When Aretha Franklin transitioned from Columbia Records to Atlantic in 1966, Atlantic’s VP Jerry Wexler approached her with song suggestions, including Sam Cooke’s "A Change Is Gonna Come" and Ray Charles’ "Drown in My Own Tears." While she appreciated these, Franklin had her own idea: "Respect," a song already in her live repertoire. As Wexler recounted to Franklin’s manager Ted White, according to biographer David Ritz, his only condition was that “she changes it up.” White confidently replied, “You don’t gotta worry about that. She changes it up all right.”
Otis Redding originally penned and recorded “Respect” for Stax/Volt in 1965. However, Aretha Franklin undeniably claimed the song as her own with her iconic rendition, recorded at Atlantic’s New York studio on Valentine’s Day, 1967. “Respect” not only became her first Number One hit but also cemented her status as the undisputed Queen of Soul.
Redding’s version, a robust and assertive plea, was a forceful demand for equal treatment. Franklin’s interpretation transcended mere request; she sang from a position of power, a woman asserting her needs and ending the imbalance with potent sexual authority. In essence, her message was clear: respect is earned. Wexler noted in his autobiography, Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music, that for Otis, “respect” held a traditional, more abstract meaning of esteem. But Aretha’s powerful voice demanded more – respect intertwined with profound sexual attention. He even questioned, “What else could ‘Sock it to me’ mean?”
This brings us to the electrifying contribution of Franklin’s backup singers—her sisters, Carolyn and Erma—whose rapid-fire chanting of “Sock it to me” became a signature element, conceived by Aretha and Carolyn during the recording session. Engineer Tom Dowd was astounded by Carolyn’s playful breakdown where Aretha spells out R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Furthermore, lacking a bridge in Redding’s original, Wexler ingeniously incorporated the chord progression from Sam and Dave’s “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” beneath King Curtis’s tenor saxophone solo, played by the renowned Muscle Shoals studio band.
The raw emotion within Franklin’s masterful delivery is unmistakable, undoubtedly fueled by her own turbulent marriage at the time. Wexler observed, “If she didn’t live it, she couldn’t give it.” Yet, he emphasized, “Aretha would never play the part of the scorned woman… Her middle name was Respect.”
As the opening track of her Atlantic debut album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, “Respect” acted as a catalyst, fusing rock & roll, gospel, and blues into a soul music blueprint that continues to inspire artists today, with Mariah Carey acknowledging Franklin as “my mentor.” Crucially, the song’s unapologetic demands resonated deeply with both the civil rights movement and the burgeoning feminist revolution. This was fitting for an artist who supported the Black Panther Party and sang at Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. In her 1999 memoir, Franklin reflected that the song captured “the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman, the mother, the fireman, the teacher — everyone wanted respect.” And its enduring relevance proves that we still do.
