It was 50 years ago today (February 14th, 1967) that Aretha Franklinrecorded her cover version of Otis Redding's "Respect." Redding had originally recorded the song in 1965, and scored only a moderate hit when it peaked at Number 35. Redding's arrangement was slightly more upbeat and consisted of only verses with no chorus or bridge.
Aretha recorded the song in New York City's Atlantic Studios, playing piano on the track and using theMuscle Shoals Rhythm Section -- a group of four session musicians who mainly played sessions in Nashville and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, before later starting their own Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. It was Aretha's idea to use the tape ofKing Curtis's sax solo from Sam &Dave's "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" -- which was recorded the night before at Memphis' Stax Studios -- to create a new bridge to the song.