Aretha? Franklin joined by Duane Allman for?“The Weight”, January 1969: the version that was actually a hit!
Here’s a reminder that the Queen of Soul could easily find her away around Rock and Roll. The original version by The Band remains an airplay staple, but stalled at? #63 on the singles chart, while Aretha’s version grooved its way to #19.?
Duane’s slippery slide lead line was very much in keeping with the version he’d recorded with Aretha’s musical director King Curtis the year before, but still sounds mighty fresh here. Massive bottom-end from David Hood on bass rounds this one out.?
It’s a shame that her version of “The Weight” hasn’t endured as one of Aretha’s most-frequently played tracks, and is too rarely included on lists of her mightiest covers. It sure should be!
Photo sources here: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] The one in the center is the only one I’ve seen a definitive credit for, Stephen Paley, so until one of you tells me otherwise, I’m crediting him for all of?‘em. A pretty remarkable moment in time, I think.
This is my favourite cover of this song. IIRC when they asked Aretha who she wanted on the song she said, “Get me that white boy!” And they knew she meant Duane Allman.
Re-blogged again for the above anecdote. Because if it didn’t happen that way it should have!
I’m not sure if the story is true, but I agree that it should have happened that way!?
And it very well might have! Duane Allman was barely 22 when he started hanging out at Muscle Shoals, and he made a huge impression with first session, Wilson Pickett’s cover of?“Hey Jude” just two months before Aretha’s session for?“The Weight”, both with producer Tom Dowd at the helm.
(Eric Clapton was so blown away when he heard Duane’s solo while driving his car in England that he immediately pulled over the car,? called Atlantic Records and demanded to know who that guitarist was. Dowd would later arrange an introduction when he invited Duane to the Derek And The Dominoes session he was producing at his Miami studio.)
So while I couldn’t in the end confirm Aretha’s quote, I did find some fantastic color photos from the session for?“The Weight” pictured above ? IN COLOR! via considerable. Thank heaven for these! We’d never have known about the blue eyeshadow otherwise!
The bottom photo features Aretha with Tom Dowd (left), and Atlantic’s Jerry Wexler. Before Jerry came along, Aretha had been recorded like a girl singing pop and R&B, buried with strings and echo and all kinds of glop. Jerry said, forget all that. Let’s put her in front of a piano and let her howl, for which we are all eternally grateful.
Still no specific credits for these shots, so until I hear otherwise, it’s more great work from Stephen Paley.
