Aretha Franklin, Rock Steady | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 188^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Rock Steady” by 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 188^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Rock Steady”, performed by 🎙 Aretha Franklin. 

“What it is, what it is, what it is.” ‘What it is’ is one of the funkiest songs from the 🎙 Aretha Franklin  catalog: 🎵 “Rock Steady”. “Rock Steady” appears on Franklin’s fabulous 1972 album, 💿 Young, Gifted and Black. While most of the album is covers, featuring others handling songwriting duties, Franklin wrote “Rock Steady” herself.  There is no way you listen to this record and don’t move some part of your body. The excellence includes a big, fat bass line, epic percussive groove, tremendous electric guitar riffs, and soulful organ. Beyond the core rhythm section, the horns up the ante, in all their accented glory. Also, can’t leave out the background vocals, which provide a further lift to the star of the show, Franklin, who kills it. 🎛 Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin, and Jerry Wexler produced this southern soul gem.

“Let’s call this song exactly what it is,” Aretha Franklin sings in the first verse, adding, “Step and move your hips with a feeling from side to side.” Ooh-wee! The chorus features similar lyrics to the verses, which emphasize dancing: “It’s a funky and low down feeling (What it is) / In my hips from left to right (What it is).” 🎵 “Rock Steady” is one of 17 top-10 hits by Franklin – impressive.  Ultimately, it peaked at no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It just missed the top spot on the R&B charts, reaching no. 2. Furthermore, it was certified gold by the RIAA – impressive for a song from the early 1970s. That, folks is, what it is!

🎙 Aretha Franklin • 💿 Young, Gifted and Black • 🏷 Atlantic • 🗓 1972

 Aretha Franklin, Rock Steady: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 188 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Atlantic; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]