Aretha Franklin – Crowned Queen Of Soul!
September 25, 2008 by admin
Filed under Featured Artists
“Music is my way of communicating that part of me I can get out front and share,” she told the interviewer of the Essence magazine in 1973.
“It’s what I have to give; my way of saying let’s find one another.” Undeniably, she gave it all. She moved the music industry with great passion and control. Her recordings remarkably defined soul music in all its deepest and most-expressive forms in the genre of Rhythm and Blues. The undisputed “Queen of Soul” and the very first woman that was accepted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is Aretha Franklin.
With a background in Delta blues, gospel and black-music idiom, Aretha formed her music through a remarkable combination of urban sophistication and deep forms of blues. Her father Rev. Franklin, was a friend and a colleague of Martin Luther King and her aunt Clara Ward, was a distinguished singer of sacred music during her times. Both her father and her aunt greatly influenced her music. Other than her family, Billie Holiday (a renowned master of the blues), Sarah Vaughn (the divine singer of American jazz) and Mahalia Jackson (a Grammy award-winning gospel singer) also synthesized contemporary influences to her music. Thus, it gave her an avenue to speak to younger generations with her new language of soul.
In 1960, Aretha Franklin signed with Columbia Records after the legendary talent scout John Hammond heard her demo cut. She stayed with Columbia for six consecutive years, while she cut 10 albums that failed to use her full potentials. Aretha was paired with pop-minded producers that didn’t tap her full voice. Hammond even said, “I cherish the albums we made together, but Columbia was a white company who misunderstood her genius.”
After Franklin ended her contract with Columbia, Jerry Wexler switched her to Atlantic in 1966. Then on, she revolutionized soul with crossover music. Her first Atlantic single allowed her mezzo-soprano voice to top the airwaves with her background vocals, Carolyn and Erma Franklin (Franklin’s sisters) and Cissy Houston. Franklin’s greatest success was the opening track of her first classic album for Atlantic, “Respect.” Other remarkable songs from this pivotal album are the “Dr. Feelgood,” “Do Right Woman - Do Right Man,” and “A Change Is Gonna Come.” “A Change Is Gonna Come” became Sam Cooke’s anthem during the civil rights era. Better yet still, The Rolling Stone album guide accorded “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You” as the ultimate single soul album of all times.
Right after Franklin’s first album, she followed her success with recordings that proved further her claims of being the “Queen of Soul.” Her next three albums continued this triumph and the ‘70s progressed as she hit the charts with her themes of black pride and feminine revolution. “Amazing Grace” lead Franklin to producing a double album with James Cleveland as she joined the Southern California Community Choir.
In the ‘80s, Franklin recorded almost everything – from gospel songs to dance records and later hit her second triumph “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me),” a duet with George Michael. This started her duets with Keith Richard of Rolling Stones and Elton John wherein she got her gold album. She continued to climb the charts as she charted 45 singles in a row since 1961.
TJ – RareSoulGrooves & Soul Music TV
During those times when I’m down in the dumps because a failed relationship after another, I use this song to perk me up.
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care… T-C-B”
This was released in 1967 and yet, it’s still around as a theme song of sorts. Aretha Franklin is an icon who’s truly awe-inspiring.
Wasn’t there a controversy surrounding the Queen of Soul tag earlier this year? Beyonce Knowles had introduced Tina Turner as the queen and that didn’t sit too well with Aretha. It’s a hoot. They’re all talented and as far as I’m concerned, they all have their place in the sun. Drumming up intrigue, ladies?
Aretha Franklin is the undisputed Queen of Soul and rightfully so. She first gained that title in the 1960s but her successes since then all the way up to the 1990s cemented that right. The daughter of a Baptist preacher, Aretha made her start as a gospel artist and I think (many will argue with me) that she had done her best work as one.
No one can sing with passion like Aretha. She has an amazing instrument and she uses it with great ease. She was the first woman ever to get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s a tremendous achievement.
Long live the Queen! There are great soul and R&B singers. Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill are just a few. And then there’s Aretha, the finest of them all. No one else can carry that title as convincingly.
I like her energy and even though she’s not young anymore, she has got this youthful glow to her. She’s very enticing….sensual even. A diva like no other.
In 1999 she was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC.
The most historically, talked-about, reknowned, female voice in relevant, popular, American music, the daughter of C.L. Franklin, ARETHA.
Franklin stepped in for Luciano Pavarotti to sing “Nessun Dorma” at the 1998 Grammy Awards. She gave a soulful and highly improvised performance in the aria’s original key, while firmly stamping out the year with a captivating performance during VH-1’s “Divas Live” telecast.
Franklin is one of the most-honored artists in Grammy Award history, with 21 wins to date, including the Living Legend Grammy and the Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
Aretha’s voice is amazing live and on top of that Aretha can play the piano, like no one else. And what do you want her to do jump up and down, while she is singing.
Her duet with George Michael, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”, was a UK #1 single.
She is the godmother of Whitney Houston, who also grew up to be a pop star, rising to fame in the mid-1980s. A still image of Franklin was shown in the closing scene of Houston’s 1985 video for the single How Will I Know.
Suffers from a fear of flying that affects her schedule–she declined attending her Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction because of it.
Her voice was designated a “Natural Resource” by the State of Michigan.
Her favorite film as a child was The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Aretha Franklin – Crowned Queen Of Soul!…
“Music is my way of communicating that part of me I can get out front and share,” she told the interviewer of the Essence magazine in 1973. “It’s what I have to give; my way of saying let’s find one another.” Undeniably, she gave it all. Sh…
Aretha Franklin – Crowned Queen Of Soul!…
“Music is my way of communicating that part of me I can get out front and share,” she told the interviewer of the Essence magazine in 1973. “It’s what I have to give; my way of saying let’s find one another.” Undeniably, she gave it all. Sh…