I happened to catch
a new morning talk show at the end of last week with a new early morning host
by the name of Tamron Hall. First off, I noticed she is chic to the bone and when
she mentioned her upcoming birthday (16th) I kept thinking that it
was also someone else’s birthday that very day (13th) who was once very
famous. Last Friday the 13th happened to be the actual birthday-
albeit 97 years ago- of a beautiful Peruvian-born operatic singer by the stage
name of Yma Sumac. She passed away on November first almost 11 years ago but
she was so sensational in talent, appearance and showmanship that she should be
listed among the most outstanding professional sopranos in the world’s
entertainment history. Unfortunately, if I mentioned her name to most people
now, they wouldn’t know who I’m talking about- even the most musically inclined
or otherwise. She is known among select members of the Rock establishment
because of a cult following sparked during the New Wave/Punk era in the 80s. I
was among those who assumed that she had died during a time in her life when
circumstances got in the way of her career of more than 30 years by then. But I
was told about Yma by my parents who spoke of her other-worldly voice way before then. I have never seen or heard a
live performance of her, personally.
She was most
popular in the 1950s- before my time, actually. A concert she gave at the
Hollywood Bowl that first year was the breakout performance which finally
sparked sudden worldwide fame becoming internationally famous overnight. Only
weeks later her first Capitol recording Voice
of the Xtabay was released and took the recording industry by storm with a
million copies sold before the year was over. (Moreover, it has never stopped
selling!) This woman wowed audiences with her double-voiced trills and amazing vocal
range, South American (regional) folk music and her stunningly flamboyant and
authentic outfits which were often studded with gold and silver jewelry, many
of which were copied from Incan Royal costumes. In fact, she claimed to be a
descendant of the Incan emperor Atahualpa and was backed by her country on this
issue. Her birth name was Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo and
the internet sources (such as Wikipedia) will give her birth date as September
10th but those sources are in error. Birthdates aside, that isn’t
the only misinformation about her on the internet, even by her own admission or
from her camp but one thing is for certain, she was called The Nightingale of the Andes and also as a Peruvian Songbird and she was very definitely that and more.
Yma’s
recordings, which number impressively, are testament to her four-octave range
and the exotic language she sang from originally. Her music can still be purchased
from an official web site which was set up by her personal assistant Damon
Devine. I happen to be a proud owner of one of her LPs which covers songs from
two of her early recordings, The Voice of
theXtabay and Inca Taqui- Chants of the Incans. The
sounds are so exotic and enigmatic that much of it is hypnotic and makes one
feel they are being enchanted by the singer! You won’t understand very much with
the language barrier but I can explain that many of the songs imitate the
sounds of the wildlife and nature coming from the forests of the upper Amazon
and the Andean Mountains. Xtabay actually refers to a
young Incan virgin who fell in love with an Aztec prince and the alliance was
forbidden because the maiden was a simple peasant. A New York teenager was quoted as saying,
“When I listen to her I feel like I’m dreaming, like I’m in another world.”
Other qualified commentary came from popular opera singers and authoritative
music industry professionals and tycoons. Eventually, she became close friends
with Maria Callas.
Before she made
her splash in Hollywood, her origins were that
of singing in religious pageants and services in her native Ichocan village and
after becoming well-known for her talent regionally, word got around until it
reached the Peruvian capital, Lima.
She was placed in catholic school by 1935 after government officials scouted to
find her. Among those delegates, Moises Vivanco, a young composer and authority
on Incan music, became quite interested in her and married her (in 1942) becoming
in the process her manager, conductor and arranger and in the beginning was an
essential element in the process of developing her vocal talent. A scholarship
to attend the University
of Lima followed in 1941,
after she sang for an audience of 25,000, which gave her the opportunity to
study psychology alongside music study! Both Walt Disney and Douglas Fairbanks
Jr.offered Yma promotion in the U.S when they traveled through South America.
She traveled with
Vivanco throughout South America and
eventually the world. Inexplicably, the U.S. was much more resistant to her
talent in the beginning though both she and Vivanco worked very hard trying to
get noticed, not just with the public but also with booking agents who viewed
her, more or less, as a novelty act. An appearance on television shows did not
produce much interest either but singing at the Hollywood Bowl with Arthur
Fiedler’s orchestra got her the type of attention that went around the world
and back. After that she began a series of concert tours that moved through
several continents and to hundreds of thousands of people per concert. One
reporter, Glenn Gunn of the Washington Times-Herald reported, “There is no
voice like it in the world of music today…a greater range than any female voice
of concert oropera. It soars into the acoustic stratosphere or
plumbs sub-contralto depths with equal ease. Such a voice happens only once in
a generation.”
What eventually
became worldwide appeal as a whole started with an appearance at Carnegie Hall
in 1948 and then the Blue Angel Supper Club in 1949. Capitol Records saw the
potential audience and signed her to a record deal. They added Cuban musicians
to her trio, ran the whole package off to Hollywood
and shortly thereafter they landed right back where the breakthrough started. She
made many recordings over the years and had quite a long career which included
an appearance in a film with Edith Piaf, Cuban dates, stints at the Royal
Albert Hall in London and on the Frank Sinatra
Show in the U.S.
As a matter of fact, after that she became the darling of celebrity variety
T.V. shows in the States.
During the
fifties she returned often to her native Peru and was welcomed and very much
celebrated. By the time that decade came to a close, however, I’m sure the pace
and schedule began to wear a little on her and when her star appeared on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 she had gotten a divorce from Vivanco (after
many trials with him and his liaisons) and prepared to tour Russia with a child
under her arm and a trio which still included her ex-husband! She performed in
40 cities within Russia
with the Bolshoi Symphony and the Tchaikovsky Opera House as a highlight in the
tour. She took Russia
by storm and received adulation above and beyond expectations, of course. By
numbers these tours were an enormous success with 186
concerts for nearly 60 million people which included an additional 130 concerts
in Romania, Poland, and Germany
.The fact that she also sang in Russian may have been a factor and she
toured for more than a year there which eventually included Czechoslovakia.
There she gave a total of ten consecutive performances to an audience of
300,000.
In 1962 Yma
returned to Los Angeles
in triumph but with her Capitol Records deal expired. The U.S. had cooled
a bit to her talent but as she remained in top form it didn’t stop her
international success. In 1963 she traveled to Tokyo and had a 10 week run at the Mikado
Room. In November of that same year she traveled to Germany to perform again and
connected with another celebrity fan in Marlene Dietrich! I must imagine that
Marlene was in awe of her voice and the exotic songs which were Vivanco’s work
on musical composition and the written lyrics which were solidly based on Incan
legends.
A couple of years
later she returned to the Hollywood Bowl for only the second time, fifteen
years later for a South American Fiesta Gala. It inspired her to make a return
to Peru
to give a few concerts and visit her family with a disappointing reception from
her fellow Peruvians. She had become an American citizen many years previous
and this act offended them enough to accuse her of trying to change Peruvian
music and the newspapers canned her modified style as inauthentic. Her divorce
from Vivanco may have also been a factor as well although she was perfectly
justified for doing so. In 1966 she was welcomed to Brazil for another festival
and was well received and well attended by singers, musicians and composers the
world over including Amalia Rodriguez, Les Baxter, Maurice Chevalier and, of
course, the general public.
Yma completely
ended all association with Vivanco in 1968 after they did a last stint at the
Mikado Room with a series of successful performances and she received the
Golden Disk of Hollywood Award for Best Latin American singer in America. With
the complete break-up, he moved to Spain
and she headed for Australia
and performed at Chequers in Sydney. Even though she
had some great moments in the seventies it was a cooling off period for her
most likely because of the music scene at that time. One such appearance was
again at the Hollywood Bowl for a 20th anniversary appearance which
included people like Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Ricardo Montalban and Dionne
Warwick. This was a turning point for her which helped her feel accepted and
comfortable in the music world. It added longevity to her career which has kept
her in the public eye for many years past her lifespan.
An attempt in
reigniting her career came in 1971 with a new album after a 12 year recording
lapse. Titled, Miracles it was
released by London Records and funded by three fans. The presence of Les Baxter
as the producer should have been a help but the packaging of it ignited Yma’s
anger instead. She didn’t agree with any of the credits Les Baxter received or
the way it was packaged. This also kindled a big fat lawsuit. The album was
withdrawn at some point but not before Yma’s cult following managed to snag
copies. It is now a favorite with vinyl record collectors. This set the tone for
the 70s when her mother took ill, prompting Yma to visit her several times,
even with the negative receptions she was getting in her native land. When her
mother, Emilia, passed away in 1974 it was over and she was not to return for
32 years!
After giving two
concerts in New York City in 1975, at the Town Hall and at Chateau Madrid she
faded out of the public eye out of a dire need for solitude and to deal with a
delinquent son, a dying fellow trio artist by the name of Cholita and other
weighty matters but did not return to Peru after her mother’s passing.
Throughout the 80s she did small stints within U.S. borders, gave out interviews
for quite a few publications here and abroad and was quietly building up a
following based on her recordings and some few attempts by others at imitation.
The cult following happened after a 1987 appearance on The David Letterman Show
and a play date at New York’s
Ballroom. An interesting documentary appeared in 1992 on German T.V. which
brought some interest in her but perhaps the wrong kind for the times.
Her ex-husband,
Vivanco passed away in 1998 without much publicity or attention but more
telling is that in 2006, two years before she left this world, Yma was
reordained into Peruvian hearts with a letter sent to the government by a young
fan who asked the authorities to finally recognize her as a national treasure
as they should have much earlier. They all agreed and sent for her to return to
receive many awards among which the Orden del Sol, only given to the most
prominent, was granted. During that time she also visited Machu Picchu wanting to take in the awesome
atmosphere in peace. Instead it became another photo extravaganza with much
publicity. Her parting words before she went back home to Los Angeles as the American she had become
were simply, “I miss my home.”
She passed
quietly on Halloween in 2008 at her home in Silverlake, east Hollywood digs,
after battling stage 4 colon cancer for eight months. I never saw any
announcements although it has been reported on the internet that it was made
known worldwide. My father, who was also in his 80s when she passed, brought me
a newspaper clipping because I’d been her fan since I was in my young twenties.
He said he remembered her and gave me the clipping. She had turned eighty-six
only a few months before.
I will close this
with a recommendation of one of the most touching songs of her repertoire
titled, Ripui, which means farewell.
The closing lines ring out, “When I go, my words will be your tears.”
In a book titled simply The Poems of Goethe which was translated from German in the original meter (!) you'll find this little gem which apparently has never been set to actual music. It is amazing what you can find sometimes- in English, no less- which has yet to have seen the light of day or the vocal chords of a soprano.
Somebody roll up their sleeves!; )The Castle
Lady
Late resounds the early strain;
Weal and woe in song remain.
Sound, sweet song…
sound, sweet song from far off lands,
Sighing softly close at hand,
Now of joy and now of woe!
Stars are wont to glimmer so.
Sooner thus will good unfold;
Children young and children old
Gladly hear thy numbers flow.
(written in 1820)
Live each day as if your life had just begun. J.W. Goethe
It seems appropriate to me to do the musical part of our beloved Independance Day this year so I'm submitting the most talented and best of the best for the day! Enjoy Renee Fleming's version of this classic...
Not bad for approaching the sixth decade of life, eh? She's five months younger than me and I'm blown away by this but I try to keep myself humble. She doesn't have to but she's not...
Here's a few tid bits of summer fun to get us started:
This one reminds me of an aleatory I came up with when I was attending MSU... I love listening to intricate drumming. This is Matt Pretty- pretty good drumming!
Even though I’m not a huge fan of
the show, I can honestly say that American Idol is becoming one of those
star-making venues that has a finger on the pulse of music trends, stylistic
aberrations and even some unique songwriting talent. It is worthwhile to sit in
on both the auditions and the actual weekly contests of potential
winners-to-be. Just last night I watched the final 20 round and I definitely
had a few favorites that just may make it even if they drop out of the
competition by next week. One singer/guitarist who normally writes his own
songs is Alejandro Aranda who looks like and has been a street musician. His
outside the lines songwriting and song choices are exercises in breaking all
the rules of music and getting away with it on an almost genius level. His
version of IFall Apart by Post Malone was reminiscent of his own writing style
and showed the world what his potential will be in the long run.
Ashley Hess did a version of John Mayer’s Dreaming With a Broken Heart that literally does that. It is a song
that makes you think about the human state of longing for love and learning to
live without it that makes you choke up inside. Her version sounded a little
dreamy and when I ran it over again I realized she took the song to the level
it should have been at- a half awake and still dreaming rendition I’ll not soon
forget.
Another contestant that I’m extremely impressed with is Kate Barnette, a
23 year old nanny from Georgia.
Even though her song didn’t match her Rickie Lee Jones look- of whom she could
be a twin- she sang Maroon 5’s Sunday
Morning like it was written by Rickie. This girl not only has an extremely
versatile and unique voice but she channeled Rickie like a Hollywood star and
most likely will make movies- musical or non-musical, with the aplomb of
Streisand, Midler and McClaine.
In closing, I would like to do a shout out to Alejandro. I have some
lyrics for a song I think you might like to add music to when you find the
time. The name of the song lyrics are Someone
Stepped on Her Heart. Sound interesting? Let me know.
This was her most enigmatic song and a favorite of mine. There'll be more on this versatile and multi-facited 70s singer soon. For now enjoy the song and check her out on You Tube.
As any child born into a musical family
will tell you, getting such breaks in the music industry is prodigious and legendary
and often, quite necessary. Aretha Louise was born at home on 406 Lucy Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee when Germany occupied most of France.By the time she turned 5 years old, her family had settled in Detroit and France had been liberated. Her
extended family support included famous individuals that most musicians would
envy. The auspicious difference is not only priceless to a successful musical career
but also, life-saving, at times. Nevertheless, Aretha has permanently left the stage a bit earlier than she should
have- given different circumstances regarding her health. She has passed on at
76 years of age, leaving behind a wealth of soul music that is put to much use-
especially in present times- and her vocal style is mimicked throughout the
world. I have often wondered how many people understand what they are mimicking, quite honestly. When people say
the name Aretha, one only thinks of Ms. Franklin. I’ve never met a single other
person with that name. Who could claim it but her?
As the consummate soul singer of the Sixties
(and beyond), Aretha fused a unique approach to gospel music, a style which she
grew up on, with her own brand of soul, eventually becoming a sensational (and
sometimes sensual) R & B artist. Over the decades her music crossed borders
into other genres of pop music and finessed into her unique style. Even by 1967,
when she made over a dozen different, million-selling records before the next
decade, her song lists showcased a distinct musical maturation and diversity
which wouldn’t have made sense for any other soul singer. For the times, her financial
success was unprecedented and even now she is still the best-selling musical
artist ever, with over 75 million records sold worldwide. Aretha
progressed into pop mainstream over the airwaves with continued success
throughout the Seventies, despite strong competition, and continued to be a
commercial success by scoring hits well into the Eighties. By that time her
style and vocal sound had become instantly recognizable. While going through
her lists of song titles I discovered only one- the ethereal Day Dreaming !- which brought out some
other unrecognizable voice that I would never have associated with her. I don’t
remember who I thought it was but it blew me away to think she could whisper a
song that lingered in my childhood memories. Aretha had a broad appeal for many
people!
During her career she recorded 112 charted
singles on Billboard, including a total of 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R & B entries and
20 #1 R & B singles becoming the most charted female artist in history. She
won 18 Grammy Awards of which the first 8 were awarded for Best Female R &
B Vocal Performance from 1968 through to 1975. But financial success and awards
alone can’t really cement a place in history, necessarily. Her versatility
began to show through by the time the Eighties rolled around and she’s been a
household word since that time surpassing even her predecessors in every
category she has sampled but especially in soul music. Her gospel music,
although eclipsed sometimes by her commercial success in secular, had
concurrent record sales success that rivaled much of the music for which she
was best known by the general public but my personal opinion is that gospel
informed and reformed her secular musical success and promoted everything she
did as a singer and musician.
Her
entire life revolved around music and she began her career very young as a
gospel singer along with her father, Clarence LeVaughn Franklin, who led the
way as a pastor of a Detroit
church which boasted thousands of members. The New Bethel Baptist Church
was famous, being nationally known, and the music it propelled included
Aretha’s mother, Barbara and both of Aretha’s sisters, Carolyn and Erma. (Erma,
born 1939, and Carolyn, born 1945, had been professional singers as long- or
longer- than Aretha but only Carolyn gained a bit more success than Erma and on
a much smaller scale than Aretha, of course.) By the time Aretha was 14 she was
touring the gospel circuit with her father and had already recorded much of her
early gospel solo song list- singing and playing the piano! During this time
she was introduced to and became good friends with others in the gospel circuit
such as Clara Ward, Mahalia Jackson, Jackie Wilson, James Cleveland and Sam
Cooke all of whom were close friends with her father. She occasionally toured
with The Soul Stirrers. I imagine that many of these well-known musical artists
took Aretha under their wings because of the brokenness of her family. Barbara
abandoned her marriage by the time Aretha had turned six years old and died
four years later, two and half weeks before Aretha’s tenth birthday. Clarence
ended up raising three daughters, more or less on his own, which was a tall
order for a man committed to the church.
Aretha turned 18 in 1960 and made the
decision to cross over into secular music which must have created a bit of an
uproar in the church. It would not have been taken lightly by her father, under
the usual circumstances. Before signing any recording contract Sam Cooke tried
to persuade Aretha’s father to sign her with his label RCA but his request was
turned down. Even Berry Gordy approached both
Aretha and her elder sister Erma to his
label Tamlabut Clarence didn’t think Gordy wasestablished well enough and turned him down flat as well.
Aretha moved to New York City to get closer to the action for
popular music and signed a 5% contract with Columbia Records with the help of
John Hammond and was immediately steered into Rhythm and Blues (with Clyde Otis
at the helm) most likely because of her gospel style. Hammond
later said he felt Columbia
did not understand her early gospel background and failed to bring out that
aspect of her voice during her period there. Steering her toward R & B was
the best decision, in retrospect. Songs like Today I Sing the Blues (her first R&B single which reached the
top ten in September 1960), Won’t Be Long
and Operation Heartbreak shot to the
top of the R & B charts as soon as they were released. Her big hit during
this time turned out to be in the genre of Swing with Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody in 1961 but only made it
to #37! Many singers have cut their teeth on this song to either success or
failure. It requires great pipes. Within
five years of signing her contract Aretha was pulling in $100,000 per live
performance in nightclubs and music theaters.
Interestingly, she didn’t seem to garner
the kind of recognition, at the onset, as she would eventually. By 1966 when
her contract expired she opted to leave Columbia
for Atlantic Records and started working with producer Jerry Wexler, arranger
Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd who was a recording engineer and began to make the
kind of music which is considered soul music today. People don’t refer to
Aretha as the Queen of Soul for no reason! She was among the inventors of the genre.
With the new team and musical maturity
underway she began to produce #1 hits in abundance. The first session produced I Never Loved a Man (the Way I LoveYou) which shot to #1 on the R & B
charts and remained there for a year. Respect
sold in the millions and stayed #1 for a year as well and it’s her signature
tune. There was also Baby I Love You,
Chain of Fools, Since You’ve Been Gone, Think,
The House that Jack Built and I Say a Little Prayer- among which the
latter song is more closely associated with Dionne Warwick (who was strictly a pop
singer and purveyor of all things written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach). All
were number one hits and I remember hearing Chain
of Fools on ‘white radio’ when I was ten years old and knew that it almost
made it to #1. For two straight years her records sold in the millions!
Aretha practically stole Respect from Otis Redding and borrowed more material
from Don Covay and Ronnie Shannon for much of the R & B she recorded. Redding wrote the song Respect in 1965 and recorded it, even
though he could neither read nor write music. Within two years, at the age of
26, he went down in flames when his Beechcraft H18 airplane crashed in Wisconsin and his
signature song The Dock of the Bay climbed
to the top of the charts several months after his death. Even Aretha couldn’t
have guessed then, that Redding’s
song would become her most lucrative and successful recording (reaching #1 on
both R & B and Pop charts) and ignite her singing career beyond all
expectations. Carole King and Gerry Goffin were just beginning to take over pop
radio with hits and really began to make it on their own by the Seventies but
Aretha galvanized some of their Rock and Blues sizzlers into fireworks. When I
think back to the music of Carole King, all I can hear in my head is I Feel the Earth Move (Under My Feet) probably
because it was a true fusion of pop rock and R & B and because King’s flair
for pop rock was unequaled at that particular time. Aretha recorded her song (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,
made it dynamic and after that, the song belonged to her and no one else. If
anyone doubts that, they need to see the video clip when she got a standing
ovation at the Kennedy
Center in 2015 during a
live performance of Carole King’s classic- even as Carole King was being
honored that night! Ms. King clapped every bit as much as the Kennedy Center
attendees! Aretha could take the songs she borrowed, rearrange and use her
fabulous dynamics on them and they were never the same again. This was her
legacy and she did it time and time again! It would explain her capability of
taking an opera aria meant for a tenor (Nessun Dorma) at the age of 56 and turn
it into a heart wrenching three-octave soul solo at the Grammies in 1998!
(That’s a subject for another time!)
What she didn’t borrow was co-written with
her husband and manager, Ted White, and their collaborations were numerous and
among her greatest hits. During her New York
debut into pop music she recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section
in Alabama and also a New York band conducted by King Curtis.
Aretha’s vocal arrangements were hers alone and she also employed her own
gospel call-and-response choruses for her backups with Sweet Inspirations (her younger
sister Carolyn was counted among the members).
That same year, Ted White turned on Aretha,
publicly battered her and also shot one of her new production managers. After
her divorce in 1969 she was arrested, one time, for drunk driving with
resulting disorderly conduct. Even her father was arrested for possession of
marijuana which could have ended his ministry. Somehow, she managed to pull
through these trying times but perhaps at a great cost to her health. Of the
many books written about her life she was most critical about David Ritz’s Respect title which ran away with the
negatives like a hellbound train, digging up dirt about her that went all the
way back before she was old enough to drive! Much of it, most likely, is untrue,
unfair and unwarranted information and did not receive her authorization in the
end. She discredited the book with strong and blunt words. Considering that
this book came out at a time when nearly all of Aretha’s family had pre-deceased
her it must have been difficult, to say the least, and stand alone in deference
to what had been written about her and her family.
As with most people in the entertainment
business back then, the show had to go on and her million selling hits
continued into the Seventies. She was the first female R & B performer to
headline at Fillmore West and at the end of 1971 she released a live recorded
album from her performance at that northern California venue. Franklin’s debut album for Atlantic Records
was I Never Loved a Man the Way that I
Love You which eventually became a gold record. These were all R & B
number one hits: Don’t Play that Song,
Bridge over Troubled Water (written by
Simon and Garfunkel), Spanish Harlem,
Day Dreaming (And I’m Thinking of
You), Until YouCome Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do) and Rock Steady reached #2 in 1971. Even so, she got lost in the fray
during the Seventies but given the climate of the era, it’s not only
understandable but almost legendary for anyone who lived then- no matter your
age, color, weight, sex or proclivities. If she seemed rather aimless we can
truly point to the wigged-out culture
for a clear reason. Perhaps she felt a little alienated and grasped for her
roots because she did an about face in 1972 by releasing one of the most
amazing albums of her career with Young, Gifted and Black and then socked it to everyone with her Gospel
release Amazing Grace the same year which sold over two million copies!
The title song for Young, Gifted and Black was originally written and recorded
by singer Nina Simone in 1969 with Weldon Irvine. Amazing Grace was recorded
live in Los Angeles
with her father officiating and playing the piano and also conducting the choir.
This was the last album co-produced by Wexler who moved on to Warner Bros
Records in 1976. Both albums sold equally and profusely with Amazing Grace
becoming her most financially successful gospel album. After that time she
started experimenting with new producers and the list is like a who’s who of
record producers. In 1973 Quincy Jones produced Hey Now Hey, Curtis Mayfield produced Sparkle, a soundtrack LP,in
1976, Lamont Dozier produced Sweet
Passion in 1977 and in 1979 Van McCoy produced La Diva. At this time she amped up her stage style to the level of a
Las Vegas revue
and her shows became costume extravaganzas that could’ve made Beyonce’s eyes
pop out with envy. That same year her father was shot at point-blank range in his
Detroit home by a burglar and was put into the hospital but never came out of a
coma, holding on to life for five years before he passed away in a nursing home
in 1984.
By the time 1980 rolled around Franklin had left Atlantic
and signed on with Arista with an eye to keep control over her career and finances.
All her record company moves were probably made on legal advice after a
showdown with the IRS. This proved to be a pivotal comeback year for the lady
of soul when she visited England for the first time and gave a command
performance for Queen Elizabeth at London’s Royal Albert Hall which is a true
rite of passage for any singer or musician whether they are British or not. Adding
‘actress’ to her resume, Aretha made a movie that same year which starred John
Belushi and Dan Akroyd as The Blues Brothers.
Her part entailed singing her best hits with Respect and Think and her
sassy style in the film is unforgettable as a soul foodrestaurant proprietor and wife ofMatt
"Guitar" Murphy with the lines, “…leave, leave and don’t come back…withoutyour four fried
chickens!”
She had crossed over into another era with two of her best sixties hits and
made them sound so fresh that her career was off and running again. She didn’t
have to position herself as the grande
dame of pop music because she already had that prize. The sass she
exhibited in that role set the record straight and there wasn’t a thing anyone
(who wanted to) could do about it. That’s when Aretha officially became the
Queen of Soul and no one has taken her crown yet. I never heard anyone actually
say it but in 1981 it was confirmed tome in a Steely Dan song of
the title, Hey Nineteen which
contained the lyrics: “That’s ‘Retha Franklin. She don’t remember the Queen of
Soul.” (Aretha turned forty the year that Steely Dan album, Gaucho, was released!)
Her experience with Arista was another
story, compared to the previous record companies. First of all, this was her
longest relationship with any record company spanning over two decades thanks
to Clive Davis. She brought Arif Mardin back in for her first two albums with
the new label and her old pal included some old soul standards along with
mainstream pop music which was referred to as MOR (middle of the road) in those
days. The first two Arista recordings were Love
All the Hurt Away and Jump to It, with the first being a collaboration with
George Benson going to #6 on the R&B charts in 1981 and the second- which reestablished
Aretha as a hit maker- reached #1 on the R & B charts in 1982. Her song
hits during the Eighties hit new highs on the pop charts with (I’m Giving Him)Something He Can Feel, Freeway of Love,
Who’s Zoomin’ Who, and I Knew Your Were Waiting (For Me) , the latter a
duet withGeorge
Michaelwhich went international. She put out
seven albums that decade and also garnered some very impressive accolades which
were numerous. Her gospel music continued with the 1987 release of One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism and Through theStorm in 1989 which did not succeed financially but exhibited the
true beauty of her voice.
In 1987 she was also inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame being the first female to be given this honor and
had received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before she’d ever even been
filmed in a movie. She received many formal accolades and honors through the
years but the most profound one she received came in 2005 when she was honored
with the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside Alan Greenspan and Robert
Conquest. She was an activist that preferred to stand with the people she was
standing up for, rather than use her fame to gain attention. Being inducted
into the United Kingdom Music Hall of Fame in the same year made the world
aware of a star they had largely overlooked for too long. Only a few years
later she stood at the inaugural podium in Washington, D.C.
to sing My Country, ‘Tis of Thee for
Obama’s swearing in and got international
media attention for the second time in her long career for her amazing
performance. Interestingly, it wasn’t until 2012 that she was inducted into the
Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In my estimation, this should have happened much
sooner because her dedication to Gospel music never waned through all the years
she sang secular music, also. It was a true rite of passage, nevertheless, and
well earned. A crowning achievement for her was receiving the Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Awardin 1994 and returned
to the top 40 with the song Willing to
Forgive during a seven year absence from the charts in the nineties. Her
final induction came in 2018 into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
Before the turn of the century she made
the top 40 yet again when she released the Lauryn
Hill-produced song"A Rose Is Still a Rose", later issuing the album, and it went gold! As a matter of fact 1998
seemed to propel her back on the stage singing when she may have been
considering retiring. That was the year she sang Pavarotti’s song at the
Grammies and brought down the house with her version. Over one billion people
worldwide saw the performance and she received an immediate standing ovation.
She would go on to record the selection, and perform it live several more times
in the years to come eventually singing the song in Philadelphia for the Pope (Francis) in
September of 2015! In 2017 Aretha canceled scheduled concerts due to health
reasons and during one of her hometown shows she asked the audience to keep her
in their prayers. Her last full concert was given at theRavinia
Festivalon September 3, 2017.
After the turn
of the century her output returned, albeit a bit slower but she never
sacrificed the quality- whether it was the music itself, her singing or her
musicianship. Since the inception of the 21st century Aretha had
released only five secular long players- in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 and
2017- one being a Christmas album but her live performances proliferated while
accolades poured in from everywhere, seemingly. It has been almost virtually
unknown that Ms Franklin received
honorary degrees spanning across 39 years of her career beginning with her
Doctor of Law degree by Bethune–Cookman University in 1975 to degrees from Yale
(2010), Harvard and NYU in 2014- mostly doctorates from U.S. universities and
conservatories in music, numbering 12 in all !
With a tempestuous but successful life
behind her I’m certain that Aretha clung to her rightful Christian inheritance
of salvation. Even as she faced departure from this world, where she is sorely
missed, she had to know that her sixty year long legacy lives on in so much
wonderful music and in our hearts as one of God’s true divas. Music begins in
the heart before we create it in any form and Aretha had a lot of music in her.
The best tribute to her in my estimation occurred at the American Music Awardson October9, 2018, when the ABC
show wasclosed by bringingGladys
Knight, Donnie McClurkin, Ledisi, Cece
Winans, andMary Marytogether to paytribute
to herby performing various gospel hits
mostly from her 1972 blockbuster Amazing Grace. It was inspiring to see these
singers support a faith that was closest to her heart with genuine faith and
equal talent.It will certainly never be forgotten
by me and I’m sure that many people felt the same as I.
First single:
1956-
Never Grow Old(J.V.B. Records) recorded
at New Bethel Baptist
Church
LPs:
1961- Aretha (with the
Ray Bryant Combo) (Columbia)
1962- The Electrifying
Aretha Franklin
& The Tender, the
Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin
1963- Laughing on the
Outside
1964- Unforgettable: A
Tribute to Dinah Washington
Running Out of Fools
& The Gospel
Sound of Aretha Franklin (Checker) reissue1972
1965- Yeah! Aretha
Franklin in Person (Columbia)
Songs of Faith
(Checker) orig. rec. 1956 by J-V-B live at New Bethel Baptist Church
1966- Soul Sister
1967- Take It Like You Give
It
Greatest Hits
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (Atlantic)
& Aretha Arrives
1968- Lady Soul;
Aretha Now;
Aretha in Paris
1969- Soul’69;
Aretha’s Gold;
Soft and Beautiful
1970- This Girl’s in Love
with You;
Spirit in the Dark
1971- Aretha Live at
Fillmore West; Aretha’s Greatest Hits
1972- Young, Gifted and
Black;
Amazing Grace
1973- Hey Now Hey (The
Other Side of the Sky);
The First Twelve
Sides (Columbia)
The Best of Aretha
Franklin (Atlantic)
1974- Let Me in Your
Life;
With Everything I
Feel in Me
1975- You
1976- Sparkle, soundtrack
Ten Years of Gold
1977- Sweet Passion
1978- Almighty Fire
1979- La Diva
1980- Aretha (Arista)
1981- Love All the Hurt
Away
1982- Jump to It
1983- Get It Right
1985- Who’s Zoomin’ Who?
( song Freeway of Love gave it platinum status)
1986- Aretha
1989- Through the Storm
1991- What You See is
What You Sweat
1998- A Rose is Still a
Rose
2003- So Damn Happy
2007- Jewels in the
Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen
2008- This Christmas,
Aretha(DMI )
2011- Aretha: A Woman
Falling Out of Love (Aretha’s)
(upon release, sang a
2-night engagement at Radio
City Music
Hall in NYC)
2014- Aretha Franklin
Sings the Great Diva Classics (RCA)
2017- A Brand New Me (w/
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
"American history wells up when Aretha
sings. Nobody embodies more fully the connection between the African-American
spiritual, the blues, R&B, rock and roll- the way that hardship and sorrow
were transformed into something full of beauty and vitality and hope.”
President Obama, 2015 for the Kennedy Center Honors
