Aretha Franklin (25 March 1942 – 16 August 2018)
From 1967 onwards, this 'Queen of Soul' firmly established herself in music history. Her first hit was 'Respect', followed by classics such as 'You Make Me Feel', 'Chain of Fools' and 'Spanish Harlem'. She sang duets with Annie Lennox, George Michael & Elton John, and of course, let's not forget her role in The Blues Brothers! In 2008, the diva sang at the inauguration of American president Barack Obama.
Breakthrough
Between 1956 and 1960 she moved from record label JVB and checked out Columbia. The latter allowed Franklin to try various genres, but without real success. Many albums and disappointments later, she switched to Atlantic Records in 1966, where she broke through with the album I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You. The subsequent hits 'Respect', 'Baby I Love You', '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Chain Of Fools', and 'Since You’ve Been Gone' confirmed her status as a soul diva. After 'Think', Burt Bacharach's 'I Say A Little Prayer' perhaps brought her the most fame. But even during the seventies, she maintained that fame with 'Call Me', 'Spirit In The Dark' and 'Don’t Play That Song'.
Hits
In 1971 she had two top ten hit singles with the covers 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and 'Spanish Harlem'. The songs written for her in the late seventies were of lesser quality. Yet she continued to steal the show, if not with her songs, then with a role in the film The Blues Brothers. In 1980, Arista Records provided new material; two albums, Love All The Hurt Away (1981) and Aretha (1986). Luther Vandross wrote and produced Jump To It (1982) and Get It Right. Narada Michael Walden produced the album Who’s Zoomin’ Who?. Hit singles from this album include 'Freeway Of Love', 'Another Night' and the album's title track.
Duets
Duets with George Michael ('I Knew You Were Waiting') and Annie Lennox ('Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves') also brought Franklin hits in the mid-eighties. Through The Storm (1989) also contains several duets. She sings the title track with Elton John, 'Gimme Some Lovin’' with James Brown and 'It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be' with Whitney Houston.
Comeback album 2012
The Queen of Soul announced on her seventieth birthday, 15 March 2012, that she was going to make a comeback album together with her mentor Clive Davis. She released an album independently in 2011.
Health
At the end of 2010, reports emerged that the soul diva's health was not good. Concerts were cancelled and on 3 December Aretha had to undergo surgery. Afterwards, she announced that everything had gone well and she was in perfect health. Only on 9 December 2010 was it revealed that Franklin had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
In response to speculation in the media, the singer declared in August 2013 that she had overcome the illness and wanted to fully focus on her career again. However, the disease returned. On 13 August 2018 it became known that she was receiving palliative care at home and was dying. On 16 August 2018, Franklin passed away. She was 76 years old.
Sunday Morning Classic: I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
On 19 September 2021, the beautiful album “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” was played as Sunday Morning Classic. The album was released on 10 March 1967. It is the eleventh album for the Queen of Soul and ended 1967 in second place on the Billboard album chart. Aretha Franklin was only 25 years old when she released this album.
This album marks a major stylistic upheaval and a deeper expression of her own experience as a black woman in America, placing the young Franklin on the groundbreaking edge of soul and lighting the path to her rightful place on the throne. Among others, 'Respect' and the title track 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)' shine on this album. “I Never Loved A Man Like You” gave her the chance to break free and rise above other soul singers. She did this together with Jerry Wexler as producer, backing vocalists Cissy Houston (the mother of), sisters Carolyn and Erma Franklin, and instrumental virtuosos Bobby Womack and Eric Clapton.
While the recording of "Respect" — one of the truly groundbreaking singles in pop history — alone is enough to earn I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You classic status, Aretha Franklin's Atlantic label debut is an undisputed masterpiece from start to finish.
Aretha famously stormed into the Atlantic Records studios and said to the Muscle Shoals session musicians, as a way to introduce herself: 'Put on your damn shoes, you're getting someone who can really sing.' The immediate reaction was one of tired amusement – they'd all heard it before – and yawns. Then she sat at the piano and began to sing "Respect". They were no longer tired after that. The song was recorded there and then and that take is the one you hear on this album.
"Respect" is probably the greatest album opener in the history of popular music. This superlative, funky, churchy banger was prepared with all the main ingredients of Southern Soul: pounding drums, thundering bass, country church organ, smart electric guitars and a huge, huge stew of delicious brass. Add Aretha's powerful, gospel-drenched vocals and the 'ooh's' of Sweet Inspirations, and let the result speak for itself. Otis Redding, the man who wrote and composed the tune and scored a huge R&B hit with it in 1965, was reportedly blown away by Franklin's treatment.
Much of the credit goes to producer Jerry Wexler, who finally unleashed the soulful intensity that had long been hidden during her tenure at Columbia. By assembling a great Muscle Shoals backing band with an abundance of impeccable material, Wexler created the ideal setting for Aretha to ascend to the throne of Queen of Soul, and she responded with the strongest performances of her career.
Although the brilliant title track remains the album's other best-known song, every version of I Never Loved a Man is touched by greatness. Covers of Ray Charles' "Drown in My Own Tears" and Sam Cooke's "Good Times" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" are comparable to the originals, while Aretha's own contributions — "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream", 'Baby, Baby, Baby', 'Save Me' and 'Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)' — fit perfectly in such exalted company. A soul monument.
(source NPO, Jan Liebregts and Wikipedia)
