" A Natural Woman" is a 1967 single released by American soul singer Aretha Franklin on the Atlantic label. The song was co-written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, with input from AtlanticproducerJerry Wexler. Written for Franklin, the record was a big hit reaching number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became one of her signature songs. It made history in the UK singles chart a week after her death, finally becoming a hit almost 51 years after it was first released entering at #79. Franklin also included a live recording on the albumAretha in Paris in 1968. Carole King has performed and recorded a version of the song along with Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, and many others. At the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, Aretha Franklin performed the song to honor award-recipient Carole King.
Original recording
Written by the partnership of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, the song was inspired by Atlantic Records co-owner and producer Jerry Wexler. As recounted in his autobiography, Wexler, a student of African-American musical culture, had been mulling over the concept of the "natural man", when he drove by King on the streets of New York. He shouted out to her that he wanted a "natural woman" song for Aretha Franklin's next album. Goffin and King went home and wrote the song that night. In thanks, they granted Wexler a co-writing credit.
"Natural Woman" was released by Peggy Lipton in 1968 on her self-titled album on Ode Records, and by Freddie Hughes in 1968 as "Natural Man", and by George Benson on his album Goodies in 1968. Peggy Lee released a version on her 1969 album A Natural Woman. It was recorded by Carole King on her landmark 1971 album Tapestry. Celine Dion recorded the song in 1995 for the ' album, and released it as a single. Mary J. Blige also recorded the song that year for New York Undercover. Rod Stewart covered the song on his album Smiler in 1974. Joyce Sims recorded a version of the song for her 1989 album All About Love. Tami Roman's 90's R&B group, Female recorded a cover of the song for the 1995 motion picture soundtrackPanther. Beccy Cole covered the song live on her 2007 album, Live @ Lizotte's. Carole King and Gloria Estefan performed the song in May 2009 in the She's Got a Friend concerts at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. The audio from one of the performances was included on some editions of Estefan's 2013 album, The Standards. In 2012, Christine Anu covered the song on her album, '. In 2014, Amber Riley covered the song on the fifth-season episode, "Bash," of Fox's musical comedy-drama television series Glee. In December 2015, Aretha Franklin gave a universally acclaimed performance at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors during the section for honoree Carole King. The song was featured on the debut album of the group Leading Ladies, performed by musical actress Cassidy Janson, who had played the title role in .
Mary J. Blige version
Charts
Celine Dion version
" A Natural Woman" was released as a promotional single by Celine Dion in November 1995 in North America and the United Kingdom. It was featured on a tribute album to Carole King, called ' issued on October 24, 1995. Later, Dion included this track on most editions of her 1996 album Falling into You. The track was produced by David Foster. Dion's version enjoyed a moderate success on the adult contemporary charts, reaching number 4 in Canada and number 31 in the United States. In 2008, the song was featured on the US version of '. When Falling Into You won the Grammy for Album of the year in 1997, the song became the first to appear on two Album of the Year winners - following Tapestry's success in 1971. On April 14, 1998, Dion, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan and Carole King performed the song during a VH1 Divas concert at the Beacon Theatre, New York. The six vocalists were recruited by the cable music network VH1 to raise money for Save the Music, their education charity. Hyped extensively in the press, the event was a ratings winner for VH1 – so successful, in fact, that the network arranged to have the concert released on disc and tape on October 6, 1998. At that time " A Natural Woman" was released as a radio single in selected countries.
