Song · Aretha Franklin
“Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin
From the album Lady Soul (1968)
“Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin appears on 11 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2001 and 2024. It was first released in 1968 on the album Lady Soul. Its best result is #196 on the WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #613 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Don Covay wrote "Chain of Fools" back in his youth, when he was singing gospel with his brothers and sisters, and he cut a demo of it when Jerry Wexler asked him for songs for Otis Redding. Wexler heard it and handed it to Aretha Franklin instead, and her single came out in 1967, sat at number one on the R&B chart for four weeks and reached number two on the Hot 100. It landed on Lady Soul the following year.
Wexler produced, Tom Dowd engineered and mixed, and Dowd and Arif Mardin arranged. Aretha plays piano, Spooner Oldham electric piano, Joe South and Jimmy Johnson guitars, with Tommy Cogbill on bass and Roger Hawkins on drums, while Carolyn and Erma Franklin, Ellie Greenwich and the Sweet Inspirations fill out the choir behind her. The original ran 4:03 before it was trimmed to 2:47 for the LP and single.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 196 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2007 | 758 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2012 | 868 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
| 2014 | 331 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2016 | 299 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2018 | 438 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2019 | 864 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2019 | 864 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2020 | 1098 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2023 | 444 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 673 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
Also listed as: Chain Of Fools.
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