Today, also marks the 1977 death of rock icon Elvis Presley.
ARETHA FRANKLIN unleashed "A BRAND NEW ME", 11/10/2017 via RHINO and ATLANTIC.
ITP V.018 EDITORS NOTE: I'm completely heart broken to hear of ARETHA FRANKLIN's passing. ARETHA was a huge inspiration. rocking my world, in awe of her soulful voice. The utmost "RESPECT" to ARETHA and condolences to her friends, family, band mates and fans.
FROM ARETHA FRANKLIN (FACEBOOK):
Aretha Franklin was one of the most iconic voices in music history and a brilliant artist. Over the course of her decades-long career, she inspired countless musicians and fans, and created a legacy that paved the way for a long line of strong female artists.
https://L
egacyRecordings.lnk.to/ArethaFranklin
https://L
egacyRecordings.lnk.to/ArethaFranklin
Let’s all take a moment to give thanks for the beautiful life of Aretha Franklin, the Queen of our souls, who inspired us all for many many years. She will be missed but the memory of her greatness as a musician and a fine human being will live with us forever. Love Paul
FROM FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.
FROM NASA:
We’re saddened by the loss of Aretha Franklin. Asteroid 249516 Aretha, found by our NEOWISE mission and named after the singer to commemorate the #QueenOfSoul, will keep orbiting beyond Mars. See more details: go.nasa.gov/2Pfkdkb
FROM CNN:
FROM METROPOLITAN ENTERTAINMENT:
We lost a giant today! Aretha was, of course, a magical musician/ singer, but she was so much more. We had the pleasure of presenting Ms. Franklin a number of times and it was always an adventure! Dealing with her always interesting and often very funny! Last year when she accepted our offer to perform at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) for her 75th birthday we were ecstatic! Aretha had a close relationship with Newark and northern Jersey because of her relationship with Cissy, Whitney, Dionne Warwick to name a few. When she sang it always seemed to come from a higher power. She was consistently on the correct side of politics and had a direct relationship with the most powerful people in the world. Who can ever forget her performance in the “Blues Brothers movie” Where she kicked open the door to another generation and lots of rock fans. She will be missed and remembered by people from many walks of life. - John Scher
LOTS MORE ARETHA FRANKLIN TRIBUTES LATER:
FROM BLACK ROCK COALITION:
Aretha.
Just the mere mention of her name demands your attention and everyone knows EXACTLY who are you talking about, regardless of age.
Aretha.
Synonymous will artistic excellence of the highest order. THE bar in which anyone who sings or performs tries to reach.
Aretha.
She was the church, she was street, she was sophisticated, she was regal, she was sassy. She was regal, she was the lady from down the block. Even the road - which ravaged and took the best of them - had to bow down and give her some
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Aretha.
She was a master musician. Yes, she could sing better than anyone on this planet or any other, but when you put her at the piano...Any doubts that you had about the existence of God were quickly erased.
Yes, she was, is, and will forever be The Queen Of Soul because she also put her entire soul into every word, every couplet, every note that she played. But just to give her that title still doesn’t match the magnitude that she has put out on the cultural landscape.
Aretha is The Queen. Period.
She could sing ANYTHING.
Gospel? Just listen to the Amazing Grace album, where Aretha, at the peak of her creative and artistic powers, gives us a glimpse of what Heaven will look - and sound - like.
Rock n Roll? Listen to ‘Chain Of Fools’ where she towers above the wire pulling cat and mouse game being played between guitarists Jimmy Johnson and Joe South. Listen to ‘Live At The Fillmore’ where she turns out the Haight-Asbury crowd. Listen to her Aretha-fy ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ into a re-telling of Lazarus coming back from the dead.
Blues, jazz, pop, and standards? Re-visit the often overlooked Columbia Records years in which the label tries to make her the label’s answer to Nat ‘King’ Cole. Yes, it was a creatively stifling, but it did showcase her depth and scope of her talents regardless of the material, and the recordings are nothing short of sublime.
Interpreter of others material? None better. ‘Respect’ is the greatest cover version of all time. Period. So much so that people think Otis Redding was trying hijack it from her! Carole King wrote (You Make Me Feel Like) ‘A Natural Woman’ but after Aretha put her mark on it, you don’t think of any other version. ‘You’re All I Need To Get By’ showed how she could out-Brill the Brill Building canon and out-Mo a Motown tune at the same time. ‘Rock Steady’ showed Aretha can be funk it out with the best of them. It also has one of the greatest breakdowns in the history of breakdowns.
Opera? At the 1998 Grammy Awards, she filled in at the last minute for Pavarotti - yes, Luciano Pavarotti - and delivered a version of Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ that rearranged everyone’s molecular structure.
Aretha is The Queen.
In an industry that is driven by youth, what’s ‘new’ and what’s ‘fresh’, Aretha defied those barriers and rose above those biases. When dance music and the next wave of artists that clearly wore her influence on their sleeve tried to put her out to pasture, Aretha was having none of that. Her appearance in 1980 classic The Blues Brothers performing the classic ‘Think’ nearly stole the movie. Then there was remarkable run of hits during the Arista years: Jump To It (produced by Franklin devotee Luther Vandross), ‘Freeway Of Love’, ‘I Knew Your Waiting For Me’, and ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, which became a perfect musical bookend to ‘Respect’. Her Earth shattering appearing at the 1998 Divas concert - in which Celine Dion and Mariah Carey tried to vocally hang with Aretha - showed us that she was quite ready to pass the torch just yet.
Aretha sang for Presidents and Heads Of State, but never left Detroit, never left her people and never let us down.
During her time here on Earth, Aretha gave a glimpse of what Heaven sounds like and now she has returned where she rightfully belongs.
All Hail The Queen.
Just the mere mention of her name demands your attention and everyone knows EXACTLY who are you talking about, regardless of age.
Aretha.
Synonymous will artistic excellence of the highest order. THE bar in which anyone who sings or performs tries to reach.
Aretha.
She was the church, she was street, she was sophisticated, she was regal, she was sassy. She was regal, she was the lady from down the block. Even the road - which ravaged and took the best of them - had to bow down and give her some
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Aretha.
She was a master musician. Yes, she could sing better than anyone on this planet or any other, but when you put her at the piano...Any doubts that you had about the existence of God were quickly erased.
Yes, she was, is, and will forever be The Queen Of Soul because she also put her entire soul into every word, every couplet, every note that she played. But just to give her that title still doesn’t match the magnitude that she has put out on the cultural landscape.
Aretha is The Queen. Period.
She could sing ANYTHING.
Gospel? Just listen to the Amazing Grace album, where Aretha, at the peak of her creative and artistic powers, gives us a glimpse of what Heaven will look - and sound - like.
Rock n Roll? Listen to ‘Chain Of Fools’ where she towers above the wire pulling cat and mouse game being played between guitarists Jimmy Johnson and Joe South. Listen to ‘Live At The Fillmore’ where she turns out the Haight-Asbury crowd. Listen to her Aretha-fy ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ into a re-telling of Lazarus coming back from the dead.
Blues, jazz, pop, and standards? Re-visit the often overlooked Columbia Records years in which the label tries to make her the label’s answer to Nat ‘King’ Cole. Yes, it was a creatively stifling, but it did showcase her depth and scope of her talents regardless of the material, and the recordings are nothing short of sublime.
Interpreter of others material? None better. ‘Respect’ is the greatest cover version of all time. Period. So much so that people think Otis Redding was trying hijack it from her! Carole King wrote (You Make Me Feel Like) ‘A Natural Woman’ but after Aretha put her mark on it, you don’t think of any other version. ‘You’re All I Need To Get By’ showed how she could out-Brill the Brill Building canon and out-Mo a Motown tune at the same time. ‘Rock Steady’ showed Aretha can be funk it out with the best of them. It also has one of the greatest breakdowns in the history of breakdowns.
Opera? At the 1998 Grammy Awards, she filled in at the last minute for Pavarotti - yes, Luciano Pavarotti - and delivered a version of Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ that rearranged everyone’s molecular structure.
Aretha is The Queen.
In an industry that is driven by youth, what’s ‘new’ and what’s ‘fresh’, Aretha defied those barriers and rose above those biases. When dance music and the next wave of artists that clearly wore her influence on their sleeve tried to put her out to pasture, Aretha was having none of that. Her appearance in 1980 classic The Blues Brothers performing the classic ‘Think’ nearly stole the movie. Then there was remarkable run of hits during the Arista years: Jump To It (produced by Franklin devotee Luther Vandross), ‘Freeway Of Love’, ‘I Knew Your Waiting For Me’, and ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, which became a perfect musical bookend to ‘Respect’. Her Earth shattering appearing at the 1998 Divas concert - in which Celine Dion and Mariah Carey tried to vocally hang with Aretha - showed us that she was quite ready to pass the torch just yet.
Aretha sang for Presidents and Heads Of State, but never left Detroit, never left her people and never let us down.
During her time here on Earth, Aretha gave a glimpse of what Heaven sounds like and now she has returned where she rightfully belongs.
All Hail The Queen.
FROM A FORMER RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL EMPLOYEE:
Radio City Music Hall, New York City, October 27th. 1981: picture it. A bunch of front house "pages" drag into work at 7:00 AM, called in early to prepare for that night's concert. No one expected it. There on the great stage, surrounded by her musicians, was the Queen of Soul herself, singing her most recent hit, "Can't Turn You Loose". Everyone went wild. Ever the professional, she went through the song several times without complaint, making sure everything was just right. Lesser performers might have sent in a stand-in to do the sound check, but the true artists (like Franklin and Sinatra) were there at the crack of dawn to do the work. They were really gracious and polite to us too, even though we were low on the totem pole. I am thrilled to have an Aretha story to share, although it makes me tear up to remember.
FROM BENMONT TENCH (TOM PETTY AND THE HEART BREAKERS):
A Tribute to Aretha from Benmont
When the truly great ones pass — and Aretha was the best singer there was — the loss is more than just of that voice, that light, that vision, that sound. It is also of a way of thinking, of approaching both art and life. There are so many lessons to be learned from Aretha: in rhythm, in control, in how and when to embellish the melody, and even more important, when not to. And in life: she stood up. Here’s Aretha on her offer to put up bail for Angela Davis:
“My daddy (Detroit’s Rev. C.L.Franklin) says I don’t know what I’m doing. Well, I respect him, of course, but I’m going to stick by my beliefs. Angela Davis must go free. Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up (for disturbing the peace in Detroit) and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in. I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black people. I have the money; I got it from Black people—they’ve made me financially able to have it—and I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”
Aretha influenced EVERYBODY. Rock & roll, soul, jazz... hell, she even stepped in for Pavarotti and sang some Puccini on the Grammies in ‘98, and you know if Pavarotti wasn’t listening to Aretha already he never would have allowed it! And as far as her piano-playing, she was a total badass, she made every record she played on — and that’s her you hear on the grand on the classic Atlantic sides, and so much more — swing deeper, speak truer, get to that heart of hearts — than it ever could’ve with another pianist. I’ve always heard that Keith insisted that she play the piano herself when she covered Jumpin Jack Flash. And Keith knows his piano players! She was the deal, simply the deal, and to say “was” in the same sentence as “Aretha” just tears the heart out of me.
Keep listening to Aretha’s records, watching film of her performances, dancing, singing, playing along. And please: learn the lessons, and keep learning, and pass them on.
Rest In Peace in the arms of God, Aretha. And thank you.
When the truly great ones pass — and Aretha was the best singer there was — the loss is more than just of that voice, that light, that vision, that sound. It is also of a way of thinking, of approaching both art and life. There are so many lessons to be learned from Aretha: in rhythm, in control, in how and when to embellish the melody, and even more important, when not to. And in life: she stood up. Here’s Aretha on her offer to put up bail for Angela Davis:
“My daddy (Detroit’s Rev. C.L.Franklin) says I don’t know what I’m doing. Well, I respect him, of course, but I’m going to stick by my beliefs. Angela Davis must go free. Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up (for disturbing the peace in Detroit) and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in. I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black people. I have the money; I got it from Black people—they’ve made me financially able to have it—and I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”
Aretha influenced EVERYBODY. Rock & roll, soul, jazz... hell, she even stepped in for Pavarotti and sang some Puccini on the Grammies in ‘98, and you know if Pavarotti wasn’t listening to Aretha already he never would have allowed it! And as far as her piano-playing, she was a total badass, she made every record she played on — and that’s her you hear on the grand on the classic Atlantic sides, and so much more — swing deeper, speak truer, get to that heart of hearts — than it ever could’ve with another pianist. I’ve always heard that Keith insisted that she play the piano herself when she covered Jumpin Jack Flash. And Keith knows his piano players! She was the deal, simply the deal, and to say “was” in the same sentence as “Aretha” just tears the heart out of me.
Keep listening to Aretha’s records, watching film of her performances, dancing, singing, playing along. And please: learn the lessons, and keep learning, and pass them on.
Rest In Peace in the arms of God, Aretha. And thank you.
VIDEO BELOW: ARETHA FRANKLIN COVERING "I'M, EVERY WOMAN" (WHITNEY HOUSTON) and "RESPECT" MEDLEY (COURTESY OF ARETHA FRANKLIN):
VIDEO BELOW: ARETHA FRANKLIN: "THINK" (REMAKE VERSION-COURTESY OF ARETHA FRANKLIN)
VIDEO BELOW: ARETHA FRANKLIN "RESPECT" (COURTESY OF ARETHA FRANKLIN):
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal. Stay SOULFUL-\m/
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