La Diva (Aretha Franklin album)

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La Diva
Studio album by Aretha Franklin
Released	September 6, 1979
Recorded	February–May, 1979
Studio	Penny Lane Studios (New York City, New York) Record Plant (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Disco, R&B, pop
Label	Atlantic (#19248)
Producer	Aretha Franklin, Vanda & Young, Charles Kipps, Skip Scarborough, Van McCoy
Aretha Franklin chronology
Almighty Fire (1978) La Diva (1979) Aretha (1980)
Singles from La Diva
"Ladies Only" Released: August 7, 1979 "Half A Love" Released: November, 1979

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]

La Diva is the twenty-fifth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on September 6, 1979, by Atlantic Records. The album marked the end of her 12-year tenure with Atlantic and a run of 19 original albums. The album was a commercial flop as the singer attempted to make a comeback by recording a disco-oriented project with producer Van McCoy. It was McCoy's final work as he died in June of that year; the record was released as disco was running its course.

It stands as the lowest charting and poorest selling album of Franklin's entire Atlantic Records catalogue. "Ladies Only" reached #33 on Billboard's R&B singles chart while the follow-up, "Half A Love", stalled at #65.^[4] This album was recorded at Franklin's vocal peak and features three of her own compositions, as well as a song by her eldest son Clarence Franklin.

Although remembered^{[by whom?]} as Franklin's failed disco LP, La Diva also includes substantial funk and R&B tracks such as The Emotions' "Reasons Why", Zulema's "Half a Love" and scorching versions of Lalome Washburn's "It's Gonna Get A Bit Better" and her own "Honey I Need Your Love."

Track listing[]

Side one[]

1. "Ladies Only" (Aretha Franklin) – 5:15
2. "It's Gonna Get a Bit Better" (Lalome Washburn) – 5:20
3. "What If I Should Ever Need You" (Charles H. Kipps) – 3:32
4. "Honey I Need Your Love" (Aretha Franklin) – 2:45
5. "I Was Made for You" (Clarence Franklin) – 4:03

Side two[]

1. "Only Star" (Aretha Franklin) – 5:04
2. "Reasons Why" (Skip Scarborough, Wanda Hutchinson, Wayne Vaughan) – 3:55
3. "You Brought Me Back to Life" (Van McCoy) – 4:24
4. "Half a Love" (Zulema Cusseaux) – 5:25
5. "The Feeling" (Van McCoy) – 4:45

Personnel[]

• Aretha Franklin – lead and backing vocals, rhythm arrangements (4)
• Van McCoy – keyboards, backing vocals, rhythm arrangements (1, 3-5, 8, 10)
• Kenneth Ascher, Richard Tee, Paul Griffin – keyboards
• Ken Bichel – synthesizer, orchestra bells
• Jack Cavari, Cornell Dupree, Tom Hanlon – guitar
• Brian Aslop, Gordon Edwards – bass guitar
• Chris Parker – drums
• Errol "Crusher" Bennett, George Devens – percussion
• Richard Gibbs – rhythm arrangements (2)
• Arthur Jenkins – rhythm arrangements (6)
• Skip Scarborough – rhythm arrangements (7)
• Gene Orloff – conductor
• Albert Bailey – backing vocals
• Sharon Brown – backing vocals
• Zulema Cusseaux – backing vocals, rhythm arrangements (9)
• Diane Destry – backing vocals
• Carolyn Franklin – backing vocals
• Richard Harris – background vocals
• Brenda Hilliard – backing vocals
• Jerome Jackson – backing vocals
• Pete Marshall – backing vocals
• Pat Williamson – backing vocals

Production

• Producers – Charles Kipps and Van McCoy (Tracks 1-3, 5, 6, 8-10); Aretha Franklin (Track 4); Skip Scarborough (Track 7)
• Engineers – Lee Decarlo and Alan Varner
• Assistant engineers – Rick Delana, Brian Marine and John Terrell
• Mastered by George Piros at Atlantic Studios (New York, NY)

References[]