Call Me (Aretha Franklin song)
1970 single by Aretha Franklin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"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.
| "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 | |||
| Studio | Criteria Studios (Miami) | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 3:16 (single version) 3:57 (album version) | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter | Aretha Franklin | |||
| Producers | ||||
| Aretha Franklin singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
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]
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (RPM Top 100)[3] | 11 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 13 |
| US Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles | 1 |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of This Girl's in Love with You.[4][5]
Main performance
- Aretha Franklin – vocals, acoustic piano, additional keyboards
- Brenda Bryant – background vocals
- Cissy Houston – background vocals
- Pat Lewis – background vocals
- Barry Beckett – electric piano, Hammond organ
- Roger Hawkins – drums
- Eddie Hinton – guitar
- David Hood – bass
- Jimmy Johnson – guitar
Production
- Ron Albert – engineer
- Tom Dowd – producer
- Chuck Kirkpatrick – engineer
- Arif Mardin – producer, arranger
- Jerry Wexler – producer
Cover versions
- Diana Ross's rendition of the song for her 1971 album Everything Is Everything.[6] This version 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.[7]
Sampling
Hip Hop duo Slum Village uses a sample of the song on their 2004 song, "Selfish” featuring rapper Kanye West (who also produced the song) and singer John Legend from their fourth Album “Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit)”