Respect/Love The One You're With/Bridge Over Troubled Water/Eleanor Rigby/Make It With You/Don't Play That Song/Dr Feelgood/Spirit In The DarK/Spirit In The Dark (Reprise)/Reach Out & Touch (Somebody's Hand)
Live At Fillmore West sees soul legend Aretha Franklin tailoring her sound for what appears to have been a largely white audience. Some critics believe that she should have included more of her own songs. (US:7)
“If you are not acquainted with the Queen of Soul or have not looked beyond her hits, Live At Fillmore West will be a treat. Aretha, backed by King Curtis and The Kingpins, Billy Preston and The Sweethearts Of Soul, created one of the classic live albums of all time.”
“Designed as an album to allow Aretha to crossover into the domain of hip young (and mainly white) rock fans Live At Fillmore West could have become a disaster; bland soul music for mass consumption never is a pretty picture. Nonetheless, Aretha Franklin's sheer, powerful energy and the fact that she had one of the tightest, funkiest bands backing her up would provide a stellar, sweaty album brimming with live wire gospel-soul.”
“This is one of those live albums that fails to deliver. All you have to do to see some of the problems with this set is to note that what the very obvious covers of songs by Stephen Stills, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and David Gates do, is take up room in which Aretha should have been performing more of her own great songs.”
“Clearly adjusting her catalogue for the Fillmore's young, white rock audience, the songs found Franklin doubling up on popular pop and rock hits. There wasn't anything wrong with such performances, but Franklin’s focus on pop and rock tunes left precious little room for her soul material. Personally I would have liked more classic soul tunes and less pandering to the hippie crowd.”
“If you're a casual fan of Aretha's soul singles, this is probably not the album for you. Apart from the obligatory Respect and a thumping Dr Feelgood, most of this live set is dedicated to either material from her last album or covers of contemporary rock songs. And yes, she's a superb singer, but somehow having the Queen of Soul belt out Bridge Over Troubled Water or Eleanor Rigby makes them seem more pompous and overblown than they already were.”
“The Queen blows into the fabled Fillmore West with The King Curtis Band and proceeds to blow the roof off. Check out those staccato horns at the end, dynamite.”
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