Aretha Franklin -- RIP

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.

lol, just saw the National Review obituary for Aretha Franklin that went out of it's way to say she wasn't as good as Kelly Clarkson or Linda Ronstadt pic.twitter.com/4xLEYeLirE

— Nathan McDermott (@natemcdermott) August 17, 2018

"of the rock era" - WTAF

I wouldn't rate her as the finest singer of the post-punk era...

oh well:

https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2018/08/16/aretha-was-much-more-than-just-the-queen-of-soul/

I heard that! The kicker of course was "Queen of Soul is inadequate, just like Rush Limbaugh, Right-Wing Radio Host."

My mom, the Rush fan, gushed about how "beautifully" he spoke. I had to see for myself.

Right-wingers just aren't very good at this:

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/fox-news-remembers-aretha-franklin-with-photo-of-patti-labelle_us_5b75bbcfe4b0182d49b1e165

this is great

Ashanti shared a beautiful Aretha Franklin memory... of the time she called her and told her not to get SARS in Canada?!?!? pic.twitter.com/MZL2U6dqUW

— Ira (@ira) August 17, 2018

yes that tweet made me giggle uncontrollably, which was a nice respite from feeling sad.

what...is Rush Limbaugh...talking about?

How he and Aretha are alike.

https://bittersoutherner.com/the-houses-aretha-built-patterson-hood

He must have heard me mention his dad upthread

just beautiful <3

It took me ages to persuade her to play piano on ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash,’ Rolling Stones songwriter and guitarist Keith Richards told me in 2015, referring to her version of the song she recorded for the 1986 Whoopi Goldberg film of the same title.

“The deal was,” Richards recalled, “that if we came to Detroit, she’d do it, because she hates traveling. I said, ‘I’ll make a deal with you: We’ll come to Detroit, but you’ve got to play piano.’ It’s automatic with her: She starts playing those beautiful gospel chords. She doesn’t think of herself as much of a piano player, but when [she’s] singing with it, it’s a different thing.”

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-aretha-franklin-piano-20180816-story.html#

Ann Powers:

Franklin, who died Thursday at the age of 76, was a child of the African-American Great Migration that created our nation's version of modernity and of the golden age of gospel that formed the fundament of rock and soul. Her music did the crucial work of art in the 20th century: It captured the experience of living through profound change and showed how to preserve integrity in its wake. She was a central player in the civil rights movement, American democracy's fundamental historical struggle. The key words in Franklin's most famous songs — respect, freedom, the word chains turning in a deliberate slip of the tongue to change — articulate personhood by connecting the body to the mind, the feet that wander to the arms that hold loved ones close. And the voice that echoes in our memories, from its belly growl to those heaven-hitting squalls, embodies liberty itself.

Found this through a link in Mark Deming's AMG obit: A 24 minute ABC News documentary from '68 on Aretha, including footage of her in the studio recording material for Lady Soul (Bobby Womack cameos), learning "Ain't No Way" from sister Carolyn, lip-syncing "Chain of Fools" on Swingin' Time, MLK surprsing her at a testimonial ceremony...the whole thing is a treasure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=vHFR5QOoMEM

Aretha on What's My Line? in 1974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpAXLTAJR8Q

I opened my set last night with (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, closed it with I Say A Little Prayer, and played eight tracks back to back at peak time, from Respect to A Deeper Love via Rock Steady and Who's Zoomin' Who. The word had got out, the place was rammed, and we all remembered her together. It was special.

https://pitchfork.com/news/aretha-franklin-public-viewing-announced/

Would loved to have gone to the memorial had we not let our passports expire (with no plans of renewal until Tr*mp is outta there).

https://africatimes.com/2018/08/17/cruising-in-kenya-learning-english-in-ethiopia-africans-remember-aretha/

The Singles Jukebox pays tribute

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.