By 1966, Aretha Franklin was frustrated with Columbia Records. Their tried and true formula of light jazz instrumentation and strings had worked for other female vocalists, but not her. Lackluster sales meant that she actually owed the label money,
When Columbia let Franklin's contract lapse, Atlantic Records vice-president Jerry Wexler quickly signed her, telling her to “drop the Judy Garland cabaret act,” play the piano herself, and get back to her gospel roots.
Wexler sent Franklin to the fabled FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, affectionately known as “The Swampers”. After recording “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”, a boozy argument between the studio owner and Franklin’s then-husband and manager broke out, halting the sessions.
Ten days later Wexler brought The Swampers to New York to record with Aretha at Atlantic Studios on the second floor of the Cova Building at 1841 Broadway.
“The enthusiasm and camaraderie in the studio was terrific, like nothing I had experienced at Columbia,” Franklin says in her autobiography. “This new Aretha music was raw and real and so much more myself. I loved it.”
The “Queen of Soul” had found her voice, and The Swampers became Franklin's studio band for her next five albums.
Franklin recorded “Respect” on Valentine's Day 1967 with her sisters Carolyn and Erma performing backing vocals.
“I walked out into the studio and said, ‘What’s the next song?’” says engineer Tom Dowd, “Aretha starts singing it to me. I said, ‘I know that song. I made it with Otis Redding like three years ago.'”
“I felt I could do something different with it,” said Franklin. Together the sisters came up with the idea to spell out the word R-E-S-P-E-C-T in the bridge, and to chant “Sock it to me” at the end. “I fell off my chair when I heard that!” said Dowd.
While Redding’s version had reinforced the traditional gender roles of the time, Franklin flipped the script, reframing the song from a female point of view.
Her performance changed the call for respect from a request to a demand, transforming the song into a feminist anthem and a rallying cry for the Civil Rights movement..
"I think it's quite natural that we all want respect, and should get it," said Franklin, “Perhaps what people could not say, the record said it for them.”
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With her powerful voice and a single word, Franklin transcended both gender and racial boundaries, paving the way for future musicians to fuse pop and politics.
The song earned her two Grammys in 1968 for Best R&B Recording and Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987.
In 2021 Rolling Stone declared “Respect” number one on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Aretha Franklin recording at Atlantic Studios, 1841 Broadway. © Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images.
In 2008, the New York Office of Historic Preservation declared the Art Deco Cova Building "significant as an intact example of early 20th-century commercial design," and deemed it a "National Register Eligible" building.
However, in October 2013, the building owners stripped off the terra cotta ornamentation and replaced it with plain stone panels. Shortly after, plans were announced for a new 25-story building on the site.
The Cova Building was demolished in 2022, and construction began on a 300-foot-tall residential tower with 123 apartments and 20,000 sq. ft. of retail space on the first two levels.
Anagram Columbus Circle opened in the fall of 2023. Tenants have an unobstructed view of Columbus Circle, Central Park, and the residential supertalls of Billionaires’ Row.
Amenities on the cellar and sub-cellar levels include a package room, stroller room, bike room, laundry room, children's zoo-themed playroom, fitness center with yoga and pilates rooms, golf simulator, video arcade, pet spa with towel service, STEM-inspired study area with podcast station, and an acoustically engineered music room.
The lobby features complimentary fresh flowers daily, a flavored water bar, and a doggy bakery.
Apartment #8E is currently listed as available for rent at $28, 580 per month.
