La Diva (Aretha Franklin Album)
La Diva was an Aretha Franklin album released in 1979 and it marked the end of Aretha's 12-year tenure with Atlantic and a run of 19 original albums.
The album was a commercial flop as the singer attempted to make a comeback by recording a disco-oriented project with producer Van McCoy. It was McCoy's final work as he died in June of that year and the record was released as disco was running its course. It peaked at #146 on Billboard's album chart and sold less than 75,000 copies in the United States. It stands as the lowest charting and poorest selling album of Aretha's entire Atlantic Records catalogue. "Ladies Only" only reached #33 on Billboard's R&B singles chart while the follow-up, "Half A Love", stalled at #65.
This album was recorded at Aretha's vocal peak and features three of her own compositions, as well as a song by her eldest son Clarence Franklin. Although remembered as Aretha's failed disco LP, "La Diva" also includes substantial funk/ R&B tracks such as The Emotions' "Reasons Why", Zulema's "Half a Love" and scorching versions of Lalome Washburn's "It's Gonna Get A Bit Better" and her own "Honey I Need Your Love."
This album was taken out of print in 1982.
Read more about La Diva (Aretha Franklin Album): Personnel
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