Call Me (Aretha Franklin song)

"Call Me"
"Call Me"
Single by Aretha Franklin
from the album This Girl's in Love with You
B-side	"Son of a Preacher Man"
Released	January 21, 1970
Recorded	1969; Criteria Studios (Miami)
Genre	Soul
Length	3:16 (single version); 3:57 (album version)
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Aretha Franklin
Producer(s)	Arif Mardin; Jerry Wexler; Tom Dowd;
Aretha Franklin singles chronology

"Call Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer Aretha Franklin. The song was co-produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin.

Background[]

Franklin came up with the idea for the song after she saw a young couple engaged in deep conversation on New York's Park Avenue. Before they parted, Franklin heard them say to each other: "I love you... call me."^[1] With the exception of Franklin on piano, musical backing for "Call Me" was handled by members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

Chart performance[]

"Call Me" was released as a single in January 1970 from Aretha's This Girl's in Love with You album and became another hit for her, spending two weeks at number one on the US R&B Singles chart, while reaching number 13 on the Pop chart.^[2]

Personnel[]

Aretha Franklin – vocals, piano
Barry Beckett – keyboards
Roger Hawkins – drums
Eddie Hinton, Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Weaver – guitar
David Hood – bass guitar
King Curtis - tenor saxophone

Cover versions[]

Diana Ross's rendition of the song for her 1971 album Everything Is Everything was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Female R&B Vocal Category.
In 1991, R&B singer Phil Perry recorded a version of this song for his album, The Heart of the Man, which reached number one on the Hot R&B Singles Chart.^[3]

Samples[]

Danny! sampled it in 2004 for his song "When You Get There"
Later in 2004, Kanye West also sampled it for Slum Village's hit "Selfish".

References[]

^ Ed Hogan, "Song Review" on Allmusic
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 215.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 457.

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[1] Ed Hogan, "Song Review" on Allmusic

[2] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 215.

[3] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 457.

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