''So Damn Happy'' is the thirty-fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

. Her first studio album in five years, it included the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning track "Wonderful", the single co-written and produced by

Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence Val Anthony Ronald Lawrence (born November 14, 1965), known professionally as Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, is an American record producer. Early life Lawrence was born on the island of Dominica. In 1970, his family immigrated to the United States, ...

, his very first project with the Queen of Soul was a grand slam. The album peaked at number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 11 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart, while reaching the top thirty of the

Italian Albums Chart The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

. Shortly after its release, Franklin left Arista after a stay of 23 years. She later announced plans to start her own

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

-based record label, Aretha Records.

Background

In 1998, Franklin released her thirty-fourth studio album ''

A Rose Is Still a Rose ''A Rose Is Still a Rose'' is the thirty-fourth studio album by American recording artist Aretha Franklin. It was released on March 10, 1998 by Arista Records. Conceived after a longer hiatus and a complete departure from her previous studio album ...

''. A breakaway from the

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

sound of her previous releases, it saw her collaborating with many famed hip hop producers and

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

such as

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

, and

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

, and took her work further into the hip hop and modern-day R&B genre. The album went gold in the US and was praised by most critics, who called it a return to form for Franklin.Christgau, Robert (1998)
Robert Christgau: CG: Aretha Franklin

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

. ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

''. Retrieved April 8, 2011. Following the departure of

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

head and longtime collaborator

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

in 2000,

L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer. He is the founder and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of Ep ...

became instrumental in compiling Franklin's next project with the label. He chose songs to honor Franklin's roots, making no attempt to realize a pop record, instead aiming for a more personal, soulful vibe that would sound like "the old days." Franklin wrote and produced three songs on ''So Damn Happy'', accompanied herself on the piano and was more generally hands-on than she had been on her other recent albums, which she cited as "the missing element." Elaborating on the overall sound of the album, she added: "Some of it is hip-hop, some of it is traditional, and it just works."

Critical reception

''So Damn Happy'' received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Jon Bush called the album "a refreshing (though admittedly sterilized) update of her '70s records ..composed of earthy, acoustic-driven soul, similar to contemporary records by

India.Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards ...

or Jill Scott." He felt that "the songs on ''So Damn Happy'' are all the proof her fans need to understand that her talent remains undiminished nearly 50 years after her debut as a secular act." ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' magazine noted that Franklin "may be worshiped for her oldies, but the Queen of Soul’s new material also deserves respect." The magazine found that the "entire album, refreshingly free of any guest rappers or trendy production, has a warm, classic R&B feel. Even Franklin’s two jazz-kissed collaborations with hip-hop soul diva Mary J. Blige sound as if they could have been recorded in the '70s." In his review for

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

, Jack Smith wrote that "Aretha's voice is a beautiful instrument that she never stops strengthening and developing and in ''So Damn Happy'' her legion of fans have a slick and superior album of depth, vision and soul that's truly one to savour." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' found that "Franklin revisits the contemporary production well that she drew from for" previous album ''

'', noting that "unlike that album – which had its stellar moments – ''Happy'' is a more consistent package ..striking a believable balance between new-school vibe and down-home soul." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' journalist Barry Walters compared the album unfavorably to ''A Rose Is Still a Rose'' and wrote that "The queen of soul is still the Queen. But that doesn’t mean the material on Aretha Franklin’s latest album is deserving of her crown." He found that the songs came up "short in the melody, hook and rhythm departments," providing "adult-contemporary slickness that sometimes makes the sixty-one-year-old legend’s voice seem shrill."

Chart performance

In the United States, ''So Damn Happy'' debuted and peaked at number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 11 on the US

, with first week sales of 28,000 copies. Franklin scored her best career sales frame in the album's third week on the charts, when it shifted 27,000 copies in the week ending October 5, 2003, though this mark was later surpassed by her 2014 album ''

Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics ''Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics'' is the thirty-eighth and final studio album by American recording artist Aretha Franklin and was released on October 17, 2014. It features ten covers of songs made famous by female recording artist ...

''. As of 2012, ''So Damn Happy'' sold 304,000 copies in the US, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

. Elsewhere, the album failed to chart on most music markets, though it reached number 28 on the

, ranking among her highest-charting albums there.

Track listing

Samples *"Holdin On'" contains excerpts from "The Sponge," written by

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fi ...

Personnel

*Adi Yeshaya –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, conductor,

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, horn arrangements *Alexander Vselensky –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

*Alfred Brown –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Allen Sides –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing *Andy Stein – violin *Anthony Kadleck – trumpet *Anthony Posk – violin *

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, engineer, mixing *B.J. –

handclapping A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

*Barbara Wesotski – A&R *Barry Eastmond – arranger, keyboards, producer, engineer *Belinda Whitney – violin *Birch Johnson –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

*Bobby Ross Avila –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, keyboards *Brenda Corbett – backing vocals *

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

–

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

, producer, string arrangements *Byung Kook Kwak – violin *Carl Robinson – engineer, assistant *Cenovia Cummins – violin *Charles "Prince Cha... – mixing *Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals *Dan Oniszczak – assistant engineer *Darryl Houston –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

*David Chase –

digital editing Digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital ...

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

– synthesizer strings *Delant "Butta" Murphy – handclapping *EMI Ferguson – digital editing *Eugene J. Moye –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

*George Flynn – trombone *Gerald Tarack – violin *Gloria Agostini –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

*Gordon Chambers – backing vocals, producer, vocal arrangement *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– digital editing *Israel Chorberg – violin *Iz –

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mus ...

*James "Big Jim" Wright – keyboards, producer *Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing *Jeff Burns – assistant *Jesse Levy – cello, orchestra contractor *Jimmy Jam – producer *JoAnn Tominaga – production coordination *Joe-Mama Nitzberg –

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

*Joey Arbagey – A&R *Joyce Hammann – violin *Karen Karlsrud – violin *Keith O'Quinn – trombone *Keith Slattery – assistant *Kenneth Burward-Hoy – viola *Kenya Lucas – handclapping *

Kermit Moore Kermit Moore (March 11, 1929 – November 11, 2013) was an American conductor, cellist, and composer. Early life and education Of African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an eth ...

– cello *Kwaku Alston –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*L.A. Reid –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

*Leo Grinhauz – cello *

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944–March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard Sc ...

– trumpet *Louis Alfred III – engineer *Margeret Th. Hjalte... – viola *

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

– backing vocals, vocal arrangement, melodie, handclapping *Michael Baker – strings, horn *Michael Hart Thompson – guitar *Michael J. Powell – engineer, mixing *Mildred Scott – backing vocals *Myiia "Sunny" Davis – backing vocals *Nate Neblett –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Neil Stubenhaus Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. He studied at the Berklee College of Music where he graduated in 1975. After graduation, he was rec ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Norman West –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, producer, engineer, mixing *Olivia Koppell – violin, viola *Pablo Arraya – assistant * Paulinho Da Costa –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Perry Hughes – guitar *Ralphe Armstrong – bass guitar *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

– trumpet *Regine Lambert – handclapping *Regis Iandiorio – violin *Richard Thomas Jenn... –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

*Rick Williams – guitar *Ricky Lawson – drums *Rob Shrock – synthesizer arrangements *Robert Chausow – violin *Roger Wendt –

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

– keyboards, multi instruments, producer, engineer, drum programming *Rowie Nomeri – engineer * Sandra Dance – backing vocals *Sara Divine – backing vocals *Sharon Moe – French horn *Sheila Reinhold – violin *Shelly Ponder – backing vocals *Steve Pageot – engineer *Susan Heerema – violin *Terry Lewis – producer *Tom Coyne – mastering *Tom Sweeney – assistant *

Tommy Morgan Thomas Morgan Edwards (December 4, 1932 – June 23, 2022) was an American harmonicist and session musician, who had been active since the 1950s. He was considered one of the most heard harmonica players in the world, playing in over 500 fea ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, soloist *Tommy Wilber – assistant *Troy Taylor – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, multi instruments, producer, vocal editing *Vernon D. Fails –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

*William Bush – arranger, keyboards, drum programming *Winterton Garvey – violin

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Aretha Franklin albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Troy Taylor (record producer)