La Diva (Aretha Franklin album)
La Diva is the twenty-fifth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on September 6, 1979, by Atlantic Records. The album marked the end of her 12-year tenure with Atlantic and a run of 19 original albums. The album was a commercial flop as the singer attempted to make a comeback by recording a disco-oriented project with producer Van McCoy. It was McCoy's final work as he died in June of that year; the record was released as disco was running its course.
| La Diva | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 6, 1979 | |||
| Recorded | February–May, 1979 | |||
| Studio | Penny Lane Studios (New York City, New York) Record Plant (Los Angeles, California) | |||
| Genre | Disco, R&B, pop | |||
| Label | Atlantic (#19248) | |||
| Producer | Aretha Franklin, Vanda & Young, Charles Kipps, Skip Scarborough, Van McCoy | |||
| Aretha Franklin chronology | ||||
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| Singles from La Diva | ||||
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It stands as the lowest charting and poorest selling album of Franklin's entire Atlantic Records catalogue. "Ladies Only" reached number 33 on Billboard's R&B singles chart while the follow-up, "Half A Love", stalled at number 65. This album was recorded at Franklin's vocal peak and features three of her own compositions, as well as a song by her eldest son Clarence Franklin.
Although remembered as Franklin's failed disco LP, La Diva also includes substantial funk and R&B tracks such as The Emotions' "Reasons Why", Zulema's "Half a Love" and scorching versions of Lalomie Washburn's "It's Gonna Get A Bit Better" and her own "Honey I Need Your Love".