What it is!

I have had the pleasure of working with audio engineer Gene Paul (Les Paul's son btw) a few times. Once when we were talking about big voices, he said that of all the singers he had recorded, two of them stood out for moving the most air molecules: Aretha & Pavorotti. Gene said Aretha practically bowled them over with sound.

Wow, thanks for sharing that, man.

This is my fave Aretha cut - so awesome. Donny Hathaway and Bernard Purdie on it. I failed to get my old band to cover it. I'd love to hear what a mid-70s Aerosmith or the Stones would have done with this song.

[1] I had really good seats at a Seal show, and was amazed to be able to hear his unamplified voice -- what was coming directly out of his mouth -- as easily as his voice through the PA. Recordings do not capture the entirety of his voice.

Fascinating to me that a recording could fail to capture a great voice. I believe you, just...wow.

[4] If you listen to some of the '60s Atlantic recordings of Aretha you can hear the compressors that the engineers were using clamp down abruptly on her loudest notes, keeping them under control. The engineers may not have been ready for her to be so forceful.

Sting told a story about being on stage next to Bruce Springsteen for the first time at one of the big benefit concerts in the '80s and being taken aback at just how loud and huge Springsteen's singing was.

[4] Interesting. I haven't listened to Seal much, but on most of what I've heard he's kind of cloaked in a dense arrangement. I can't remember a specific cut, but I think I heard something more stripped down (maybe it was a Sam Cooke or Curtis Mayfield cover?) and being more impressed with him than previously.

Great stories here, thanks NoamSane!

Oops.
[5] didn't mean to imply that I was hanging with my boy Sting. I just heard/read that story someplace.
&
the second [4] should be a [3] obviously

[6] Thanks OK Jazz!
I noticed a while back that you went to Bard. I've got various connections to Bard (grew up in Red Hook, attended Simon's Rock) You wouldn't happen to know Tony Flackett & Allan Heifetz from Soothing Sounds for Baby? They were there early '90s. Thought that may have been your time as well.

[5] The first Seal album was first cut (not sure if demos or as a "real" recording) largely with just Seal and an acoustic guitar. Live, he does some of those cuts just that way, stripped down, and his monster voice fills every nook and cranny. (On re-read, that last sentence sounds like I'm channeling Sarah Palin's recollection of Glen Rice. Sorry about that.)

[8] hah!

I'll check out the first Seal album on Spotify.