"Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin (1967)
Dance song of the day - July 11, 2024
In terms of treats to come, tomorrow we have a fun song for Anna and the day after an iconic song requested by Trevor in London. Feel free to send me a request at any time in the comments or by email at ellenendwell@proton.me. Think of me as your retro-sixties-and-early-seventies DJ if you wish, at least until my October high school reunion, following which the floodgates will open to the treasure-filled seventies.
Song of the day
If you want a “you done me wrong but I just can’t leave you” song, there’s no one better than the incomparable Aretha Franklin singing “Chain of Fools,” which came out on her Lady Soul album in 1967. Here she is singing it live on TV, a version I chose because it shows that Aretha was not just a great singer or interpreter. The Queen of Soul was also a peerless performer, making every appearance unique and mesmerizing. What a gift.
I know you’ll want some special moves for this song, and I heartily recommend stealing them from the master. I’m talking about that dancing dynamo who gobsmacked us in both Grease and Saturday Night Fever. Did you know that he came down to earth and wowed the gals to this very tune in Michael (1996)? Of course I’m talking about John Travolta, showing us some heavenly dance moves. (No groaning allowed.)
And I can’t help myself, I have to share this live version of Aretha performing the song with Annie Lennox at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concerts in 2009. An incredible combo.
Song credits
Songwriter - Don Covay
Producer - Jerry Wexler
Singers and musicians:
Aretha Franklin – lead vocals and piano
Jimmy Johnson and Joe South – guitars
Spooner Oldham – Wurlitzer electric piano
Tommy Cogbill – bass
Roger Hawkins – drums
The Sweet Inspirations, Carolyn Franklin, Erma Franklin & Ellie Greenwich – background vocals
A great pairing of song and artist, and one of the songs that earned Aretha a Grammy.
Don Covay doesn't get enough respect. While he was a hard-working singer, he was far more successful as a songwriter. Besides this one, he also wrote tunes recorded successfully by Chubby Checker, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, and Steppenwolf, among others.
Such a great song and performance by The Queen! As a middle-class white boy in suburban Houston at the time of its 1967 release, I was 12. Radio Dad had brought the single home, and it refused to leave my turntable! I was mesmerized by (likely) Jimmy Johnson's opening guitar lick....it sounded so rough and dirty. I'd never heard a guitar sound like that!
I've had this discussion with Andres of The Vinyl Room, before, but the sound of the single's vinyl made it sound bright and vibrant, too, and when it got some well-deserved wear on the lead-in groove, those extra scratches just seemed to melt into that guitar, complementing perfectly!
And, you played a clip from my movie! I worked a night on Travolta's "Michael" movie. While I saw him briefly on set (a night shoot at an old dance hall in a tiny town just outside Austin, TX), and we nodded to each other, my night was playing a patron at the dance hall. John Hurt and Andie McDowell were the two principles in my scene, and I could be seen, at one point, in the background exiting the dance hall, while John and Andie were having a convo!
And, I didn't realize Ellie Greenwich was on the record! Was she always a "Sweet Inspiration"? As for Covay and Aretha, they actually followed similar label paths, at least in the '60s. Both were artists on Columbia, and both, around the middle part of the decade, then got signed to Atlantic!