She was born to sing the gospel many have said from her early beginnings as a child
in Detroit, Michigan at the New Bethel Baptist Church. One of five children of the
Reverend C.L. Franklin, she wowed audiences as early as twelve years of age. She
recorded her first album in church two years later and did a rendering of “Precious
Lord, Take My Hand”, that to this day stands as a testament of this musical genius in
the making. On her nine-track recording debut she sang and accompanied herself on
piano. Originally a gospel artist on Chess Records, her first album ,SONGS OF FAITH
(Chess Records, 1956) has been re-issued many times and remains a must have for
Franklin fans. Four years later she would end up with a secular music recording
contract with Columbia Records.
Aretha's story is well known: born March 25, 1942 in Memphis, TN, she moved to and
was raised in Detroit, MI when she was five years old after a brief stay in Buffalo, NY.
I first became aware of her from a live show in Chicago, IL at the Regal Theatre in
1964 as a young boy. I was so moved by this woman singing and playing piano that
over the years I went back and purchased all of her Columbia Records albums. The
Columbia period represent her humble beginnings, an eclectic sprinkling of songs
that ranged from torch ballads, to show tunes, big band, jazz and blues - not much
on soul, except that voice, it contained a burning passion that was not to be held
back too long. For me her Columbia debut entitled ARETHA (later re-issued in 1972
under a new title THE FIRST 12 SIDES) was her opening statement. “Today I Sing
The Blues”, “Won’t Be Long”, “Are You Sure” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” were
strong indicators that the world was in for a treat from this eighteen-year old. She
would continue at Columbia for six years and record some eight albums, although
falling short of having a major hit single there. This was a time when Aretha had
critical praise but no chart toppers. If ARETHA was the album that made the world
take notice, then LAUGHING ON THE OUTSIDE (released in 1963) with a powerful
reading of “Skylark” (still to this day one of my all-time favorite Franklin recordings),
UNFORGETTABLE - A TRIBUTE TO DINAH WASHINGTON and RUNNIN’ OUT OF
FOOLS (both released in ‘64 with the awesome title cut that gave a hint of things to
come) cemented the deal that indeed this woman had special gifts.
In late 1966 hitless and weary, Aretha Franklin left Columbia Records and moved on
to Atlantic Records. At this point I could say, ‘the rest is history’ - but to deny the
importance of her Chess gospel album and her Columbia works would blight her
entire musical history. At Atlantic, Franklin was teamed with Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd
and Arif Mardin. This team would be responsible for crafting a career resurgence and
hit-making dynasty that to this day has remained unparalleled. It was here that the
she would receive the title "Queen of Soul." There was the debut album I NEVER
LOVED A MAN in 1967 with the title cut being the first single. There it was, Aretha’s
first hit single - a number one chart topper on the r&b listings and a top ten pop
entry, then the second single, a re-make of the overlooked Otis Redding gem
“Respect”. Franklin made this song her own, and through her four- decade career
this remains her biggest song. It shot to number one all over the world, r&b and pop
charts alike. Her Atlantic tenure (1967 throughu 1979) resulted in ten Grammys,
seven RIAA certified gold albums, fourteen gold singles, seventeen number one r&b
singles and many other accolades.
The Atlantic Records years contain my personal favorite works by Franklin. Her
debut album there may be the best soul album ever recorded. Other highlights would
be LADY SOUL (released in 1968), SPIRIT IN THE DARK (1970), LIVE AT THE
FILLMORE WEST (1971), YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK (1972), AMAZING GRACE
(1972), LET ME IN YOUR LIFE (1974), SPARKLE (1976) and ALMIGHTY FIRE (released
in 1978 and often overlooked, but it contains some of her most all-out singing since
the gospel AMAZING GRACE project). I am still saddened that I never saw her
perform live in concert during her Atlantic period.
After things at Atlantic turned sour and hitless, Franklin moved to her next label
Arista, under the tutelage of Clive Davis, a Svengali-type music industry mogul. Her
first two albums ARETHA (1980) and LOVE ALL THE HURT AWAY (1981) were nice
records, but both fell short of the gold mark.
The third time proved to be the charm as Aretha teamed up with Luther Vandross for
the hit album JUMP TO IT (1982) with its' chart topping title track. It became her first
Arista gold album. In 1983 Vandross and Franklin teamed up again for GET IT RIGHT.
The title cut went to number one r&b, but the album didn’t quite hit the gold mark.
Due to the death of her father and chief influence Rev. C.L. Franklin, she was absent
until 1985 where she returned with a vengeance with the Narada Michael Walden
produced WHO’S ZOOMIN’ WHO? set. The first single “Freeway Of Love” went
straight to the top of the r&b and pop charts and also marked her first-ever music
video. The album had the most ever hits singles from a Franklin album - it was a new
Aretha in a pop setting, much to Davis’ pleasure.
Some Franklin soul purists were a little skeptical. The album went gold and then
platinum (Franklin’s first). Walden worked with Franklin again on ARETHA (1986) with
the runaway international number one hit single “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”
a duet with British pop star George Michael. The album went gold. The Arista output
slowed down after this. There was a gospel album ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE
BAPTISM (1987), THROUGH THE STORM (1989), WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU
SWEAT (1991), GREATEST HITS 1980-1994 (1994 with three new tracks two of which
were produced by Babyface), A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE (1998, a gold album with the
gold single title cut produced by Lauryn Hill) and SO DAMN HAPPY (2003). Looking
back on her Arista period where she racked up five gold albums, two platinum
albums, six Grammys, four number one singles (three r&b, one pop), two special
Grammys: Living Legend and Lifetime Achievement, a Kennedy Center honor,
becoming the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a
Presidential honor for National Endowment of the Arts. Despite its obvious
mainstream success the Arista period doesn’t stand up to the great songs of the
Atlantic years.
Columbia has put together many re-issues over the years, so has Rhino through the
entire Atlantic catalog and there are still so many things in the vaults (a bit of
Columbia, lots of Atlantic and only a couple of Arista things); it is still a shame that so
much of her greatness has been missed by today’s young music lovers that became
introduced to her either on the “Freeway Of Love” or “A Rose Is Still A Rose”.
I have had the pleasure of meeting her, and seeing her in concert nine times. She is,
always has been and always will be the Queen of Soul. It will be interesting to see
what she has in store for music lovers under her new deal with BMG-SONY on the
revamped Arista Records, where she is once again re-united with Clive Davis.
Must haves:
Chess: ARETHA GOSPEL (Universal)
Columbia: JAZZ TO SOUL (Double CD), THE QUEEN IN WAITING (Double CD),
UNFORGETTABLE - A TRIBUTE TO DINAH WASHINGTON
Atlantic:I NEVER LOVED A MAN, SPIRIT IN THE DARK, LIVE AT FILLMORE WEST,
YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK, AMAZING GRACE, SPARKLE, THE QUEEN OF SOUL
BOXED SET
Arista: LOVE ALL THE HURT AWAY, JUMP TO IT, WHO’S ZOOMIN’ WHO?,
GREATEST HITS 1980 - 1994, A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE, SO DAMN HAPPY
