July 16, 2021
Aretha Franklin was enjoying a recording renaissance at Atlantic Records in 1976 when she teamed up with the masterful Curtis Mayfield to cut the LP, “Sparkle,” the soundtrack for the film of the same name which centred around a black female vocal trio that achieves success only to break up due to ‘personality’ conflicts. Supposedly loosely around the story of The Supremes, the original film fared moderately well; however, Aretha’s passionate delivery of the music (essentially her vocals featured on the instrumental tracks and backing vocals from the film versions, replacing the original lead vocalists in the movie itself) resulted in a certified-gold album for her and a No. 1 US R&B hit with the sensual “Something He Can Feel.” Promotion for the LP included this sizzling hot’n’steamy performance on ‘The Johnny Carson Show” in 1976!
