Soft and Beautiful is a 1969 album by Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

. The album comprised mostly previously unreleased material, recorded in the mid-1960s before Franklin moved to Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

. It reached Number 29 on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s R&B chart. Mark Bego

Mark Bego

Mark Bego is a best selling author of top performers in the rock & roll and show business. By having more than 10 million books in print, Mark Bego has been acknowledged as "the prince of pop bios" - the best selling biographer in the rock and pop field. Bego has written 54 books, two of which...

, in Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul, called it "the most consistently paced album of her later Columbia years." Originally released by Columbia Records, the album was reissued on CD with her 1962 album "The Tender, The Moving, The Swinging Aretha Franklin

The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin

"Aretha is a natural. No matter what she sings - new songs like Without the One You Love and Don't Cry, Baby or time-tested stadarts like Try a Little Tenderness and I Apologize - she is completely free, uninhibited and thrilling", Billy James, said."...Every step of the way, Aretha has grown. She...

."

Track listing

1. "Only the Lonely" (Sammy Cahn
   Sammy Cahn
   Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
   
   , Jimmy Van Heusen)
2. "I Wish I Didn't Love You So"
3. (Ah, the Apple Trees) When the World Was Young
   (Ah, the Apple Trees) When the World Was Young
   When the World Was Young is a popular song composed by M. Philippe-Gerard, with lyrics by Angele Vannier. The English lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer. The original French title was "Le Chevalier de Paris"....
   
   
4. "Shangri-La"
5. "A Mother's Love"
6. "My Coloring Book
   My Coloring Book
   -Sandy Stewart version:The song was recorded by Sandy Stewart and released as a single with "I Heard You Cry Last Night" as a b-side in 1962.-Other versions:*Dusty Springfield recorded the song for her 1964 debut album "A Girl Called Dusty"....
   
   "
7. "Jim"
8. "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)
   Friendly Persuasion (song)
   "Friendly Persuasion" is a popular song with music by Dimitri Tiomkin and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. It was published in 1956 and appeared in the 1956 film of the same name.The best-known version of the song was recorded that year by Pat Boone...
   
   "
9. "But Beautiful
   But Beautiful (song)
   "But Beautiful" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947.One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the Paramount Pictures movie Road to Rio , it was introduced by Bing Crosby and is also associated with...
   
   "
10. "People" (Jule Styne
    Jule Styne
    Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
    
    , Bob Merrill
    Bob Merrill
    Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
    
    )