Aretha Franklin, the first lady of soul, became a music legend over the course of her professional career. Franklin’s songs not only topped the charts for more than half a century but became a part of life. Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 25, 1942. Her family soon relocated to Detroit, Michigan, where her father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin, became a minister at New Bethel Baptist Church. Rev. Franklin was a prominent gospel performer. In fact, his career exposed his daughter to gospel, soul music and to civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
She was also introduced to contemporary or future musical icons such as Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke, Clara Ward, and Bobby “Blue” Bland. Unfortunately, Aretha’s life was marred by tragedies including, the death of her mother when she was 10, physical abuse by her first husband, and also the tragic shooting of her father in 1979. He remained in a coma until his 1984 death.
First album at age 14
Aretha Franklin recorded her first album at the age of fourteen, The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin. She also was singing solos in New Bethel and going on tours with her father. In 1960, she signed with Columbia Records. Despite producing ten albums and her concert performances netting $100,000 in nightclubs and theaters, the Columbia style, featuring Top 40 pop ballads, proved an uneasy fit. Columbia tried to turn Aretha into a jazzy pop singer without success. She was determined to draw on her background in blues and gospel music. In 1966, Franklin signed with Atlantic Records. She had more creative control. She began revolutionizing soul music by creating a sound all her own.
Symbol of Black Pride and Soul
By 1968, Aretha Franklin was considered a symbol of black pride and soul music. In fact, she is considered the First Lady of Soul. She made “Respect,” written by Otis Redding, a call to arms. “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” a Carole King song, was an earthy expression of sexuality. “Think,” which she wrote with her then-husband, Ted White became a rallying cry for women fed up with men. Her Amazing Grace album, released in 1970 and which returned her to her church roots, sold over two million copies. In fact, it made her one of the most successful gospel singers of the era. Franklin received an award for excellence from Dr. Martin Luther King in 1967 and appeared on the cover of Time magazine on June 28, 1968.
First woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987).
She had the largest number of Top 40 singles of any female performer (forty-five). She was also the youngest recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Honors (1994). She had 88 Billboard chart hits during the rock era, tops among female vocalists. Over her career, Franklin won seventeen Grammy’s, including the honor for best female R&B performance for eight straight years. She had twenty #1 R&B hits. The greatest soul album of all time is considered to be her 1967 album – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You. “Aretha Live at the Fillmore West” is notably one of the top five greatest live albums of the rock era.
“Aretha Franklin is not only the definitive female soul singer of the Sixties,” according to her Rolling Stone biography, “she’s also one of the most influential and important voices in pop history.”
Run of the Mill?
There was nothing run-of-the-mill about a Franklin performance. “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)” is slinky and gritty, Franklin’s voice sometimes a whisper over Spooner Oldham’s electric piano. “The House That Jack Built” fairly crackles: “I got the house / I got the car / I got the rug / And I got the rack / But I ain’t got Jack,” Franklin belts. In Franklin’s delivery, “Eleanor Rigby” was a figure of defiance; with Franklin’s voice, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” went places not even Art Garfunkel, whose angelic tenor dominated Simon & Garfunkel’s original version, could take it.
“I think of Aretha as ‘Our Lady of Mysterious Sorrows,'” wrote the late Jerry Wexler, Franklin’s producer at Atlantic Records. “Her eyes are incredible, luminous eyes covering inexplicable pain. Her depressions could be as deep as the dark sea. I don’t pretend to know the sources of her anguish, but anguish surrounds Aretha as surely as the glory of her musical aura.”
“It had looked for the longest time like I would never have a gold record,” she told Time magazine in 1968. “I wanted one so bad.” “Respect” and other songs were not only huge sellers, but they were also adopted by African-Americans and feminists as anthems for social change.
She lived what she sang
Civil rights icon and US Rep. John Lewis recalled Franklin’s “unwavering” commitment to the movement. “What made her talent so great was her capacity to live what she sang,” Franklin said in a statement Thursday. “Her music was deepened by her connection to the struggles and the triumphs of the African American experience, growing up in her father’s church, the community of Detroit, and her awareness of the turmoil of the South.”
And even more hits!
The hits kept coming throughout the early 1970s. Those included “Spanish Harlem” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” By the late ’70s, Franklin’s star power began to wane, as the golden age of soul ended and as critics and fans became less enthusiastic about her continuing output. However, she re-emerged in the 1980s, releasing the 1985 album “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”, which spawned the hit “Freeway of Love.” She also collaborated with the Eurythmics on “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and British pop star George Michael on the smash duet, “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me).” The latter hit No. 1, her last chart-topper.
“Don’t say Aretha is making a comeback,” she said at the time. She said, “because I’ve never been away.”
Health Issues
Franklin battled health issues in recent years, struggling with weight gain and associated ailments. In August 2010, she canceled two free concerts in New York because of “fractured ribs and pain in the abdomen.” Franklin’s doctors had told her to come in for tests immediately. That November, her doctors ordered her to cancel all personal appearances for the next six months. In early December, Franklin underwent surgery deemed “highly successful.” She also canceled some appearances in 2013.
However, she recovered enough to return to touring in 2014, which included a performance at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. She’d also lost almost 100 pounds.
“It’s fun buying new clothes!” After losing 100 pounds Aretha commented. “I couldn’t stay out of the mirror, just turning every way. This is my natural weight.” As for her old wardrobe? The shopper knew exactly what to do with those outfits. “I’m thinking of giving them to a resale shop,” Franklin said.
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