From gospel roots to Atlantic Records hits, her voice carried both power and tenderness.
For the full picture, listen to 'I Say a Little Prayer' right after 'Think.' That's the range she worked in.
When she moved to Atlantic in 1966, Jerry Wexler helped shape the sound that produced 'Respect' and 'Chain of Fools.' That gospel intensity could shift from the quiet ache of 'Ain't No Way' to the commanding declaration of 'Think.' Even her later duet with George Michael, 'I Knew You Were Waiting For Me,' carried that same vocal authority.
She started singing in church as a child and signed with Columbia at 14, but her early work there didn't find much traction. The move to Atlantic Records in 1966 changed everything, leading to the 1967 album 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' and the hits that followed.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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