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08-16 Aretha Franklin dead at 76
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Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer,she
epitomized sou lat its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records -- "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man,"
"Chain of Fools,""Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The House That Jack Built," and several others -- earned her the title
"Lady Soul,"which she has worn uncontested ever since. Yet as much of an international institution as she's become, much of her work --
outside of her recordings for Atlantic in the lat ...read more
Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer,she
epitomized sou lat its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records -- "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man,"
"Chain of Fools,""Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The House That Jack Built," and several others -- earned her the title
"Lady Soul,"which she has worn uncontested ever since. Yet as much of an international institution as she's become, much of her work --
outside of her recordings for Atlantic in the late '60s and early '70s -- is erratic and only fitfully inspired, making discretion a necessity when
collecting her records.
Franklin's roots in gospel ran extremely deep. With her sisters Carolyn and Erma (both of whom would also haverecordingcareers), shesangat
the Detroit church of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, while growing up in the 1950s. In fact,shemade her first recordings as agospelartist
at the age of 14. It has also been reported that Motown was interested insigningAretha back in the days when it was a tiny start-
up.Ultimately, however, Franklin ended up with Columbia, to which shewassigned by the renowned talent scout John Hammond.
Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout the first half of the '60s, notching occasional R&B hits (and one Top40single, "Rock-
a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody") but never truly breaking out as a star. The Columbia period
continuestogenerateconsiderablecontroversy among critics, many of whom feel that Aretha's true aspirations were being blunted bypop-
oriented material andproduction. Infact, there's a reasonable amount of fine items to be found on the Columbiasides,including the occasional
song ("Lee Cross,""Soulville")where she belts out soul with real gusto. It's undeniably true,though,that her work at Columbia was
considerably tamer than whatwas tofollow, and suffered in general from a lack ofdirectionand an apparent emphasis on trying to develop her
as an all-around entertainer,ratherthan as an R&B/soul singer.
When Franklin left Columbia for Atlantic, producer Jerry Wexler was determined to bring out her most soulful, fiery traits.Aspart of
thatplan,he had her record her first single, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," at Muscle ShoalsinAlabama with esteemed
SouthernR&Bmusicians. In fact, that was to be her only session actually at Muscle Shoals, butmuchof the remainder of her '60s work would
berecordedwith the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, although thesessionswould actually take place in New York City. The combination
wasone ofthose magic instances of musical alchemy inpop: thebackup musicians provided a much grittier, soulful, and R&B-based
accompanimentforAretha's voice, which soaredwith apassion and intensity suggesting a spirit that had been allowed to fly loose for the first
time.
In the late '60s, Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop. Many also saw Franklin asasymbol
ofblackAmerica itself, reflecting the increased confidence and pride of African-Americans in the decade of thecivilrights movement
andothertriumphs for the black community. The chart statistics are impressive in and of themselves:tenTop Ten hits in a roughly 18-
monthspanbetween early 1967 and late 1968, for instance, and a steady stream of solid mid-to large-size hits for the next five years after
that.HerAtlantic albums were also huge sellers, and far moreconsistentartistically than those of most soul stars of the era. Franklin was
abletomaintain creative momentum, in part,because of hereclectic choice of material, which encompassed first-class originals and
gospel,blues,pop, and rock covers,from the Beatlesand Simon & Garfunkel to Sam Cooke and the Drifters. She was also a fine,
forceful,andsomewhatunderrated keyboardist.
Franklin's commercial and artistic success was unabated in the early '70s, during which she landed more huge
hitswith"SpanishHarlem,""Bridge Over Troubled Water," and "Day Dreaming." She also produced two of her most respected,andearthiest,
album releases withLive atFillmore West and Amazing Grace. The latter, a 1972 double LP, was areinvestigationof her gospel roots, recorded
with JamesCleveland andthe Southern California Community Choir. Remarkably,it made the TopTen, counting as one of the greatest gospel-
popcrossover smashes ofall time.
Franklin had a few more hits over the next few years -- "Angel" and the Stevie Wonder cover "Until You Come Back toMe"being
themostnotable. Her Atlantic contract ended at the end of the 1970s, and since then she's managed togetintermittent hits -- "Who's
ZoomingWho"and "Jump to It" are among the most famous. Many of her successes were duets,orcrafted with the assistance of
contemporaries suchasLuther Vandross. In 1986 Franklin released her follow-up toWho’sZoomin’ Who?, the self-titled Aretha, which saw the
single “I KnewYouWere Waiting for Me,” a duet with GeorgeMichael, hitthe top of the charts. There was also another return to gospel in 1987
with OneLord,One Faith, One Baptism.Franklinshifted back to pop with 1989’s Through the Storm, but it wasn’t a commercial success, and
neitherwas1991’s newjackswing-styled What You See Is What You Sweat.
Now solidly an iconic figure and acknowledged as one of the best singers of her generation no matter what her
recordsaleswere,Franklincontributed songs to several movie soundtracks in the next few years before releasing the R&B-based ARoseIs Still a
Rose in 1998.So DamnHappy followed five years later in 2003 and again saw disappointing sales, but it didgeneratethe Grammy-winning
song “Wonderful.”Franklinleft Arista Records that same year after 23 years and started herown label,Aretha’s Records, two years later in
2005. A duetscompilation,Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen,wasissued in 2007, followed by her first holiday album, 2008’s
This ChristmasAretha,originally as a Borders exclusive andthendistributed by DMI. The first release on her own label, Aretha: A Woman
Falling Out ofLove,appeared in the spring of2011.Despite sometimes poor health, she continued to select new projects to work on, ever the
institution,herreputationsecureas one of the best singers of the modern era. Franklin died at her home on August 16, 2018, aged 76. « hide |
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