ARETHA FRANKLIN - JAMAICA 1982
October 1, 2008 – 4:51 am
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ARETHA FRANKLIN
Jamaica World Music Festival 1982 [no label, 1CD]
Live at Bob Marley Performing Arts Center, Freeport Zone, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Nov 26, 1982. Ex soundboard recording.
The Queen of Soul’s best years are undisputedly in the late ’60s and ’70s. Together with producer Jerry Wexler and the marketing muscle of Atlantic Records, Franklin rode to the top with a string of critically acclaimed and popular songs Think, Daydreamin’, Respect, Spanish Harlem and many others. Even her left turns [missing a hit with Son Of A Preacher Man] didn’t slow her down.
But with the ’80s and disco came a slew of younger competitors. The attraction of sluggish balladeer Roberta Flack, the funkier Chaka Khan and the disco queen Donna Summer all took large bites of the queen’s market.
According to wikipedia, “In 1980, Franklin’s career was given a much-needed boost by a cameo performance as Mrs. Matt Murphy in The Blues Brothers, singing Think. That same year, Clive Davis signed Aretha to his Arista Records. The singles ‘United Together’ and ‘Love All The Hurt Away’ - a duet with George Benson - returned her to the Top 10 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.
But it was the spectacular 1982 album, Jump To It, produced by longtime admirer Luther Vandross, and the title-track single that gave Aretha her first R&B chart-topping and pop success since ‘(Giving Him) Something He Can Feel’. The album enjoyed a long run at #1 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart (even the Zoomin’ album only reached #3). It won an American Music Award, was nominated for a Grammy and was certified gold in early 1983 - Aretha’s first gold disc since the 1976 Sparkle album.”
This concert in Bob Marley’s hometown was in the same year Franklin had her biggest chart success with Jump To It. Apparently, this show was professionally recorded and the source of this is a cassette taped from the soundboard.
Franklin’s voice was still stellar and she had a hot band. Under the direction of Clive Davis, Franklin was still a creative force albeit not as soulful. Blame it on the market.
- The Little Chicken 
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality stereo MP3s - sample rate of 192 kibit/s). As far as we can ascertain, this recording has never been officially released.
These tracks are no longer available for download. Kindly email us at mybigo@bigozine.com if you want to download these tracks at a later time.
1 Announcements 4:10
2 Instrumental & announcer 1:56
3 Hold On I’m Coming 4:29 [Sam & Dave cover]
4 Love Me Forever 3:56
5 It’s Your Thing 4:16 [Isley Brothers cover]
6 Make It Up To You 7:22
7 Aretha talks before “Golden Moments Medley” 0:50
8 Daydreamin’ 2:48
9 Rock Steady 2:44
10 Say A Little Prayer 2:24
11 Respect 2:38
12 I Hurt Myself [I’m Guilty] 4:04
13 Ain’t No Way 6:06
14 instrumental outro [different source] 1:36
Encores
15 Band introductions 1:07
16 Because Of You 5:13
17 Jump To It 6:24
18 Announcer & Jump To It finale 1:31
19 Announcer and crowd 2:39
To survive the ’80s, Franklin left her records in the hands of studio experts. For 1981’s Love All The Hurt Away, Arif Mardin handled production. But it was 1982’s Jump To It that struck gold with the title track. This album was produced by Luther Vandross. Check it out for yourself, if this post-disco album has aged gracefully.
One Response to “ARETHA FRANKLIN - JAMAICA 1982”
Amazingly, the sublime recording was offered on eBay in late March, 2009 for $500 as a buy it now item and within two days it was sold! I have heard Jump To It, Ain’t No Way, Make It Up To You and It’s Your Thing. The sound quality is amazing, Aretha’s voice is in prime condition and the arrangements have a subtle reggae vibe to them, not that much of a surprise considering the venue where they were recorded. This is as good as it gets!
By R. Mark Desjardins on Mar 30, 2009