https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/05/30-day-album-challenge-day-5/

I was initially going with Jimi Hendrix, the ultimate master of guitar but once I saw that Sandman had already gone there I decided that I would go with the Queen of Soul. No one puts a song out there like Aretha Franklin.

This album release in 1967 ushered the Queen of Soul into the mainstream. Along with now-classic hits like the title track, she delivered outstanding covers of songs that, on paper, shouldn’t be touched, like “Drown in My Own Tears” and Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”- she gave them an edge that they didn’t have with their original artists. The strongest cover of all, of course, is her legendary take on Otis Redding’s “Respect,” which she truly made her own, turning it into perhaps the female empowerment anthem and wowing us with unparalleled vocals.

“Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist.  Hit songs such as I Never Loved a Man and Respect propelled her past her musical peers. By the end of the 1960s, Aretha Franklin had come to be known as the Queen of Soul. Aretha was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1987, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012, ~wikipeida.

“You’re a no good heart breaker
You’re a liar and you’re a cheat
And I don’t know why
I let you do these things to me
My friends keep telling me
That you ain’t no good
But oh, they don’t know
That I’d leave you if I could

I guess I’m uptight
And I’m stuck like glue
Cause I ain’t never
I ain’t never, I ain’t never, no, no (loved a man)
(The way that I, I love you)

Some time ago I thought
You had run out of fools
But I was so wrong
You got one that you’ll never lose
The way you treat me is a shame
How could ya hurt me so bad
Baby, you know that I’m the best thing
That you ever had
Kiss me once again

Don’t ya never, never say that we we’re through
Cause I ain’t never
Never, Never, no, no (loved a man)
(The way that I, I love you)I can’t sleep at night
And I can’t even fight
I guess I’ll never be free
Since you got, your hooks, in me

Whoa, oh, oh
Yeah! Yeah!
I ain’t never loved a man
I ain’t never loved a man, baby
Ain’t never had a man hurt me so badNo
Well this is what I’m gonna do about it

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Ronnie ShannonI Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Springtime Music Inc

This was the song that attracted me to Aretha’s amazing voice.

But this is my ultimate favorite on the album.

[Verse 1]
Take me to heart, and I’ll always love you
And nobody can make me do wrong
Take me for granted, leaving love unsure
Makes willpower weak and temptation strong

[Pre-Chorus]
A woman’s only human
You should understand
She’s not just a plaything
She’s flesh and blood just like her man

[Chorus 2]
If you want a do right, home days woman
(Do right, do right, do right, do right woman)
You’ve got to be a do right, home nights man
(Do right, do right, do right, do right man, man)

[Bridge]
Yeah, yeah, they say that it’s a man’s world
But you can’t prove that by me
And as long as we’re together, baby
Show some respect for me

[Chorus 2]
If you want a do right, home days woman
(Do right, do right, do right, do right woman)
You’ve got to be a do right, home nights man
(Do right, do right, do right, do right man, man)

[Pre-Chorus]
A woman’s only human
You should understand
She’s not just a plaything
She’s flesh and blood just like her man

[Chorus 2]
If you want a do right, home days woman
(Do right, do right, do right, do right woman)
You’ve got to be a do right, home nights man
(Why don’t you? Why don’t you? Why don’t you? Why don’t you?)
You got to be a do right, home nights man

https://genius.com/Aretha-franklin-do-right-woman-do-right-man-lyrics

Songwriter: Dan Penn & Chips Moman

Interestingly, these artists also did covers of Do Right Woman

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Willie Nelson

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Martina McBride

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Joan Baez

Do Right Woman Do Right Man by Rebecca Lynn Howard

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Etta James

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Dan Penn

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Dionne Warwick

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Phoebe Snow

Do Right Woman Do Right Man by The Commitments

Do Right Woman by The Flying Burrito Brothers

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Cher

Do right woman, do right man by Niamh Kavanagh

Do Right Woman by Marc Broussard

Etta James did it justice, I wasn’t as impressed with the other covers.

I really enjoy Willie but this wasn’t one of his best covers.

But when it’s Aretha…. that bar is really high 🙂