aretha’s Columbia
LPs and singles; and an expansive essay “Bold Soul Ingenue” by Daphne A. Brooks, Professor of English and African American Studies at Princeton University. staff photographer

Columbia/Legacy will also release ARETHA FRANKLIN: THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK on March 22nd.  This single-CD collection of evergreens composed by Billy Strayhorn, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Hank Williams, among others, is drawn entirely from the repertoire of TAKE A LOOK.  Liner notes were written by Anthony Heilbut, author of  The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times (Simon & Schuster, 1971).

The wide range of studio and live recordings that Aretha made for Columbia
from the summer of 1960 to the fall of 1965 have been a source of
controversy and heated critical debate for nearly a half-century. There
is unanimous agreement, however, that Aretha’s years at Columbia were a necessary step in her artistic evolution.  

Aretha, who turns 69 on March 25th,
still commands the oft-cited R word (for R-E-S-P-E-C-T). Her voice
remains one of the glories in American music. She has won 18 Grammys;
was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1987; has performed at two presidential inaugurations; and received a
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 – the nation’s highest honor. She
was also recognized as “the greatest singer of the rock era,'”
according to a Rolling Stone poll published in November 2008.

“The golden
anniversary of Aretha’s introduction to the pop world from her gospel
beginning at Chess Records is a singular moment in America’s musical,
social and cultural heritage,” says Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Legacy Recordings. “TAKE A LOOK is a long-overdue tribute to an American icon.”

TAKE A LOOK begins with expanded editions of Aretha’s seven original Columbia albums:

• Aretha (with the Ray Bryant Combo) (released February 27, 1961)
• The Electrifying Aretha Franklin (1962)
• The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin (1962)
• Laughing On The Outside (1963)
• Unforgettable – A Tribute To Dinah Washington (1964)
• Runnin’ Out Of Fools (1965)
• Yeah!!! In Person With Her Quartet
  (in two sequences: the original 1965 album recorded live in the studio
  with overdubbed applause, followed by a new previously unreleased
  version without the overdubbed ambience)

Two CDs reflect Aretha’s collaborations with the influential producers Bobby Scott and Clyde Otis — collaborations that were either shelved or issued as singles, but never on LP:

• Tiny Sparrow: The Bobby Scott Sessions (1963)
• Take A Look: The Clyde Otis Sessions (1964)

Two CDs are new compilations:

• A Bit of Soul (the full album as it was compiled in 1965, but never released)
• The Queen In Waiting (includes Aretha’s last seven Columbia recordings which were produced by Bob Johnston, who was noted for his work during this time with Bob Dylan; the disk also features new recordings of Aretha’s songs that Columbia “sweetened” after she left the label)

A bonus DVD, Aretha ’64! Live on The Steve Allen Show,
features Aretha singing and playing piano on the legendary comedian’s
television program, syndicated by Westinghouse TV, in the spring of
1964. The performances include “Lover Come Back to Me,” “Rock-A-Bye Your
Baby With A Dixie Melody,” “Won’t Be Long,” “Skylark,” and “Evil Gal
Blues.”

The lavish 64-page booklet was designed by Michael Boland for The Boland Design Company. It contains:

• A 3,700-word essay by Daphne A. Brooks, distinguished professor of English and African American Studies at Princeton University; author of Bodies in Dissent: Spectacular Performances of Race and Freedom, 1850-1910 (Duke University Press, 2006), Jeff Buckley‘s Grace (Continuum 33 1/3 series, 2005) and the forthcoming Subterranean Blues: Black Women and Sound Subcultures (Harvard University Press)
• An excerpt from John Hammond‘s
  1977 autobiography, On Record, in which he reflects on the joy of
  discovering a singular talent, and the heartbreak of losing her to
  Atlantic Records
• Newly published photographs by Vernon L. Smith and the Columbia staff photographers Don Hunstein, Hank Parker and Sandy Speiser
• Complete discography of albums and singles

In every case,
the CD jackets replicate the original LP jackets, including back cover
liner notes.  These include liner notes written by many of the most
prominent music journalists of the day, including Frank Driggs (Aretha With the Ray Bryant Combo); Pete Welding (The Electrifying Aretha Franklin); Billy James (The Tender, The Moving, The Swinging Aretha Franklin); Leonard Feather (Unforgettable); and Dan Morgenstern (Yeah!!! In Person With Her Quartet).

After leaving Columbia
in 1966, Aretha proceeded to earn 30 consecutive Top 10 hit singles
over the next seven years, 15 of which went to #1 R&B.  At the end
of the ’60s and into the ’70s, she was a powerful figure in the Civil
Rights and anti-war movements, Black power, and the rise of feminism.

Author David Ritz
was Aretha’s collaborator on her candid autobiography, From These Roots
(Villard Books, 2000).  It remains the definitive account of her life
and charts the course of modern R&B, alongside Ritz’s biographies of
Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Smokey Robinson, Jerry Wexler and others.

Of Aretha’s Columbia years, Ritz writes: “We see a teenager turn into a woman, and a woman blossom into an artist of astounding emotional depth.”

“Hearing Aretha on Columbia
is like seeing a sunrise,” he continues. “The colors dazzle; the world
expands; our hearts are excited by possibility, hope, a glimpse of
glory. An Aretha love song, even when the story is sad, soars with a
spirit that defies defeat. Whether forlorn ballads or broken-hearted
blues, Aretha draws on the highest power of inspiration. The material
may be secular, but the source remains spiritual. Her message and
inspiration come from the same place: the mysterious, inexhaustible
nature of love.”

TAKE A LOOK was compiled and produced by Grammy Award-nominated producer Leo Sacks,
who has supervised more than 300 compilations, remixes and new
recordings for Legacy which have been vital to preserving the works of
such American masters as Earth, Wind & Fire, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, The Isley Brothers, Luther Vandross and the producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff.

The package was mastered by Mark Wilder, who has won three Grammy Awards for his work preserving the legacies of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis.

“These stunning performances capture a gritty soul about to take flight,” Sacks says.

Aficionados,
collectors and Aretha’s devotees will rejoice at the care and devotion
that Legacy has accorded her rich catalog in the time-honored tradition
of comparable deluxe commemorative box sets by Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley,
among others. Historical accuracy, attention to detail and painstaking
studio archival restoration has endeared Legacy to music lovers
everywhere.

www.arethafranklin.net

Legacy Recordings