La Diva (Aretha Franklin album)

La Diva
Studio album by Aretha Franklin
Released September 6, 1979
Recorded February-May, 1979
at Penny Lane Studios
(New York City, New York)
Record Plant, (Los Angeles, California)
Genre Disco, R&B, Pop
Label Atlantic (#19248)
Producer Aretha Franklin, Charles Kipps, Skip Scarborough, Van McCoy
Aretha Franklin chronology
Almighty Fire
(1978)		 La Diva
(1979)		 Aretha
(1980)
Singles from La Diva
  1. "Ladies Only"
    Released: June 1, 1979
  2. "Half A Love"
    Released: September 16, 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Robert ChristgauB [2]

La Diva is the twenty-seventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, Released on September 6, 1979 by Atlantic Records. The album marked the end of Aretha's 12-year tenure with Atlantic and a run of 19 original albums. The album was a commercial flop as the singer attempted to make a comeback by recording a disco-oriented project with producer Van McCoy. It was McCoy's final work as he died in June of that year and the record was released as disco was running its course.

It peaked at #146 on Billboard's album chart and sold less than 75,000 copies in the United States. It stands as the lowest charting and poorest selling album of Aretha's entire Atlantic Records catalogue. "Ladies Only" only reached #33 on Billboard's R&B singles chart while the follow-up, "Half A Love", stalled at #65. This album was recorded at Aretha's vocal peak and features three of her own compositions, as well as a song by her eldest son Clarence Franklin.

Although remembered as Aretha's failed disco LP, La Diva also includes substantial funk/ R&B tracks such as The Emotions' "Reasons Why", Zulema's "Half a Love" and scorching versions of Lalome Washburn's "It's Gonna Get A Bit Better" and her own "Honey I Need Your Love." This album has not been officially released on compact disc.

Track Listing

Side One

  1. "Ladies Only" (Aretha Franklin) 5:15
  2. "It's Gonna Get a Bit Better" (Lalome Washburn) 5:20
  3. "What If I Should Ever Need You" (Charles H. Kipps) 3:32
  4. "Honey I Need Your Love" (Aretha Franklin) 2:45
  5. "I Was Made for You" (Clarence Franklin) 4:03

Side Two

  1. "Only Star" (Aretha Franklin) 5:04
  2. "Reasons Why" (Skip Scarborough, Wanda Hutchinson, Wayne Vaughan) 3:55
  3. "You Brought Me Back to Life" (Van McCoy) 4:24
  4. "Half a Love" (Zulema Cusseaux) 5:25
  5. "The Feeling" (Van McCoy) 4:45

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ La Diva review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "La Diva review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2015-04-28.

External links

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