by Ron Wynn
Although not a blues singer in the strictest sense, Aretha Franklin's glorious voice could never make anything dull, especially not blues classics. These songs didn't attract a lot of attention when they came out in the '60s, with a couple of exceptions. Since Columbia issued all these anthologies, there has been a great debate raging as to whether or not it was a marketing failure or a production failure preventing Franklin from achieving more success at the label. The question won't be answered by this release.