Aretha Franklin, Call Me | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 70^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Call Me” by ‘The Queen of Soul,’ the late, great Aretha Franklin.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 70^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Call Me” performed by Aretha Franklin.

“I love you (I love you) / And I love you (I love you) / And I love you too (And I love you) / Baby, will you call me the moment you get there?” Aretha Franklin, the late, great Queen of Soul, never grows old.  This Girl’s In Love With You, released in 1970, isn’t one of her most renowned albums, but it features some marvelous songs including the hit, “Call Me”.  “Call Me” was written solely by Franklin and produced by Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, and Tom Dowd. A gorgeous ballad oozing with soul, this gem, which peaked at no. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, is marvelously constructed – the writing and instrumental arrangement.

Starting with the backdrop, among the instrumental ear candy is bluesy piano, warm organ, and dramatic strings. The accompaniment is perfect fuel for Aretha’s fire.  That said, she’s on autopilot from the onset, blessing the listener with those once-in-a-lifetime vocals steeped in soul. By the end of “Call Me,” her ad-libs sound as if she came directly from the black church. Well, they did, didn’t they? Not only is Franklin on-point, but so are the background vocals performed by Brenda Bryant, Cissy Houston (the mother of Whitney Houston), and Pat Lewis. The background vocals give their all to accentuate Franklin’s soaring lead. The melodies are tuneful in the verse and the centerpiece, the chorus: “Call me (The moment) / The moment (You get there) / You get there? Yeah, yeah, baby, yeah.” Even though “I know we’ve got to part,” she sings in the verse, “I’m keeping you right-a-here in my heart / It’s all because I love you.” Aww, the love is lit! Do you know what else is lit? “Call Me”, is one of the great songs from Aretha’s illustrious, timeless catalog.

Aretha Franklin // This Girl’s In Love With You // Atlantic // 1970

Aretha Franklin, Call Me: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 70 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Atlantic; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via  Pixabay]