Aretha Franklin -- RIP

I was a late arrival to her '70s material, but hoo boy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tMFqa_K7bg

the greatest

rip

THat is a good oen that doesn't get enough airplay

I listen to my favorite of her self-written songs at least once a week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXQBRHhfwo4

wondering if there's a better album than young, gifted and black. really not sure

Spirit in the Dark!

maybe...

That Kennedy Centre clip upthread is majestic.

Aretha + Luther = perfection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsnQXghCpFg

not in her wheelhouse, but a gutsy performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjTXRo-rxGA

aw man, rip aretha

just a phenomenal, once-off talent

Jon Pareles' NYT obit:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/obituaries/aretha-franklin-dead.html

RIP

I can go on all day about her piano abilities, the least praised element in her artistry.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, August 16, 2018 9:43 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Very OTM, she was so passionate and inventive, and it takes a special level of skill to sing like she does while playing such complex parts

https://youtu.be/3HsOF9WKIwo

Part of the legend is that when she went from Columbia to Atlantic Records they realized she sang better whilst playing piano

wondering if there's a better album than young, gifted and black. really not sure

it's perfect

that expanded Live At The Fillmore from a few years back, with Mixed Up Girl and the epic 20 minute Spirit In The Dark w/Ray is essential.

Young, Gifted, & Black is my favorite as well, Side A is about as perfect as music gets.

I was curious if she had recorded "Lift Every Voice" and found this video gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QK4p22LHtw

RIP :(

My favorite moments: https://www.spin.com/featured/aretha-franklin-greatest-hits-best-songs/

I picked 10 deep cuts for Stereogum:

https://www.stereogum.com/2010538/aretha-franklin-best-deep-cuts/franchises/list/

Thanks, Phil, for writing about "The Woman" and "Pullin'," which I almost wrote about.

There’s quite a few on Alfred’s list I am unfamiliar with and Phil’s list is totally new to me. Thanks, guys.

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DefensiveShrillKitfox-max-1mb.gif

Phil’s list is totally new to me

would love to hear "pullin'" for the first time again, congrats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rWyxnpp5w8

Holy shit I didn't know until now that 'I Say A Little Prayer' was originally a b-side. That's outrageous.

Oh “Pullin’” is on Spirit in the Dark? Then I have heard it, just been a few decades is all

Her piano is integral to "Pullin'" -- it's pullin'!

Did Bill Withers rip that off for "Harlem"?

RIP i wish i had more to add other than she was great

A throwaway but I love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2pdSQlm0GA

I am so sad that she’s gone but idk what to say other than that I am sad ;_;

i have had (You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman in my head all day

it's quite possible, though I don't remember, that i might've first seen her on TV singing at MLK's funeral.

“Black people will be free... You got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace.”

-Aretha Franklin pic.twitter.com/5C7zDeVVe9

— Advancement Project (@adv_project) August 16, 2018

Choice singles for me are “i can’t wait to see my baby’s face” and “one step ahead”. They’re not her most iconic and not a great showcase of how powerful her voice could get but they’re very elegant and sensuous in how easily she nails the performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRSi_7r64Xk

Yeah, that’s a good one

i LOVE "One Step Ahead" thanks for reminding me to listen to it.

I first hear it after hearing the sample on Miss Fat Booty!

Listening to Spirit in The Dark... as soon as “she started singing “Dont Play That Song” I bawled so hard right here at my desk at work

love u lady

Rest In Peace Glorious Sister

Shifting things around so have severql hard drives disconnected but did find the one with a 1971 Montreux live set on . So did get to listen to her today.
She did some great stuff. RIP.

in the Kennedy Center Honors video that Alfred posted i love the spin she puts on the opening line of the song. Truly incredible to hear a voice like that at 70. I've watched that about twenty times today and it's overwhelming every single time.

someone posted some inane interview on fb today and the interviewer asks her what song of hers she thought Adele could cover and she said something like "hopefully one I have the publishing rights to" lol

like many of us, I think, I feel more gratitude than grief ... it was a long run and she overcame so much so many times and sounded just like herself the whole way

the epithet "King" seems corny to me, even for Elvis, but "Queen of Soul" feels modest in her case

as Sam Phillips said of Howling Wolf, this is where the soul of man never dies

Carl Wilson pays tribute via an extended appreciation of one of her quintessential songs.

she makes me think of Ella Fitzgerald, in that 99.9% of vocalists might as well have a try with their hobby, but won't get close to her. RIP.

Great piece, cryptosicko - thanks.

The piece I wanted to read: Aretha as pianist.

If you cut it down to just the singing, it's a 50-minute film. No profit there. A feature needs to show behind-the-scenes.

I wish, like the Jackson film, we had had contextual interviews. A different film, of course.

Yes. Interviews would have been nice. Seeing the seemingly all white guy film crew bugged me more than seeing Rev Franklin and Rev Cleveland, as the latter were part of her life ( as annoying as they were). I guess the Revs did take up more onscreen time.

This was great! Can't imagine how or why this film would not feature Cleveland as prominently as it did...? It's his church, his choir, his ministry, his congregation. It seemed evident she savored bing back in church and not "on stage."

I also appreciated that we saw the film crew, saw the extent to which their presence presented a hurdle to clear in terms of maintaining a worship-first vibe.

I thought C.L. taking care to dry her face was a really tender and moving moment.

My only gripe—along the same lines—was that the mix (at least where I saw it) didn't really sound like the room. I would have preferred a really full ambient recording of the space.

yeah Cleveland was certainly important to the show (and mentored her in her youth, right?) but apparently Aretha herself, per the NYT feature a week ago, that his and C L's screentime made her "wallpaper" in her own film; that's why she disliked it, in part.

*Aretha herself felt that

yeah their connection and comfort level was cool to see

I can see that a little bit w/r/t C.L., he was def soaking it up a little....as a preacher's kid I can attest that this unfortunately comes w/ the territory

He didn't hide his queerness either, which I would've liked the film to explain at least.

not sure how the directorial conceit could have accommodated that, or to what end

I mean it was just stuff happening in a room

Well, the film is a mess -- it's barely a film, just shards -- held together by Aretha's stoicism, the music, and the frantic manner in which Cleveland channels his flamboyance into performance (professionally, I'll add).

I don't know. A film about these shows could have integrated what we know about Cleveland in voice-over, interviews, titles, something; it's just too damn fraught, in retrospect. And there's rumors about Aretha's own bisexuality too.

I had problems with the MJ documentary not contexualizing events too.

Plus, how many white people know Clara Ward -- also bisexual!

yeah I guess a different approach that would have allowed for that (and eased the disjointedness) would be something more like a film-about-an-attempted-film

or a film about that gospel milieu, the people involved, her upbringing

but those performances are amazing, I had to duck out and ask to have it turned up

Her performance obviously makes the movie.

Re, other stuff, Was just reading Internet allegations stuff about Rev Franklin having been involved with Clara Ward for a long time, and that having broken up the marriage between Rev CL Franklin & Aretha’s Mom decades before this gig

church is a place to get busy

My favorite shot was the one where Aretha first sits down at the piano on the first night, just sitting there waiting for Cleveland to finish his introduction, with a blank expression on her face that you're tempted to read some kind of feeling/thought into. You can only imagine what was going through her head at that moment.

^^^ yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxzQJaA228

This is like my favorite song of all times

I've really, really warmed to it.

it’s def a fave of mine

A will that was found in a couch has been deemed valid, putting an end to the estate battle.

That’s wild

Just heard about this even though the upload's over a decade old:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdnj2gK68Y4

Two years before her breakthrough at Atlantic, and also that's Darlene Love in the middle of the trio of background singers! A slightly faster arrangement of the hit record by Betty Everett, but it's pretty awesome how much Aretha brings to the second half when she belts those notes. Even at 0:32, that tremor in her voice is amazing.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to take my whole family to what turned out to be her final concert.