Young, Gifted and Black

Young, Gifted and Black is the nineteenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, Released on January 24, 1972 by Atlantic Records. The album is Top 10 Gold-certified. The album won Aretha a 1972 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance of the year. It takes its title from the Nina Simone song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black." In 2003, the TV network VH1 named it the 76th greatest album of all time.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	link
Robert Christgau	(A) link
Rolling Stone	(favorable) link

Track listing

#	Title	Length
1.	"Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)" (Jim Doris)	3:42
2.	"Day Dreaming" (Franklin)	4:00
3.	"Rock Steady" (Franklin)	3:15
4.	"Young, Gifted and Black" (Weldon Irvine, Nina Simone)	3:34
5.	"All the King's Horses" (Franklin)	3:56
6.	"A Brand New Me" (Theresa Bell, Jerry Butler, Kenny Gamble)	4:26
7.	"April Fools" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David)	3:29
8.	"I've Been Loving You Too Long" (Jerry Butler, Otis Redding)	3:36
9.	"First Snow in Kokomo" (Franklin)	4:04
10.	"The Long and Winding Road" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)	3:38
11.	"Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" (Thom Bell, William Hart)	3:42
12.	"Border Song (Holy Moses)" (Bernie Taupin, Elton John)	3:22

Personnel

Dr. John - Percussion (Track 3)
Aretha Franklin - Acoustic Piano (Tracks 1-4, 6, 8-12), Celesta (5), Electric piano (7), Lead Vocals (All Tracks)
Donny Hathaway - Organ (Tracks 1, 3, 5-6, 8-9), Electric piano (2)
Billy Preston - Organ (Tracks 4, 10, 12)
Sammy Turner - Background Vocals (Track 12)
Hubert Laws - Flute (Tracks 2, 7, 11)
Chuck Rainey - Bass (Tracks 2-5, 7, 9-12)
J.R. Bailey - Background Vocals (Track 12)
Carolyn Franklin - Background Vocals (Tracks 2-3, 5, 8-10)
Erma Franklin - Background Vocals (Tracks 2-3, 5, 8-10)
The Memphis Horns - Horn Section (Tracks 3, 8)
The Sweet Inspirations - Background Vocals (Tracks 1, 4, 6, 12)
Jack Adams - Additional Recording Engineer
Howard Albert - Recording Engineer
Ron Albert - Recording Engineer
Don Arnone - Acoustic Guitar (Track 2)
Margaret Branch - Background Vocals (Tracks 2-3, 5, 7-11)
Ann S. Clark - Background Vocals (Tracks 2-3, 5, 7-9, 11)
Cornell Dupree - Guitar (Tracks 2-5, 7-12)
Jimmy Douglass - Additional Recording Engineer
Tom Dowd - Horn Arranger (Tracks 3, 8), Producer (2-5, 7-12)
Chuck Kirkpatrick - Recording Engineer
Eric Gale - Bass (Tracks 1, 6)
Lewis Hahn - Additional Recording Engineer
Dan Hersch - Remastering
Bill Inglot - Remastering
Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns - Trumpet (Tracks 3, 8)
Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns - Tenor saxophone (Tracks 3, 8)
Ray Lucas - Drums (Tracks 4, 10, 12)
Arif Mardin - Arranger, Producer, Remixing (All Tracks)
Michael Mazzarella - Research
Hugh McCracken - Guitar (Tracks 1, 6)
Gene Orloff - Concert Master
Gene Paul - Recording Engineer
Gary Peterson - Research
Robert Popwell - Bass (Track 8), Percussion (3)
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Drums (Tracks 2-3, 5, 7-8, 11)
Neal Rosengarden - Trumpet (Track 9), Vibraphone (5)
Pat Smith - Background Vocals (Tracks 2-3, 5, 7-9, 11)
Jerry Wexler - Producer (All Tracks)
Ronald Bright - Background Vocals (Track 12)
Don Cassale - Additional Recording Engineer
Al Jackson, Jr. - Drums (Tracks 1, 6)
David Nathan - Liner Notes
Geoff Gans - Reissue Art Director
Patrick Milligan - Research
Stanislaw Zagorski - Cover Design

Chart positions

Chart (1972)	Peak position
Billboard Top LPs	11
Billboard Top Soul LPs	2

Singles

Year	Title	US Pop	US R&B
1970	"Border Song (Holy Moses)"	37	5
1971	"Rock Steady"	9	2
1972	"All the King's Horses"	26	7
1972	"Day Dreaming"	5	1
1972	"Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You Baby)"	73	9

Aretha Franklin

Studio albums

Columbia	Aretha (1961) The Electrifying Aretha Franklin (1962) The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin (1962) Laughing on the Outside (1963) Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington (1964) Runnin' Out of Fools (1964) Yeah!!! (1965) Soul Sister (1966) Take It Like You Give It (1967) Take a Look (1967) Soft and Beautiful (1969)

Atlantic	I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967) Aretha Arrives (1967) Lady Soul (1968) Aretha Now (1968) Soul '69 (1969) This Girl's in Love with You (1970) Spirit in the Dark (1970) Young, Gifted and Black (1972) Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973) Let Me in Your Life (1974) With Everything I Feel in Me (1974) You (1975) Sparkle (1976) Sweet Passion (1977) Almighty Fire (1978) La Diva (1979)

Arista	Aretha (1980) Love All the Hurt Away (1981) Jump to It (1982) Get It Right (1983) Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985) Aretha (1986) Through the Storm (1989) What You See Is What You Sweat (1991) A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998) So Damn Happy (2003)

Other	Songs of Faith (1956) This Christmas, Aretha (2008) Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love (2011) Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics (2014)

Live albums

Aretha in Paris (1968)
Aretha Live at Fillmore West (1971)
Amazing Grace (1972)
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (1987)
Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live in Philly, 1972 (2007)

Compilation albums

Aretha's Gold (1969)
Aretha's Greatest Hits (1971)
The Best of Aretha Franklin (1973)
Aretha Sings the Blues (1980)
30 Greatest Hits (1985)
Greatest Hits: 1980–1994 (1994)
The Early Years (1997)
Greatest Hits (1998)
Aretha's Best (2001)
Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul (2007)
Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen (2007)
A Deeper Love: The Best of Aretha Franklin (2009)
The Great American Songbook (2011)
Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of Aretha Franklin (1980-1998) (2012)

Box sets

Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings (1992/2014)
Take A Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia (2011)

Singles

"Precious Lord (Part 1)" (1959)
"Today I Sing the Blues" (1960)
"Won't Be Long" (1960)
"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" (1961)
"Operation Heartbreak" (1961)
"I Surrender, Dear" (1962)
"Try a Little Tenderness" (1962)
"Say It Isn't So" (1963)
"Skylark" (1963)
"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (1964)
"One Step Ahead" (1965)
"You Made Me Love You" (1965)
"Mockingbird" (1967)
"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (1967)
"Respect" (1967)
"Baby I Love You" (1967)
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (1967)
"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"
"Chain of Fools" (1967)
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1968)
"(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" (1968)
"Think" (1968)
"You Send Me" (1968)
"The House That Jack Built" (1968)
"I Say a Little Prayer" (1968)
"See Saw" (1968)
"My Song" (1968)
"The Weight" (1969)
"Tracks of My Tears" (1969)
"I Can't See Myself Leaving You" (1969)
"Gentle on My Mind" (1969)
"Share Your Love with Me" (1969)
"Eleanor Rigby" (1969)
"Call Me" (1970)
"Son of a Preacher Man" (1970)
"Spirit in the Dark" (1970)
"The Thrill Is Gone" (1970)
"Don't Play That Song" (1970)
"Border Song (Holy Moses)" (1970)
"You're All I Need to Get By" (1971)
"Bridge over Troubled Water" (1971)
"Spanish Harlem" (1971)
"Rock Steady" (1971)
"Day Dreaming" (1972)
"Wholy Holy" (1972)
"Angel" (1973)
"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (1973)
"I'm in Love" (1974)
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (1974)
"Something He Can Feel" (1976)
"Break It to Me Gently" (1977)
"What a Fool Believes" (1981)
"It's My Turn" (1981)
"Jump to It" (1982)
"Get It Right" (1983)
"Freeway of Love" (1985)
"Who's Zoomin' Who" (1985)
"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (1985)
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986)
"Jimmy Lee" (1986)
"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987)
"Oh Happy Day" (1988)
"Gimme Your Love" (1989)
"It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (1989)
"Everyday People" (1991)
"Someday We'll All Be Free" (1992)
"A Deeper Love" (1993)
"A Rose Is Still a Rose" (1998)
"Here We Go Again" (1998)
"Put You Up on Game" (2007)
"Rolling in the Deep (The Aretha Version)" (2014)