1970 Aretha Franklin – Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)
Aretha’s recording career began in 1960 when her release of Today I Sing the Blues hit the top ten on the R&B chart. Her first top forty single on the pop charts came from a long-forgotten single. It was a song turned into a chart-topping single in 1918 when it was sung by Al Jolson. Dean Martin covered the song in 1950. Jerry Lewis had a top ten hit with the song in 1956. Aretha’s version of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody only reached #37 on the Hot 100 in 1961.
It was Aretha’s last appearance in the Hot 100 top forty until 1967, a year when she placed five singles in the top ten.
Two years before she married Ben E. King, Betty Nelson co-wrote Don’t Play That Song (You Lied) with songwriter Ahmet Ertegun. It became the title song for Ben’s third album in 1962. His single reached #2 on the R&B chart and #11 on the Hot 100 that year. It would be 1975 before Ben would again reach the top ten on the Hot 100.
Aretha covered Don’t Play That Song (You Lied) in 1970. The Dixie Flyers provided background vocals for the recording. Her single release topped the R&B chart and reached #11 on the Hot 100 that year.
She earned a gold record for the single when it sold over a million copies and played the song when she headlined at The Fillmore West in 1971.
Aretha continued releasing hits that reached the top forty of the Hot 100 and the top ten of the R&B chart as recently as 1998.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin_discography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Play_That_Song_(You_Lied)
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