“Amazing Grace” by Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin's 1972 recording of "Amazing Grace" puts her lead vocal on a song whose melody is traditional (Edwin Othello Excell also carries a composer credit) and whose words belong to John Newton. She produced it together with Arif Mardin and Jerry Wexler, Mardin mixed it, and Ray Thompson engineered the recording.

The company she keeps tells you what kind of record this is. The Rev. James Cleveland sits at the piano and the Southern California Community Choir sings behind her, while Ken Lupper on organ, Cornell Dupree on guitar, Chuck Rainey on bass, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums and Pancho Morales on congas lay down the floor she stands on. With a choir at her back and that crew underneath, Aretha has all the lift anyone could ask for.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.