Description

At the height of her fame as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin went back to church, and the cover of Amazing Grace says so in one shape. A photograph of Franklin, dressed in white and lit softly, is framed inside the outline of a cross against a plain pale background, with the title above in decorative lettering. Designed by Loring Eutemey for Atlantic, the sleeve is as direct as the music: a singer returning to her roots in faith.

The record was made live over two nights, 13 and 14 January 1972, at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. The Reverend James Cleveland introduced her and played piano, the Southern California Community Choir sang behind her, and a top rhythm section including Cornell Dupree, Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdie played along. Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts, in town finishing Exile on Main St., were among the people in the pews.

The director Sydney Pollack filmed both nights, but he had not used clapperboards, so the footage could not be synchronised with the sound and sat in a vault for decades. The film was finally released in 2018, three months after Franklin's death. The album, released on 1 June 1972, sold more than two million copies in the United States, won a Grammy and became the best-selling live gospel album of all time, and the cross on its cover remains its simplest summary.

Credit

Cover design by Loring Eutemey