At the absolute height of her fame, Atlantic Records took a risk and arranged to release a jazz-based album for Aretha Franklin that was mistakenly titled “SOUL ‘69”.

At approximately the same time, Columbia Records, her old label, released an album titled “Sad and Beautiful” that had gone unreleased until this point, and the pairing makes for some interesting listening, as it points out just how far Aretha had come in five years, while strangely emphasizing the fact that she really hadn’t changed all that much at all.

While comparing these two albums, recorded five years apart from one another but released only three months apart, we also squeeze in a few non-album singles.

Tracks include:

My Song

The House That Jack Built

I Say a Little Prayer

Night Time Is the Right Time

Ramblin’

River’s Invitation

Crazy He Calls Me

Gentle on My Mind

Pitiful

Only the Lonely

So Long