Aretha (1986 album)
Aretha is the thirty-first studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, originally released on October 27, 1986, by Arista Records. It is the third album with the Aretha title to be released by Franklin, following her 1961 album and 1980 album.

Background
As with Franklin's previous album, Who's Zoomin' Who?, Aretha was produced mainly by Narada Michael Walden and includes her duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", which became Franklin's first #1 Pop single since "Respect" in 1967, and would also be her last. The album also yielded three other hit singles: "Jimmy Lee", "Rock-A-Lott" and a hard rock cover of The Rolling Stones' classic, "Jumpin' Jack Flash". All music videos were extremely popular on MTV, BET and other video outlets.Franklin's vocal from "Rock-A-Lott" was sampled extensively in the 49ers' 1990 hit "Touch Me", while her version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was the title song for the comedy film of the same name starring Whoopi Goldberg. All four of the singles were shot as music videos that received extensive play.
The album cover was Andy Warhol's final work before his death in early 1987.The album was remastered and re-released as an "Expanded Edition" in December 2014 by Funky Town Grooves, with bonus tracks and a second CD of material.

Commercial performance
Following Franklin's first-ever Platinum record, Who's Zoomin' Who?, Aretha was certified Gold by the RIAA, after only several weeks on the market, with no additional certification added.
This marked Franklin's seventh Gold album.

Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
Production
Producers – Narada Michael Walden (tracks 1-3, 5 & 6); Keith Richards (track 4); Aretha Franklin (tracks 7 & 9).
Recording engineers – David Frazier (tracks 1-3, 5 & 6); Steve Lillywhite (track 4); Russ Terrana (track 7); Jim Dougherty (track 9).
Assistant engineer – Dana Jon Chappelle
Additional assistant engineers – Maureen Droney, Mike Iacopelli, Gordon Lyon, Jim "Watts" Vereecke and Lenette Viegas.
Additional engineers – Dana Jon Chappelle (track 2 & 5); Maureen Droney (track 2); Gordon Lyon (track 3); Mike Iacopelli (track 4); Mark Roule (track 9).
Mixing – David Frazier (tracks 1-6 & 8); Mike Iacopelli (track 7 & 9).
Vocal engineer (track 7 & 9) – Mike Iacopelli
Recording studios – Tarpan Recording Studios (San Rafael, CA); The Plant Studios (Los Angeles, CA); The Automatt (San Francisco, CA); Studio "D" (Sausalito, CA); Motown Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA); Sigma Sound Studios (New York, NY); Electric Lady Studios (New York, NY); United Sound Systems (Detroit, Michigan).

Artwork
Art direction – Steven Shmerler
Design and layout – Maude Gilman
Photography – John Pinderhughes
Front cover art and line drawings – Andy Warhol

Charts and certifications
Certifications


== References ==