gospel song and substituting "my man" for "sweet Jesus," as so many others have done. Aretha infuses R&B with pure gospel feeling, acknowledges the joys or pains of people's lives and transforms these emotions by exalting them. The process of this transformation is evident on stage: Aretha's radiance, the confidence and perfection of her impulses, the gestures, sighs, croons that she uses for soulful punctuation, her own complete involvement and the effortless control of the audience.

Trying to convey this stage experience on record is risky at best. Too often, songs that seem stunningly good in the moment of their delivery become merely nice when cut from the atmosphere that helped create them. Spontaneity preserved can be deadly. When Aretha says, "I promise you when you leave here you will have enjoyed this show as much as any that you've ever had an occasion to see" on stage, you don't really want to have to think about the discomfort of her language in the comfort of your living room. Aretha in her infinite magic can convince you there's beauty in a mediocre song–she will put it there.

Unfortunately, the spell is considerably weakened on record–you begin to get picky about the horns and decide you don't really like the arrangement and think, "What is this 'rose in a fisted glove' bullshit anyway?"–things that wouldn't have bothered you in her presence–and you've ruined it. Much of the first side of Live at Fillmore West suffers in this way. "Don't Play That Song" sounds stiff and strained in a speeded-up concert version and the Franklin treatment of "Eleanor Rigby," also unpleasantly jumpy here, has by now worn very thin. Even the obligatory opener, "Respect," has lost a great deal of its freshness and impact and the comfortable "experiment" with Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With" is quite awful.

In spite of all this and the fact that I find live albums almost universally unbearable, Aretha Live at Fillmore West is, finally, irresistible, simply because when Aretha's good she's truly inspired. There's brilliance even in her weak moments, but her high points are like lightning bolts–stunning enough to make you forgive and forget her lesser efforts. "Make It With You" falls somewhere in between here–it's too lightweight to be great–but it's full of tasty, typically Aretha, touches (the way she shouts "No!–you