Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo is the second studio album by American singer songwriter, Aretha Franklin, released on February 27, 1961 by Columbia Records. The album is Aretha's first release for Columbia, and is also known under its working title Right Now It's Aretha and sometimes simply as Aretha. Following in the footsteps of her close friend Sam Cooke, Aretha was "discovered" by famed Columbia Records producer John H. Hammond, who on the cover notes of the 1973 edition of "The Great Aretha Franklin: The First 12 Sides" mentions, that she was in fact recommended by the composer Curtis Reginald Lewis. With the support of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, Aretha ventured out to New York City's Columbia Record Studios to record her debut album for the label. Hammond paired Aretha Franklin with Ray Bryant, and combo and arranger J. Leslie McFarland, while taking charge of the album's production, which was received to mixed reviews.

The album showcases a young Aretha Franklin (only 18 nearly 19 years old, at the time of these recordings), covering a range of jazz and pop standards. Columbia Records couldn't clearly classify Aretha's sound, as either jazz or R&B. Aretha's subsequent albums would show her moving from the realms of both sounds, and audiences as she tries to define her "own soulful sound". Though rare to find an original 6-eye pressing on vinyl, Columbia Records re-released these sessions and retitled them as "The Great Aretha Franklin: The First 12 Sides", in 1972. The exact same recording "The Great Aretha Franklin: The First 12 Sides", was once more re-released on vinyl, this time in 1973 by CBS/Embassy, trademarks of Columbia Records, probably being a UK edition, which on the center label bears these identification numbers: EMB S-31006 (KC 31953). There are some minor changes in the track list for the 1973 edition as well. (See the separate track listing below the 1972 listing).

"The word is out. A magnetic new artist, Aretha Franklin, only a short while away from her father's gospel church in Detroit, has been breaking up audience in theatres and nightclubs throughout the country and on Columbia single records. Combining a completely natural and uninhibited vocal style with an irresistible rhythmic sense, Aretha Franklin has established herself as one of the hottest new performers in show business and one likely to set new standards in the entertainment industry.

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