The earliest recordings of the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, have been restored for a new reissue of Songs Of Faith: Aretha Gospel. The album will be released worldwide on vinyl LP and digitally by Geffen/UMe on 22 March. The date is five days before what would have been the 77th birthday of the peerless artist, who died in August 2018. 
 
Songs Of Faith was recorded live in 1956 at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, when she was just 14 years old. It stands as the earliest showcase of her vocal preeminence and her astonishingly powerful renditions of gospel standards.