Young, Gifted and Black

Young, Gifted and Black contains original songs written and performed by Franklin, such as "Day Dreaming" and "Rock Steady". It also features cover versions of songs by other artists, including "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" by Nina Simone, as well as "I've Been Loving You Too Long" by Otis Redding, "The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles, and "Border Song (Holy Moses)" by Elton John. ==Critical reception==

Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic wrote that "Young, Gifted and Black certainly ranks highly among [Franklin's] studio efforts, with many arguing that it may be her greatest. [...] If you really want to go song by song, you'd be hard-pressed to find any throwaways here — this is quite honestly an album that merits play from beginning to end". ==Track listing==

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• Aretha Franklin – lead vocals (all), acoustic piano (1–4, 6, 8–12), celesta (5), Fender Rhodes electric piano (7) • Cornell Dupree – guitar (2–5, 7–12) • Hugh McCracken – guitar (1, 6) • Don Arnone – acoustic guitar (2) • Donny Hathaway – Hammond organ (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9), Fender Rhodes electric piano (2) • Billy Preston – Hammond organ (4, 10, 12) • Chuck Rainey – bass guitar (2–5, 7, 9–12) • Eric Gale – bass guitar (1, 6) • Robert Popwell – bass guitar (8), percussion (3) • Bernard Purdie – drums (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11) • Ray Lucas – drums (4, 10, 12) • Al Jackson Jr. – drums (1, 6) • Dr. John – percussion (3) • The Memphis Horns – horns (3, 8) • Neal Rosengarden – trumpet (9), vibraphone (5) • Hubert Laws – flute (2, 7, 11) • Pat Smith – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7–9, 11) • Carolyn Franklin – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 8–10) • Erma Franklin – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 8–10) • Margaret Branch – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7–11) • Ann S. Clark – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7–9, 11) • The Sweet Inspirations – backing vocals (1, 4, 6, 12) • Ronald Bright – backing vocals (12) • J. R. Bailey – backing vocals (12) • Sammy Turner – backing vocals (12) == Production ==

Day Dreaming, Rock Steady, All The Kings Horses, I've Been Loving You Too Long, First Snow In Kokomo were recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. Recording Engineers: Ron Albert and Howard Albert, and Chuck Kirkpatrick. Produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin ==Chart positions==