1973 · Behind the Songs
Her sister wrote it, her sisters sang on it, and Quincy Jones co-produced it.
Released in June 1973 on Atlantic, “Angel” was the single taken from Aretha Franklin’s nineteenth studio album, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky). It was written by Carolyn Franklin — Aretha’s younger sister — with Sonny Sanders. Carolyn already knew this world: she had written “Ain’t No Way” for Aretha back in 1968.
The record is a family affair in the truest sense. Aretha co-produced and arranged it with Quincy Jones, and the background voices are Carolyn and Erma Franklin — all three Franklin sisters on one session. The basic tracks were cut at the Record Plant in Los Angeles during the album’s 1972 sessions.
It spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, reached No. 20 on the Hot 100, and made the UK top 40 — proof that a sister-written ballad could stand alongside the big statements.
The song kept traveling. Simply Red cut it for their 1996 Greatest Hits — a UK No. 4 with an uncredited appearance by the Fugees — and later versions came from Cassandra Wilson (1991), Christine Anu (2012) and Brian McFadden (2019). But the original remains what it was: three sisters, one room, one producer named Quincy.