{"product_id":"aretha-franklin-christmas-essentials","title":"Aretha Franklin - Christmas Essentials","description":"\u003cp\u003eAretha Franklin brings church, swing and a little mischief to the holidays on Christmas Essentials, a single LP gathering seasonal favourites alongside rousing live gospel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe set draws on two very different chapters of the Queen of Soul's career. From her early Columbia years come polished, jazz-tinged sides, cut when the label was still shaping her as a sophisticated pop and standards singer. From her later Arista era come live recordings made at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, the congregation her father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin, led for decades, and where she returned to her gospel roots in 1987.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWinter Wonderland and The Christmas Song appear in their single versions, full of warmth and easy swing, with Aretha phrasing those familiar melodies as if she were discovering them on the spot. Blue Holiday leans into the lonelier side of the season, proof she could find the ache in any lyric. Then the temperature rises: Oh Happy Day finds her trading lines with Mavis Staples in front of a roaring congregation, two of gospel's greatest voices pushing each other higher.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSide two keeps that spirit alive, mixing playful seasonal pop with moments of deep devotion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt works as a festive soundtrack and as a short tour of an extraordinary voice in two settings, from supper club to sanctuary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alliance Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57139124044081,"sku":"199584649818","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0704\/2026\/7313\/files\/Aretha_Franklin-Christmas_Essentials.jpg?v=1793087699","url":"https:\/\/vinyl.com\/products\/aretha-franklin-christmas-essentials","provider":"Vinyl.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}