Aretha Franklin: The Queen Of Soul

JUNK 'JEWELS': Disc of Aretha Franklin collaborations lacks sparkle

Now that's not to say that the duet partners on "Jewels in the Crown," a 16-track compilation of collaborations, are shabby in their own right. The disc, which gathers material from Franklin's two-decade Arista Records career, includes such luminous names as Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross and Bonnie Raitt -- guests whose contributions represent the album's best.

But too much of "Jewels" is throwaway material, songs of negligible value whose most notable feature is that someone shared Aretha's microphone. Sappy pap such as "Through the Storm" with Elton John and "Ever Changing Times" with Michael McDonald represent the worst of Franklin's post-1970s career gambits, which often found her tempering her natural R&B instincts in favor of glossy but largely lifeless adult pop.

Much of that came under the guiding hand of Arista svengali Clive Davis, whose '80s comeback project with Franklin was a model he'd follow to great effect with artists such as Santana. Some of the Detroit star's biggest successes of that era came with her collaborative songs, and all are included here: top 40 hits such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash" with Keith Richards, "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" with the Eurythmics, the chart-topping "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" with a wispy-voiced George Michael.

Fragile, shiny and nearly devoid of any bottom end, they're a merciless reminder of just how drastically the recording and production styles of that decade could drain the life -- and soul -- out of a piece of music. That's less of a problem with the handful of new tunes, including hip-hop-touched cuts with Fantasia and John Legend, which find Franklin amid a career resurgence that feels far more real and fitting.

Ultimately, "Jewels in the Crown" isn't where you'll find Franklin's most uplifting, penetrating music, even among her latter-day work. The album, which concludes her Arista contract, will appeal to Aretha completists, but there's little here to appeal to more casual fans.

It was not as if he needed it, but the Dean got a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T from the Queen.

Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul, was in Atlanta on Tuesday to wish the dean of the civil rights movement Joseph Lowery a happy 86th birthday and to perform a benefit concert at the Fox Theatre for his Clark Atlanta University think tank.

"Ree Ree," Lowery said, as he and his wife, Evelyn, joined Franklin on stage toward the end of the 90-minute concert. "Child, you ain't lost a thing. You make me feel like a natural man. There are no words in my vocabulary or any vocabulary to thank you for this stewardship."
The Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights was founded at CAU in September 2001 to research and analyze issues related to civil and human rights.

Each year, around Lowery's birthday, the former Southern Christian Leadership Conference president hosts a series of free workshops, lectures and symposiums aimed at addressing the human condition. Last year, he hosted Bill Cosby.

"There are still some of us in the get-rich-or-die-trying generation who appreciate what you have done for us," filmmaker Tyler Perry said about Lowery. "There are still some young black folks who honor and respect what you have done."

Proceeds from the concert are going to be used to offer more free educational events at the institute, as well as support advocacy efforts that have regional, national and global impact.

"I have seldom been without words," Lowery said. "I thank you for your love. I don't deserve it, but I will take it. You make an 86-year-old man feel 68."

Having Franklin at a benefit concert for Lowery seemed only fitting.
Her father was the Rev. C.L. Franklin, an established religious and civil rights leader who worked in the movement and with Lowery, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC.

"He was a great preacher," Lowery told Franklin. "And I know how proud he is of you."

Franklin's connections to Atlanta are also deep. She spoke of performing at the Royal Peacock, the legendary Auburn Avenue nightclub where James Brown, Ray Charles and Sam Cooke would perform. Franklin's sister attended Clark Atlanta and her brother went to Morehouse College.

"Who said I wasn't coming to Atlanta?" said the Detroit native, referring to an August concert cancellation at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre because of the heat. "My mother's family is from Atlanta. You might as well say I am from Atlanta."

For the hundreds of Atlantans who paid $50 to $100 for the tickets, Franklin was treated like visiting royalty. Accompanied by a crack band, she walked onstage in a sky blue gown and white fur coat.
She opened the show with a cover of Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher," followed by standards from her early years on Atlantic Records. The show then went into high gear with Franklin's sexy, "Something He Can Feel," which stirred the crowd. After doing "Chain of Fools," she took a break, while her band, the Aretha Franklin Orchestra, performed the jazz standard, "Killer Joe," in honor of Lowery.

For the second half of the show, Franklin returned to her gospel roots and closed the show with, "Old Landmark," from her classic 1972 gospel album, "Amazing Grace."

When Lowery and his wife joined Franklin onstage, they presented her with a bouquet of flowers, while she serenaded him with "Happy Birthday."

Lowery reminded the crowd that Franklin's version of "Respect," "that a Georgia boy, [Otis Redding] wrote," is ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the fifth greatest song of all time.

"Now, we must learn to love and respect each other," Lowery said. "Black folks. We are the ones God picked to be the conscience of the nation. We have to stop turning on each other and turn towards each other. You have to have respect for yourself. If we can change Atlanta, then we can change Georgia. And if we can change Georgia, we can change the world."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2007/11/22/lowery1122.html

Aretha Franklin has signed with the International Creative Management ("ICM") talent agency. Known as "The Queen of Soul," the 17-time Grammy Award winning music legend was previously represented by the rival powerhouse William Morris Agency.

A spokesperson for Franklin, who released a new album – 'Jewels in the Crown'-- last week, confirmed the change of representation this week. Already in development for Franklin is the theatrical release of her memoir 'From These Roots,' which may have its first incarnation as a musical play.

THe Memphis native is also exploring distribution venues for her yet to be released alum of new material, 'A Woman Falling Out of Love.'

Friday November 23, 2007

Guardian Unlimited

The entire history of the music industry is contained in the story of Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit Respect. The tale includes such showbiz staples as the neophyte who goes to bed unknown and wakes up the toast of Broadway; the fist fight in the studio; the genius mired in a going-nowhere career until she decides to change labels; the exhumation of a song that did nothing when recorded earlier by a more famous singer; the intervention of the legendary producer; and the pop song that unexpectedly achieves anthem status because it happened to be released in the right place at the right time. The saga is also tinged with a bittersweet note, because Respect marked Franklin's creative peak; she would release many more singles and many more albums over the years, and would even register a major hit with Annie Lennox as late as 1985. But none of these songs would have the enduring appeal or cultural import of the single she recorded in 1967. The snappy Lennox collaboration, Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, is a more explicitly feminist sequel to Respect, but by that time feminism was no longer a daring concept. Aretha Franklin was 25 when she recorded Respect, and her youth in itself is yet another fixture in the rags-to-riches saga the music industry knows so well; like Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and a host of others, she had done her best work before she was 30. In fact, like them, she had done her best work before she was 26.
Franklin is an example of the "overnight sensation" who had actually been around for years, toiling in obscurity, before finally hitting the big time. In this she resembles contemporaries such as David Bowie, who tried out various styles before making his mark, and the Bee Gees, who had already had two careers - as innocuous child pop stars in Australia and as arty Beatles clones in America - before winning the fickle public's heart with their sassy disco manifestation. The arc of Franklin's career also bears some resemblance to the path taken by George Benson, who set aside a career as an honoured but little-known jazz guitarist to become a trailblazing vocalist in the remunerative, if vile, smooth-jazz genre, and Fleetwood Mac, who started out as the best white blues band ever before deciding to become Fleetwood Mac. Unlike them, Aretha never made a fortune by being bland.

Born in Tennessee, the same state that produced Davy Crockett and Al Gore, but raised in Detroit, Franklin was the daughter of a preacher who himself had a remarkable set of pipes. A brilliant gospel singer long before she turned to pop, Franklin began recording albums for Columbia Records in the early 1960s, at the same time that Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand were making a series of genre-bending records. She was signed up by John Hammond, who is credited with discovering Dylan. At the time, Columbia was desperate to recruit artists who didn't sound like everybody else, realising, belatedly, that the music of the era was hideous. But it had no idea what to do with Franklin, pigeonholing her as a lounge act in the Peggy Lee mould. Her 10 records, though far from awful, did not sell well. Meanwhile, back in the Motor City, the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, and Smoky Robinson & the Miracles were starting to set the world on fire. All of them were talented. None of them were talented in the way Aretha Franklin was talented. In 1966, with her career stalled, Franklin moved to Atlantic Records, where she began working with the legendary producer Jerry Wexler, still alive today at the ripe old age of 90. Wexler wanted Franklin to deep-six the cabaret material and return to her R&B roots. One of the songs she chose for her LP, I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You), was Respect, which had been written and recorded two years earlier by Otis Redding. Redding, who would die in December 1967, had many big hits but Respect was not one of them. This may be because the lyrics make more sense when sung by a woman, even if a man wrote them. Black women, especially in 1967, and especially in Detroit, seemed more credible as victims who'd had enough and weren't going to take it any more than men. Even black men.

Relying largely on an arrangement devised by Franklin and her sister Carolyn, Respect was recorded on Valentine's Day 1967 in New York. Recording had begun earlier in Muscle Shoals, Alabama - a mythical locale if there ever was one - but for various reasons, including a fight that erupted between Franklin's husband and one of the musicians recruited for the session, the project moved north to Gotham. According to industry lore, Franklin had a cold the day she committed Respect to vinyl; not only did this not prevent her from recording the song that would make her famous, it didn't prevent her from recording three other singles, too. No one does this sort of thing today; even crude records made by people who cannot sing take months to complete (in large part because records made by people who cannot sing need lots of help from the engineers). Franklin's tour de force also demonstrates that technology does not advance at the same pace as genius; the recording equipment might keep getting better, but there is no one in pop music today who can sing like the young Aretha Franklin. The closest is the old Aretha Franklin.

Respect was an immediate hit, fuelled by Franklin's brassy mix of pride and defiance that seemed to capture the way black America felt about white America, particularly on the distaff side. To this day, white people like to belt out the song at weddings, though it is no more pertinent to them than Puttin' On The Ritz is to the children of Dafur. It is the type of politically charged pop song that can be admired at a respectful distance but should not be appropriated. White people try to appropriate it anyway, because white people annex everything. There is nothing on the face of the earth more embarrassing than an affluent, middle-aged white woman attempting to channel Aretha Franklin. Nothing. Especially when she gets to the "Sock it to me" part.

Aretha Franklin - Respect (live - 1967)


Aretha Franklin - Respect (live)


Respect (1990)


Respect - From Blues Brothers 2000


Aretha singing RESPECT 2007 US OPEN


*****

Otis Redding & The Bar-Kays - Respect


Otis Redding performs "Respect" in June 1967 at The Monterey Pop Festival


Otis Redding - Respect (rare 1965 clip)


*****

picture video set to Ike and Tina Turners version of 'Respect'

ещё один респект

Kelly Clarkson - выступление на American Idol


после Аритиных версий, почувствуйте разницу)))

Агилера, конечно, звучала бы поинтереснее Келли Кларксон, но будущее у неё - это зарабатывание денег (как бы оно не маскировалось под искусство и под Музыку) имхо :)

Atlanta Daily World
December 01, 2007

Songstress Aretha Franklin reaffirmed her title as the undisputed, reigning Queen of Soul in a recent bash at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

Resplendent in a blue gown, Franklin belted out several hits including "Something He Can Feel," "Chain of Fools" and "Old Landmark" in a 90-minute concert Nov. 20.
"An Evening With Aretha Franklin" marked the sixth year that a celebration honoring Dr. Joseph E. Lowery has benefited The Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University.

The concert also celebrated the 86th birthday of Lowery, the dean of the Civil Rights Movement.

Lowery is a civil rights icon, and co-founder and president emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The mission of the Institute is to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, workers, professionals, managers, executives, advocates, elected officials, scholars, clergy, and laypersons to benefit from examples of nonviolent advocacy, and for exploration of the moral, ethical, and theological imperatives for justice and human rights for all people.
Civic, faith and business leaders made up the dignitaries that joined Franklin in wishing Lowery a happy birthday.

Tyler Perry, director, playwright, actor, author and philanthropist, was on hand to introduce Franklin, describing her voice as "a national treasure."

Franklin, a long-time supporter of civil rights, offered to lend her name and her voice to Lowery and the Institute earlier this year when Lowery was delivering a message at a gospel event Franklin was hosting in Detroit, MI.

"Aretha wanted to celebrate my birthday in a way that assisted the work and honored the legacy," Lowery said. "I am overwhelmed by her generosity and her support of the continuing struggle for justice and human rights."

The concert came as Franklin's latest album, "Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen," which includes duets with Whitney Houston, John Legend, Annie Lennox, Mary J. Blige, George Michael and Mariah Carey, was released Nov. 13.

One of the three new recordings on the album is the lead single, "Put You Up on Game" with Fantasia.

The two other new tracks are "What Y'All Came to Do" with Legend and "Never Gonna Break My Faith" with Blige.

The album concludes on a historic note with Franklin's performance of "Nessum Dorma," the heroic aria from Act III of Puccini's final opera Turandot, with an all-star orchestra.

Franklin originally agreed to step in at the last minute and perform the aria in place of ailing tenor Luciano Pavarotti at the Grammy Awards worldwide telecast in February 1998.

With just eight minutes of preparation backstage, she sang it with the 72-piece orchestra in Pavarotti's key - three steps lower than her own - and stole the show.

With 17 Grammy Awards to her credit, Franklin has amassed a total of 18 #1 R&B singles.

Her last album, "So Damn Happy," was released in 2003 and resulted in a Grammy win for the track, "Wonderful."

Franklin has charted singles in four consecutive decades.

She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - in 1987 - and was the youngest recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor in 1994.

In addition to her music career, Franklin is also in development on a theatrical release that will chronicle her life from a young gospel singer in her father's church to her acclaim as one of the most authentic and celebrated voices to ever enter the R&B arena.

She also appeared in the iconic Blues Brothers film, alongside Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

Franklin reprised her role in Blues Brothers 2000, and in 1999, she co-authored an autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots.

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photo: the Lowery's joined Aretha on stage to thank her for doing the benefit concert for The Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights at Clark atlanta University

I'm a Natural Woman now, says voluptuous Aretha Franklin
04.12.07

For decades the Queen of soul has battled with her weight.

But it seems that Aretha Franklin has finally decided to accept defeat or, in the words of one of her hits, be a Natural Woman.

She arrived at an awards night in Washington in a vast yellow, green and olive chiffon dress that did nothing to disguise her curves.

At 65, she appeared to be more than twice the size of the svelte young woman who in the Sixties and Seventies had a string of hits with songs such as Respect, Say a Little Prayer and You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman).

Another guest at the Kennedy Centre Honours night said: "Aretha arrived as a vision in bright yellow. It was a real statement dress and she definitely wasn't trying to cower away or go unnoticed.

"She was on fine form and turned out to be the life and soul of the party. She is proud of her more womanly physique."

The 16-times Grammy winner has spoken about her battle with her weight.

She said she spent decades starving herself to stay slim.

"For a long time I suffered so much trying to be what other people expected me to be and look like," she told a US website.

"I definitely was never meant to be a model type walking down a runway - I'm just Aretha singing what she feels in her heart and soul."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23425417-details/I%27m+a+Natural+Woman+no...

Big entrance: Aretha arrives at the awards in Washington, Soul sister: A slimmer Aretha

2Primal Scream:

Паваротти тоже пытался на диету садиться, после чего был недоволен тем, что стало с голосом :)
И вообще :) хорошего человека должно быть много :)))

"I'm just Aretha singing what she feels in her heart and soul" - мудрая Женщина!!!

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse has rarely been out of the news recently for both her mercurial performances and the ongoing battles with her personal demons.

Cancelled gigs and brushes with the law have given fans of the talented performer plenty to gossip about.

But one of the most obvious consequences of Winehouse's recent difficulties has been a quite astonishing drop in weight.

The Back to Black singer can be seen going from a voluptuous young rising star in 2004 to the worryingly thin figure seen in recent months.

Her problems have been well-documented. She recently cancelled the rest of her sell-out UK tour amid fears for her health.

The 24-year-old, who has been in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, said she has been urged by her doctor to seek immediate rest and would not take part in any live concerts for the rest of the year.

She added that the "emotional strain" of being told her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, will spend Christmas on remand in prison over allegations of perverting the course of justice had taken its toll.

Winehouse had been due to perform to 6,000 fans in Bournemouth last night as part of a UK tour that was completely sold out, with many turning up at the Bournemouth International Centre only to be told the gig was off.

Aretha Franklin, the equally huge-voiced soul legend, seems to have quite the opposite problem.

Now 65, she has just kept on getting bigger as the decades have passed. "For a long time I suffered so much trying to be what other people expected me to be and look like," she said recently.

But in a sign that she is now at ease with herself, she added: "I definitely was never meant to be a model type walking down a runway.

"I'm just Aretha Franklin singing what she feels in her heart and soul."

1. Королеве можно все!
2. Несчастная еврейская девочка из Лондона даже не претендует на сравнение.

1. Это точно!!! :)))
2. Нет, не претендует... но поёт в 100 раз интереснее, чем Агилеры всякия, которые претендовать пЫтаются ;)

1. Natural Woman
2. Come Back Baby
3. Dr Feelgood
4. Since You've Been Gone
5. I Never Loved a Man
6. Chain of Fools
7. Respect

This is Aretha at age 26. Not very young but still early in her career.
She is very much the Reverend's daughter and her style is as much gospel as soul.

It is 1968. Black and white. Poor lighting, two cameras and possibly not even stereo. The backup singers seems to have had no professional choreography. Their moves are homely and awkward, but their singing is so much the better. The band is as good as it gets.

Overall it is not the ultimate in quality, but rare as a diamond, and just as lovely. Aretha and her group are particularly inspired on "I Never Loved a Man".

This is one of the earliest surviving live performances of Aretha Franklin done with any professionalism. The original recording was done by Swedish Television, recorded on VHS tape from a TV and digitised.

http://rapidshare.com/files/74076886/Aretha_Franklin_in_Stockholm_1968_Redigitised.part...
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http://rapidshare.com/files/74433972/Aretha_Franklin_in_Stockholm_1968_Redigitised.part...
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Aretha Franklin again cancels concert at venue

Aretha Franklin has canceled her Feb. 12 concert at the McCallum Theatre.
Director of Presentations & Theatre Operations Mitch Gershenfeld said it won't be rescheduled.

"I think, considering she's now canceled two years in a row, it will be a while before I feel comfortable inviting her back to the McCallum," Gershenfeld said.

Ticket-holders should contact the McCallum box office about refunds or credits for another McCallum show.

Franklin, the winner of 17 Grammy Awards, has recently enjoyed a career resurgence. She has released a CD of duets titled, "Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen," and several classic reissues. She has started Aretha Records and plans to release a studio CD, "A Woman Falling Out of Love," next spring. She was in the news Monday for trying to secure Halle Berry, Jennifer Hudson or Fantasia to play her in a movie based on her autobiography.

Franklin, 65, said in September she lost "a lot of weight" working out on a treadmill.

But Franklin has canceled several concerts abruptly, including one scheduled to launch the 2006 McCallum season. She canceled a concert in Detroit in August because she said the weather, which was in the upper 80s and low 90s, was too hot.

Gershenfeld said Franklin gave no reason for this cancelation.

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712110315

12.10.2007 gibson.com

Aretha Franklin took the stage on Wednesday, December 5 for the finale performance at the Cipriani Wall Street Concert Series, which auctioned off a Gibson guitar, a Maserati, and afternoon tea with the Duchess of York to raise an astounding $830,000 dollars for UNICEF.

Franklin was accompanied by a pianist on a gorgeous SF10E Baldwin Grand Piano, which she also played herself. The concert series benefits children around the world, supporting The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and The Sarah Ferguson Foundation (SFF). Past performers include Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz, George Michael, The Pussycat Dolls, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Rihanna, and Akon.

The Cipriani Wall Street Concert Series was created in 1998 by Developer Giuseppe Cipriani as a private concert series held at his 55 Wall Street landmark building to help revitalize Lower Manhattan after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Cipriani's famed food and service generates an authentic, special evening. Each evening includes a cocktail hour, a four-course dinner, and the private performance of some of the music industry’s best talents.

The who’s who of New York social, fashion, entertainment, and business industries are often in attendance. Tyra Banks, Eva Mendes, Harvey Weinstein, Richard Branson, Richie Sambora, and Jeff Gordon all reportedly were in attendance Wednesday to help raise funds and to cheer on Aretha and fellow performer George Michael.