Soul '69 is the fourteenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin; released in 1969 by Atlantic Records, the album features covered material. The album charted at number 1 on Billboard's R&B albums chart and at number 15 on Billboard's Top Albums, but launched two largely unsuccessful singles, "Tracks of My Tears", which reached number 21 on "Black Singles" and number 71 on "Pop Singles", and "Gentle on My Mind", which charted at number 50 and number 76 respectively. The album was re-released on compact disc through Rhino Records in the 1990s.

"If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" is a song written by Rudy Clark and first recorded by James Ray in 1961. Ray's recording on the Caprice label, arranged by Hutch Davie and produced by Gerry Granahan, reached number 10 on the US Billboard R&B chart and number 22 on the Hot 100 in early 1962.