Culling the vast Atlantic tape vaults allows the opportunity to uncover all kinds of musical treasures and with an artist as prolific as Aretha Franklin, there are fortunately many soulful gems, such as a trio of 1973 demos, two of which – “Til It’s Over” and “Oh Baby” – Patrick Milligan and I as co-producers of the 4CD Rhino box set ARETHA included as rarities on Disc 3…

1973 is a pivotal year for Aretha in her relationship with Atlantic Records. Her contract is up for renewal or renegotiation and it comes at a time when she’s riding a continuing wave of triumphs and accomplishments.  The year before, “Amazing Grace” has proven to be an incredible milestone on a number of different fronts: it’s the best-selling gospel album ever and has outsold Aretha’s previous albums (five of which have achieved gold status), eventually racking up more than two million sales.

Her first recording sessions with a producer other than the team of Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin & Tom Dowd (who have been credited on most of Aretha’s Atlantic recordings) – namely Quincy Jones – have resulted in the LP “Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky),” yielding less commercial impact than usual for Aretha upon its release in the summer of 1973, it has spawned a US R&B chart-topper and Top 20 pop hit in the form of “Angel.”  The previous single from the album, “Master Of Eyes (The Deepness Of Your Eyes)” is a Top 5 R&B hit and also nets Aretha her ninth Grammy Award.  

While “Angel” is enjoying its three month chart run, Aretha is in creative mode, crafting songs for what will turn out to be her thirteenth Atlantic LP (not including compilations), “Let Me In Your Life.”  Sometime in 1973, specific date unknown, she is writing material, mindful that the compositions she’s bringing to life may or may not (depending on the outcome of the contract negotiations with Atlantic) form the basis of a new LP for another label.  Music industry scuttlebutt suggests it could be CBS, Buddah, RCA among contenders…

In the depths of the Atlantic vaults in Burbank, I discover in 2005 a small tape box with Aretha’s name on the spine, identified only on the front as ‘Demos’.  Once the tape has been transferred, its contents reveal three songs that are in their most rudimentary state, just Aretha playing piano and singing.

When a compilation of all the Aretha unreleased material I uncovered in my vault research surfaces in 2007 as “The Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul,” just one of the trio of tunes, “Are You Leaving Me?” is included. It is so compelling that in 2013, Jennifer Holliday records it for her “The Song Is You” CD. 

For the 2021 ARETHA box set, co-producer Patrick Milligan and I agree that the other two songs from the 1973 demo session are essential, great examples of ‘The Queen’ in her element as a creator: “Til It’s Over” finds Aretha singing in joyful mode; while “Oh Baby (aka as ‘There’s Something Magic About You’)” is equally upbeat as Aretha playfully vocalizes, as she lays down an initial sketch of the song…

Negotiations with Atlantic Records complete by the time Aretha is rising to the top of the charts as 1973 ends with “Until You Come Back To Me” but none of the three compositions she’s demo-ed are included on the 1974 gold LP, “Let Me In Your Life.” One track on the album bears the name “Oh Baby,” but it’s a slow soaring ballad penned by Aretha, completely different in form and lyrics from the “Oh Baby” demo included on the 2021 box set and another opportunity to hear a masterful artist displaying the essence of her creativity.