Consumer Guide Album

Aretha Franklin: Aretha's Greatest Hits [Atlantic, 1971]
Great stuff, but not the greatest--and not as consistent stylistically as 1969's Aretha's Gold, which it duplicates on eight out of fourteen cuts. As for the latest hits, well, Aretha's done better recently than the contrived humankindness of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," the contrived religiosity of "Let It Be," and the contrived black consciousness of "Spanish Harlem." B+