I've got many Aretha Franklin favorites but these two treats have become the most endearing to me over the years."Oh No Not My Baby" is an uptempo groover. I'm digging all the elements here - the drum kicks are serious, the string arrangements, the rhythmic guitar strums, the horn jabs and Aretha's urging vocals and interplay with her background singers. A killer production all around.
The thing that strikes me the most about "Crazy He Calls Me" is the cozy intimacy of Aretha's performance. She sustains it from beginning to end. When she proclaims "I say I'll move the mountains, and I'll move the mountains, if he wants them out of the way", I'm certain she will.
Disarming.
"Oh No Not My Baby" (Spirit In The Dark, 1970)
"Crazy He Calls Me" (Aretha Franklin: Soul '69, 1969)
