Tune in this Tuesday, August 21 as host Neil Pellegrin spotlights the formative years and pre "Queen of Soul" period of Aretha Louise Franklin on this week's 1950s R&B Show.

Neil shares, "My original intent was to play 90 minutes of her early work. However, after reacquainting myself with her first 10 years' worth of recorded material, it became apparent that too many invaluable recordings would be left out if I limited a tribute to merely an hour and a half.

"Between 1956 and 1966 alone, Aretha recorded over 180 songs. Her debut recordings at age 14 were made at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit by independent record man Joe Von Battle, who issued them on his J-V-B label. These recordings were also leased to Chess Records and released on their sister label, Checker.

"Franklin signed with Columbia, one of the biggest labels in the biz, in 1960. While there, she laid down an amazing body of work. For a newcomer to the scene and for being so young especially, her vocal maturity and command were nothing short of astonishing. A handful of her Columbia recordings garnered only minor success in spite of their stellar quality. She was paired on these sessions with some of the day's top musicians, arrangers and producers, including John Hammond, Clyde Otis, Bob Mersey, Ray Bryant, Kenny Burrell, Teddy Charles, Ernie Royal, Tyree Glenn, and Lord Westbrook, just to name a few.

"Due to her major success with Atlantic Records starting in 1967, this earlier period is often overlooked. From her highly-sophisticated vocal readings of jazz standards, to her velvety-voiced renditions of blues ballads, Aretha undoubtedly handled it all with an authority far beyond her years.

"I hope you'll tune in to WWOZ this Tuesday night from 7-10p to hear Aretha as perhaps you've never quite heard her before."