･ LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS
･ GATEFOLD EDITION
･ DIRECT METAL MASTERING
･ 180 GRAM VIRGIN VINYL
Known as the “Queen of Soul”， Aretha Franklin ranked as No.1 in the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” Rolling Stone magazine’s 2010 poll. She is also an 18-time Grammy Award winner as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement and Grammy Living Legend awardee， standing among the greatest living singers (she is 75-years-old at this writing).
This outstanding collection gathers all of her early hits from the period 1960-62， when she started to gain renown. What distinguished Aretha Franklin from other female singers was， above all， the sheer power of her voice – its high belting chest register pushed into the soprano range without the operatic tonal roundness of a trained soprano extension. This is not mere technical gibberish: it defines a way of singing common to most popular vocalists in our time. But Aretha did it better than almost anyone. And unlike some， she has an upper extension， but she uses it for coloration， mostly in soft singing， not for sustained high passages or surging climaxes.
Aretha Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout the first half of the ‘60s， notching occasional R&B hits (and one Top Forty single， “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody”， but never truly breaking out as a star. The Columbia period continues to generate considerable controversy among critics， many of whom feel that Aretha’s true aspirations were being blunted by pop-oriented material and production. In fact there’s a reasonable amount of fine items to be found on the Columbia sides， including the song “Operation Heartbreak” (initially issued in 1961) where she belts out soul with real gusto.

Side A:
1. OPERATION HEARTBREAK (Al Kasha-Alan Thomas-Curtis Williams)
2. TODAY I SING THE BLUES (Curtis Lewis)
3. WON’T BE LONG (J. Leslie McFarland)
4. IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO (George & Ira Gershwin)
5. I SURRENDER DEAR (Harry Barris-Gordon Clifford)
6. ROCK-A-BYE YOUR BABY WITH A DIXIE MELODY (Samuel Lewis-Jean Schwartz-Joe Young)
7. ROUGH LOVER (J. Leslie McFarland)
8. IT’S SO HEARTBREAKIN’ (J. Leslie McFarland)
9. OVER THE RAINBOW (Harold Arlen-E.Y. Harburg)
Side B:
1. THAT LUCKY OLD SUN (Haven Gillespie-Harry Beasley Smith)
2. AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer)
3. TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS (James Campbell-Reginald Connelly-Harry M. Woods)
4. WITHOUT THE ONE YOU LOVE (Aretha Franklin)
5. DON’T CRY BABY (Saul Bernie-James P. Johnson-Stella Unger)
6. LOVER COME BACK TO ME (Sigmund Romberg-Oscar Hammerstein II)
7. TROUBLE IN MIND (Richard M. Jones)
8. GOD BLESS THE CHILD (Billie Holiday-Arthur Herzog Jr.)
9. HARD TIMES (Ray Charles)

ARETHA FRANKLIN， lead vocals
On all tracks， plus:
A1， A5 & A6: C. Massey (saxophone)， Robert Ascher (trombone)， Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar)， Russ Savakus (bass)， Aretha Franklin or Ernie Hayes (piano)， Gary Chester (drums)， Charles Libove， Bernard Eichenbaum， George Ockner， Harry Lookovsky， Harry Katzman (violin). Unidentified female backing vocals. Produced by John Hammond. Conducted and arranged by Richard Wess. Columbia Records studios， 799 Seventh Avenue， New York， August 16， 1961.
A2 & A9: Tyree Glenn (trombone)， Chauncey “Lord” Westbrook (guitar)， Ray Bryant (piano)， Bill Lee (bass)， Osie Johnson (drums). Produced by John Hammond. Arranged by J. Leslie McFarland. Columbia Records studios， 207 East 30th Street， New York， August 1， 1960.
A3: Aretha Franklin (also piano)， Bill Lee (bass)， Belton “Sticks” Evans (drums). Produced by John Hammond. Arranged by J. Leslie McFarland. Columbia Records studios， 799 Seventh Avenue， New York， November 29， 1960.
A4: Lucky Warren (tenor saxophone)， Chauncey “Lord” Westbrook (guitar)， Ray Bryant (piano)， Bill Lee (bass)， Belton “Sticks” Evans (drums). Produced by John Hammond. Arranged by J. Leslie McFarland. Columbia Records studios， 207 East 30th Street， New York， December 19， 1960.
A7， A8 & B9: Stanley Webb， James Richardson， Toots Mondello， Romero Penque (saxophone)， Bernie Privin， Joe Wilder， Bernie Glow， Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet)， Jimmy Cleveland， Urbie Green， Robert Alexander， Morty Bowman (trombone)， Bucky Pizzarelli， Don Armone (guitar)， Bill Lee (bass)， Aretha Franklin or Mo Wechsler (piano)， Teddy Somer (drums). Produced by John Hammond. Conducted and arranged by Richard Wess. Columbia Records studios， 799 Seventh Avenue， New York， November 7， 1961.
B1: Phil Bodner (saxophone)， Joe Wilder (trumpet)， Mundell Lowe (guitar)， Jimmy Rowser (bass)， Tommy Flanagan (piano)， Teddy Sommer (drums)， Gene Orloff， Julius Schachter， Arnold Eidus， Harry Katzman， Hinda Barnett， Anthony Bambino (violin)， Leon Frengut and Harold Furmansky (viola)， Peter Makas and George Koutzen (cello). Produced by John Hammond. Conducted and arranged by Richard Wess. Columbia Records studios， 799 Seventh Avenue， New York， December 21， 1961.
B2: Oliver Nelson and Jerry Dodgion (saxophone)， Joe Newman (trumpet)， Al Grey (trombone)， Mundell Lowe (guitar)， Larry Gales (bass)， Wynton Kelly (piano)， Jimmy Cobb (drums). Conducted and arranged by Richard Wess. Columbia Records studios， 799 Seventh Avenue， New York， January 25， 1962.
B3-B8: Unidentified personnel.
Produced， conducted and arranged by Robert Mersey. Columbia Records studios， 799 Seventh Avenue， New York， April 27 (B3-B5)， May 4 (B6) & May 11 (B7-B8)， 1962.