Following my recent piece in The Guardian on the life and career of Carolyn Franklin – the youngest sister of the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin – I thought I’d breakdown 10 of my favourite Carolyn Franklin recordings. Read below!

1. ‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’, from Baby Dynamite (1969)

‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’ was Carolyn’s first single after singing to RCA Records in 1969. Signed by Buzz Willis as part of RCA’s concerted push into the R&B market, Carolyn was eager to step out of Aretha’s shadow and establish her identity as a solo artist. She enlisted her cousin Brenda Corbett and singers Margaret Branch and Patricia Smith for backing vocal duties on Baby Dynamite and her subsequent albums. The trio, who called themselves The Sounds of Soul, are Carolyn’s secret weapon, breathing the energy of the Black Church into Carolyn’s music. ‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’, written by Carolyn, is truly haunting. Opening with a layer of dense harmonies, the song transitions into a fluid, mid-tempo groove. Carolyn weaves herself between the backing vocals.

2. ‘Boxer’, from Baby Dynamite (1969)

‘Boxer’, the b-side to ‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’ and another Carolyn composition, is her most commercial-sounding release. Marrying a danceable beat with swampy guitar, the song relays an intense sexual and romantic excitement. ‘And honey when you squeeze, you buckle both my knees… The man just knocked me out; he should have been a boxer!’ Famously tough critic Robert Christgau even conceded that Boxer ‘might have been a hit if RCA knew anything about pushing soul.’

3. ‘Chain Reaction’, from Chain Reaction (1970)

‘Chain Reaction’ – the title track of Carolyn’s sophomore album – is one of her most impassioned vocal performances as she wails over a heady mix of guitar, drums and brass. With themes of social revolution, I was tempted to read a civil rights subtext into the lyrics of ‘Chain Reaction’. ‘So why can’t you see it’s up to you and me to start a chain reaction / To make the love of mankind the centre of attraction,’ she sings, possibly calling for both racial and sexual equality. It is important to caveat that Carolyn did not write the song. ‘The lyrics were about the fact that we all live on the same planet and that all of us have a right to the fruits and productivity of the planet,’ songwriter Mike Appel (known for managing Bruce Springsteen’s early career) told me via email. However, I wonder whether Carolyn gravitated towards the song for more specific, immediate reasons. In her interviews with Aretha’s biographer David Ritz, Carolyn reflects on the Stonewall Riots, which had erupted the previous summer, and her optimism at the time that the riots may begin a dialogue about gay rights.[1] Perhaps her choice to record ‘Chain Reaction’ was reflective of that optimism? Alternatively, she may have been singing about the political upheaval that gripped Detroit (and other parts of the US) in the late 1960s as the civil rights movement reached its apex. Whatever she’s singing about, it sure has feeling.

4. ‘Don’t Wake Me Up in the Morning, Michael’, from Chain Reaction (1970)

‘Don’t Wake Me Up in the Morning, Michael’, originally a sunshine pop tune by The Peppermint Rainbow, proves the most striking cover on Chain Reaction. Carolyn repurposes the song as a sensual, pseudo-gospel ode with an arrangement courtesy of Sonny Sanders (who she later wrote ‘Angel‘ with). She brings out the yearning in the lyric, allowing her voice to tremble and curl.

5. ‘Going In Circles’, from Chain Reaction (1970)

Also for Chain Reaction, Carolyn covered ‘Going in Circles’ by her label mates The Friends of Distinction. Her reading of the song has a moody intensity – more anguished and dramatic than the original.

6. ‘All I Want To Be Is Your Woman’, off album release (1970)

After ‘Chain Reaction’ failed to make any commercial impact, off-album release ‘All I Want To Be Is Your Woman’ was chosen as Carolyn’s next single in August 1970. Jill Williams of song-writing stable Gil Music wrote the song to channel ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,’ the Carole King/Gerry Goffin masterpiece recorded by Aretha for her Lady Soul (1968) album. Williams never met Carolyn but told me she ‘got lucky’ when Carolyn recorded her song. Carolyn renders this delicate ballad with tenderness and finesse.

7. ‘Ain’t That Groovy’, off-album release (1970)

The b-side to ‘All I Want to Be is Your Woman’, ‘Ain’t That Groovy’ is a tune which Carolyn wrote with her main collaborator Jimmy Radcliffe (who first introduced her to RCA). Carolyn paces herself vocally, before jumping the octave and riding that funky groove.

8. ‘If You Want Me’, from If You Want Me (1976)

Another Carolyn composition with production duties from Jimmy Radcliffe, ‘If You Want Me’ was the title track and lead single from Carolyn’s final album. She had already been dropped by RCA after the dismal performance of her third album I’d Rather Be Lonely (1973). However, RCA cobbled together unused material from previous sessions for If You Want Me, released without Carolyn’s permission. However duplicitous the label’s behaviour, the album is full of choice cuts. ‘If you want me why don’t you come on and get me, honey?‘ she sings playfully on this reggae-flecked number.

9. ‘Deal With It’, from If You Want Me (1976)

Written by Carolyn and Pearl Spear, and produced by Jimmy Radcliffe, ‘Deal With It’ is the hit that never was. Tight, irrepressibly funky, and full of attitude – with some sonic parallels to Aretha’s ‘Rock Steady’.

10. ‘Dead Man’, from If You Want Me (1976)

‘Dead Man’ is Carolyn at her bluesiest. Against a backdrop of punchy brass, she has fantastic interplay with the backing vocals as she bids farewell to a no-good lover.

Read about the life and career of Carolyn Franklin here!

[1] David Ritz, Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin (Back Bay Books, 2014), 143.