Lady Soul

Lady Soul is the twelfth studio album by Aretha Franklin, released in January 1968 on Atlantic Records. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and recorded largely at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama through 1967, during the run of sessions that followed Franklin's breakthrough from her first year at Atlantic^[1].

The album topped the R&B chart for sixteen weeks and reached number two on the Billboard 200, tying her prior record as her highest-charting pop release^[1]. Session musicians included guitarist Eric Clapton, and backing vocals came from Cissy Houston's group the Sweet Inspirations along with Franklin's own sisters^[1].

Three singles drove its success: “Chain of Fools,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone”^[1]. Critics received the album as confirmation that Franklin's arrival at Atlantic was no fluke, and it is now widely ranked among her finest work and among the greatest soul albums ever recorded^[1].