>> Nearly every music legend leaves behind a slew of unreleased songs, alternate takes of released tunes, and live and demo material. To collectors, such detritus from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and others is manna from heaven. Aretha Franklin's first six years with Atlantic Records generated its own sheaf of unreleased songs and rarities, lovingly compiled into a chronological two-CD collection. Raw 1966 demos of her first Atlantic hit "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Dr. Feelgood" from her debut album open the gates to an embarrassment of riches from 1967 to 1973, most eventually recorded for other albums. The explosive, gospel-flavored "The Letter" and "It Was You," recorded during the Aretha Arrives sessions, are masterpieces, as is her extraordinary spin on the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill," given to Franklin by Paul McCartney and released on Magical Mystery Tour only after her version never appeared. Her soulful take on "My Cup Runneth Over" renders Ed Ames's syrupy '60s-pop version irrelevant and it's difficult to see why the down-and-dirty blues "Do You Know" from her Other Side of the Sky sessions never appeared. A live duet with Ray Charles on Duke Ellington's "Ain't But the One" from a 1973 Ellington salute on CBS is followed by an eloquent takes on Etta James's hit "At Last" and Nat King Cole's "Love Letters." With knowing, poignant reminiscences from Atlantic's legendary Jerry Wexler, Franklin's producer during these years, it's an overdue, eminently fulfilling journey beyond her classics. <<

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000S75BQI/?tag=imwan-20

(Full tracklisting appears further down the thread ...)

Great news! I just wonder why we haven't had a set like this before now.

Amen to that, GoogaMooga. This one had totally slipped under my radar. I was looking at the latest Rolling Stone and their Fall preview list for upcoming releases. When I saw this, my eyes nearly fell out. When the board came back up, I was planning on making this a thread. Thank you, Linda. Not only is this archival release a no-brainer, it's going to be essential to own. I'll gladly let some more dough leak out of my wallet for this.

i'm a little confused: all of the aretha rhino reissues mention additional tracks recorded for those albums, but said they were lost in a fire at atlantic records some years ago. so any idea where these came from? none of the rhino reissues or the box set for that matter included any rare or unreleased material...

I'm guessing the following possibilities: safety copies not stored in the place where the fire was, multi's stored in a place other than where the fire was, Tom Dowd, Aretha's or some Atlantic person's own private stash (or a combination thereof), misplaced and newly found tapes or the fire and the losses incurred was exaggerated a bit.

This editorial review with embedded track listing was posted on Amazon.com:

Nearly every music legend leaves behind a slew of unreleased songs, alternate takes of released tunes, and live and demo material. To collectors, such detritus from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and others is manna from heaven. Aretha Franklin's first six years with Atlantic Records generated its own sheaf of unreleased songs and rarities, lovingly compiled into a chronological two-CD collection. Raw 1966 demos of her first Atlantic hit "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Dr. Feelgood" from her debut album open the gates to an embarrassment of riches from 1967 to 1973, most eventually recorded for other albums. The explosive, gospel-flavored "The Letter" and "It Was You," recorded during the Aretha Arrives sessions, are masterpieces, as is her extraordinary spin on the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill," given to Franklin by Paul McCartney and released on Magical Mystery Tour only after her version never appeared. Her soulful take on "My Cup Runneth Over" renders Ed Ames's syrupy '60s-pop version irrelevant and it's difficult to see why the down-and-dirty blues "Do You Know" from her Other Side of the Sky sessions never appeared. A live duet with Ray Charles on Duke Ellington's "Ain't But the One" from a 1973 Ellington salute on CBS is followed by an eloquent takes on Etta James's hit "At Last" and Nat King Cole's "Love Letters." With knowing, poignant reminiscences from Atlantic's legendary Jerry Wexler, Franklin's producer during these years, it's an overdue, eminently fulfilling journey beyond her classics. --Rich Kienzle

That's a good question. That fire at Altlantic Records supposedely took place in the late '70s. However, I've read interviews with Aretha's producer, Jerry Wexler, during the 1980's mentioning (and even listening to) her previously unreleased recordings. And the deluxe releases of 'Amazing Grace', 'Live At Fillmore West' (not to mention the 'Atlantic Unearthed' sets) did go into the unrelased material. My guess is that they had to get the rights from Aretha before putting this set out. Anyway, the upcoming release of this set is great news for Aretha's fans at it's at the top of my shopping list.

You're the CD Universe guy, so I went to search for their pre-order link ~ turns out that CDU is showing a somewhat different cover for this release, I don't know whether theirs or the one Amazon shows (at the top of this thread) is the actual artwork:



http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.a ... m=lk_imwan

I'm kind of scratching my head about that as well. I guess we'll find out which one we get when it hits the street date.

we'll probably find out one is a deluxe edition...ugh.

Here's the press release, including the tracklisting:

>> Rhino Unearths Rare Cuts From Aretha's 'Reign'

Previously unreleased material from Aretha Franklin in the vaults at Atlantic has been unearthed for an upcoming collection from Rhino Records. The double-disc "Rare and Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul" will be released Oct. 16, featuring B-sides, demos and outtakes from Franklin's 13-year history with the label.

The first disc chronicles the Queen of Soul's initial rise at Atlantic and features previously unreleased tunes "You Keep Me Hanging On," "Trying To Overcome," and "My Way," a rare cover of the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill" and demo versions of "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," "Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)" and "Sweet Bitter Love."

The second disc contains a duet with Ray Charles on "Ain't but the One," which was originally televised in a tribute to Duke Ellington. It also includes an alternate version of "Rock Steady" and outtakes from the "Young, Gifted and Black" and "Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)" sessions.

Franklin will return to live duty Sept. 1 as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival -- Atlanta and Sept. 18 at the Dream concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall

Here is the track list for ""Rare and Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul":

Disc 1:

"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"
"Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)"
"Sweet Bitter Love"
"It Was You"
"The Letter"
"So Soon"
"Mr. Big"
"Talk to Me, Talk to Me"
"The Fool on the Hill"
"Pledging My Love/The Clock"
"You're Taking Another Man's Place"
"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
"I'm Trying to Overcome"
"My Way"
"My Cup Runneth Over"
"You're All I Need To Get By" (first outtake)
"You're All I Need To Get By" (second outtake)
"Lean on Me"

Disc 2:

"Rock Steady"
"I Need a Strong Man"
"Heavenly Father"
"Sweetest Smile and the Funkiest Style"
"This Is"
"Tree of Life"
"Do You Know"
"Can You Love Again"
"I Want Tto Be with You"
"Suzanne"
"That's the Way I Feel About Cha"
"Ain't But the One"
"The Happy Blues"
"At Last"
"Love Letters"
"I'm in Love"
"Are You Leaving Me" <<

I got a promo copy today at 'Rama. The cover art matches that displayed in the first post in this thread.

Looks like this package is a gem!