I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (13) is the tenth studio album by American singer Aretha franklin released in March 1967, by Atlantic Records. It was Franklin’s first release under her contract with the label, following her departure from Columbia Records after nine unsuccessful Jazz standard albums, and marked a commercial breakthrough for her, becoming her first top 10 album in the United States, reaching number 2 on the Billboard. Two singles were released to promote the album: “Respect” and “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”. The former topped the Billboard, while latter reached the top 10.
The title track was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After an altercation broke out between Franklin’s then husband, Ted White, trumpeter Ken Laxton and FAME studios owner/producer Rick Hall, producer Jerry Wexler arranged to continue recording the LP at Atlantic Studios, New York. The B-side, “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” was unfinished at FAME studios as the session ended abruptly. Members of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section were flown to New York to complete “Do Right Woman” and a number of other tracks (including “Respect”). There was a discrepancy in the tape recording speeds of the two studios. The foundation track of “Do Right Woman” recorded at Muscle Shoals and the later tracks added at Atlantic’s New York studio are slightly out of tune with each other: Producer Chips Moman regretted that the piano was faintly sharp.
In 1967, Rolling Stone chided the album for “the lack of versatility on the part of the sidemen. The drums weren’t hard enough, the guitar was weak, and the production lacked polish.” In 2002, though, they placed the album at No. 1 on their “Women in Rock: 50 Essential Albums” list. Music Critic Robert Christgau, gave the album an A, stating “Not all of the tracks sound inspired” but also stating that it was the best album she had made by that point.
Although released to mixed critical response, the album over the years has been reappraised and is now regarded amongst one of the greatest and most influential albums, being included in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, as well as in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The second single from the album Respect became Franklin’s signature song and is ranked by the Rolling Stone as the greatest song of all time.
In the obituary for Aretha Franklin, Rolling Stone made this comment about I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You: “It puts the emphasis not just on the great songs, or the amazing music, but on the person speaking them, her world, her story and whatever journey she’s on in life. It rings out like revealed truth happening in real time, a declaration of independence”.
