Freeway of Love
Aretha Franklin | Artist Essentials
First released: 1985 (year verified)
Original 1985 single mix
MusicAtlas editorial note: The buoyant rhythm and saxophone answers open a different, brighter production world after the Atlantic selections.
YouTube opens a title-and-artist search. The selected recording and date are identified below.
Release evidence and recording details
First released: 1985 (year verified)
Sony dates the original Freeway of Love release to 1985, and the label-distributed catalog identifies the single mix separately from the album and expanded edition. No exact worldwide first day is asserted.
Recording: Original 1985 single mix
Credit: Aretha Franklin
Role in this collection: Primary artist; Clarence Clemons is credited on tenor saxophone
Original single: Freeway of Love
Knew You Were Waiting - Sony/Arista original release annotations
The label dates Freeway of Love and its Who's Zoomin' Who? album to 1985 and credits Clarence Clemons on tenor saxophone. The 2012 compilation date is separate. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
Freeway of Love (Single Mix) - Arista/Apple Music catalog
Explicitly identifies the single mix and gives a 1985 track release. Used with Sony's original-year annotation; not treated as proof of an exact earliest day. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
Who's Zoomin' Who? expanded edition - Arista/Apple Music catalog
Distinguishes the 1985 album from the single mix and later expanded collection. The expanded track count is not claimed for the original LP. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
Annual version match under review
The selected recording has release evidence, but its version has not been matched to the retained annual entry. It is omitted from Beyond the yearly lists until this match is resolved.
The retained 1985 annual Freeway of Love entry does not identify the single mix versus the longer album version. This selection specifies the single mix, so the same-title annual candidate is a provisional link pending version identification.
Knew You Were Waiting - Sony/Arista original release annotations
The label dates Freeway of Love and its Who's Zoomin' Who? album to 1985 and credits Clarence Clemons on tenor saxophone. The 2012 compilation date is separate. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
Freeway of Love (Single Mix) - Arista/Apple Music catalog
Explicitly identifies the single mix and gives a 1985 track release. Used with Sony's original-year annotation; not treated as proof of an exact earliest day. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
Who's Zoomin' Who? expanded edition - Arista/Apple Music catalog
Distinguishes the 1985 album from the single mix and later expanded collection. The expanded track count is not claimed for the original LP. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
About Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin developed as a singer and pianist in the gospel life of her father's Detroit church. Her early recordings for Columbia drew on pop, blues and jazz before her Atlantic work brought gospel phrasing and rhythm into a defining run of soul records. Respect and the albums Lady Soul and Aretha Now belong to that late-1960s period. She also continued recording gospel, including Amazing Grace, and later explored dance-oriented pop during her Arista years.
Artist background sources
Aretha Franklin - Rhino artist history
Detroit gospel upbringing, singing and piano, Columbia and Atlantic eras, late-1960s albums, Amazing Grace and later Arista recordings. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-17. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
Continue listening
Recommended positions express one editorial listening sequence. They are not measured quality scores.
Browse by year
1960-2025. Each year contains 150 selections.