Oooohhh....as much as I love Otis (and stop what you are doing and go right away to get Rhino Records 4-disk box set called Otis!)..I think the man said it best when he admitted "We did this tune last year but Aretha..well, she just went and took it away from us!"

They are both excellent, it's true. My bias goes to Aretha as her version is my six-year-old niece's favorite song. "Li'l Bit," she calls it.

I believe Aretha's "Respect" is the greatest single of the rock n' roll era (say, 1950 to present) if not the greatest pop recording ever. The horns on Otis's version always bugged me. In these two live clips, however, the Otis version is hotter than the album, but Aretha's band (and rushed tempo) don't do her version full justice.

Now dats it.

[3]I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before Cliff, but I can't disagree. There's nothing that could be considered superior.

The ultimate opinion on the battle of the two versions:
"When [Otis] heard Franklin's version of it, however, he said 'That little girl done took my song away.'"

from "A Bad Woman Feeling Good: Blues and the Women Who Sing Them" by Buzzy Jackson (W.W. Norton), p173.

Aretha ... what a voice!

Otis was a special talent too, but Aretha DID "make" that song!

Very tough one, will take Aretha for this one, then go off and listen to Otis later.