Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace: the 1972 church recording that became her best-selling album

By 1972, Aretha Franklin was the Queen of Soul, with hit after hit on the pop charts. Then she went back to church. Over two nights in January, at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, she sang gospel songs with the Reverend James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. The recordings became Amazing Grace, a double album that sold millions and remains one of the most celebrated gospel records ever made.

Gospel roots and the recording

Aretha grew up in the church. Her father, the Reverend C. L. Franklin, was a famous preacher in Detroit, and she began singing gospel as a child. At the height of her fame, Aretha wanted to make a gospel album, recorded live in a church with a real congregation. The Reverend James Cleveland, one of gospel’s leading figures, directed the choir and accompanied her on piano.

The sessions took place on 13 and 14 January 1972. The church was filled with worshippers, and the energy of the congregation can be heard on the record.

The songs, her father and the film

She sang traditional hymns and gospel songs, including the title track, “Amazing Grace”, in a performance that lasts more than ten minutes. On the second night, her father attended and spoke to the congregation about his daughter’s roots in the church. The album became the best-selling of her career and won a Grammy award. The sessions were filmed by director Sydney Pollack, but technical problems with synchronising sound and picture kept the film unreleased for decades. It was finally completed and released in 2018.

The album is regularly listed among the greatest live albums and gospel records.

Gospel, soul and reissues

It showed how deeply soul music was rooted in the Black church. Many listeners say the album feels like attending a service. Among those in the congregation on one of the nights were members of the Rolling Stones, who had come to see Aretha sing gospel in person. The Southern California Community Choir, directed by Alexander Hamilton, provided powerful backing throughout the recordings.

Expanded editions released later included more material from the two nights. Aretha Franklin could have stayed on the pop charts. For two nights in 1972 she went back to the music of her father’s church, and it became the record that outsold all her hits.