A few weeks back, NPR’s All Things Considered ran my review of the new Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia, a massive, 12 disc boxset that assembles 10 hours of recordings that Aretha put together in her years at Columbia in the early to mid 1960s.
I’ve been, in some form or another, been writing about this catalog for years now so it was a delight to have the set come out and have at least one more swing at talking about it. A few days later, I received an email from Leo Sacks who, among other hats, happened to be the producer of Take a Look and he was gracious enough to take some time out this past weekend to talk to me on the phone about putting together the set and what it says about Aretha’s larger legacy.
We discussed some of the lingering questions around how Aretha’s Columbia catalog should be seen and I thought Leo was both candid and philosophical about its strengths – and shortcomings – but ultimately wanted people to listen to the set less as a “before vs. after” comparison but more as an evolution over time that includes remarkable moments of transcendent music-making regardless of which label adorned her records. Here’s the main interview, complete with examples drawn from over a dozen songs.
The Sidebar #4: Leo Sacks, Aretha Franklin producer/compiler
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I also have some bonus material. Leo spoke at length about the “making of” the boxset as well as what he sees as his duty/responsibility to “legacy” recordings. Peep:
Bonus Material: Leo Sacks on the “making of” Take a Look.
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In addition to the songs on the podcast from Take a Look, we also included “pairings” with songs from Aretha’s Atlantic catalog, all of which can be found on The Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings.
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