Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Aretha's "Wholly Holy" is a wonder, one of her grandest, greatest singles, and sadly also one of her most overlooked. It didn't even crack the R&B top 40, so forget about pop - likely because "Holy" is (can you guess?) a gospel record. Taken from her 1972 back-to-church album Amazing Grace (recently reissued as a deluxe twofer by Rhino), "Holy," cowritten by no less than Marvin Gaye, is not only a clever bit of titular wordplay, but a towering monument to God's love. For us as listeners, it's also a monument to the Queen, as Aretha gives one of her more impassioned vocal performances - gospel brings that out in her, you know - soaring into the clouds on the wings of love. Now, I tend to find most of Aretha's gospel work triumphant (if you like Amazing Grace, definitely check for its "sequel," '87's One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism), but on this one song, everything counts in large amounts: choir, piano, arrangement, even crowd whoops and hollers all work together to augment and accent La Diva's performance. It's really pretty monumental, and, well, wholly holy to boot. [Couldn't resist.]