What was Aretha Franklin's first album for Atlantic Records?

Aretha Franklin’s first album for Atlantic Records was I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. Released in 1967, it marked the beginning of the partnership with producer Jerry Wexler that transformed Franklin into a major soul star.

The album followed nine studio albums Franklin had made for Columbia, where she had largely been directed toward jazz, pop standards, and other material that did not fully showcase her strengths. Atlantic gave her greater room to combine gospel intensity, piano playing, and emotionally direct soul singing.

Its title track became Franklin’s first major Atlantic hit, while her dramatic version of Otis Redding’s “Respect” became the album’s defining anthem. The other options are later Atlantic albums: Aretha Now, Lady Soul, and Young, Gifted and Black all followed her breakthrough.