RIP Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul’s Legacy

American music lost a giant today. Singer and pianist Aretha Franklin died at age 76 this morning, due to complications of advanced pancreatic cancer, according to family sources quoted by the Detroit Free Press.  

Franklin’s creative breadth stands out as her enduring mark on modern music.  Her gospel roots were authentic.  The daughter of prominent Detroit minister, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, she literally grew up in the church.  The album “You Grow Closer,” issued as part of the Peacock Gospel Classics series in 1998, was recorded at her home church (New Bethel Baptist) in 1956 when Aretha was just 14 years old.  The New York Times obituary says her home was filled with music including Toledo, Ohio’s Art Tatum, Clara Ward and a young Sam Cooke.  Later, her double LP “Amazing Grace” sold two million copies in 1972.

The Detroit Free Press obituary notes she declined an offer from Detroit upstart Motown Records, opting instead to move to New York.  Through the early 1960s, her first eight major releases were on Columbia, recorded in a jazz vein by John Hammond.  “The constraints of the mainstream jazz format were evident,” says KUVO Music Director Arturo Gómez.  Her move to Atlantic could not have been more perfect.”

Or more perfectly timed.  Jerry Wexler began producing Franklin at Atlantic, and 1967’s “Respect” became a number one smash hit across pop and R & B charts.  The New York Times called the timely track a “demand for equality and freedom and a harbinger of feminism.”  By 1968 her third LP with Atlantic “Lady Soul” reinforced Franklin’s raw soul power and wide appeal.  The album sold more than a million copies and yielded three top-ten pop hits: “Chain of Fools,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and “(Sweet, Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone.”

She sang the blues.  For collectors, consider “The Delta meets Detroit: aretha’s blues” (Rhino Records, 1998) and “Aretha Sings the Blues” (Columbia Records, 1985). 

Her contribution to the 1976 film “Sparkle” was an obscure gem. Her 1980 role in “The Blues Brothers” was unforgettable.  “You better think!”

Trumpeter Brad Goode, who calls Colorado home now, once played a few dates in Franklin’s band.  “She was such a powerful, emotional performer, it was hard to concentrate on playing my trumpet parts,” said Goode.  “At a concert in Cleveland, she sat at the piano and performed a 30-minute rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ What a thrill.”  His tribute to Franklin was his cover of “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do),” on his 2014 CD “Montezuma.”

Aretha Franklin’s tally: nearly 60 albums and compositions recorded more than 600 times, nearly 300 total singles, 100 charted singles, 17 Top 10 pop singles, 20 Number One R & B hits, (the most charted female vocalist according to Joel Whitburn), and 18 Grammy awards plus Lifetime Achievement recognition in 1994. Honorary degrees were conferred by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berklee, Michigan and other institutions.  Franklin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Aretha’s music took us to deep places because it came from deep places.  Born in Memphis in 1942, her parents were separated by the time she was age 6.  Her mother died before she was 10.  She had two children of her own by the time she was 14.  She was twice married, first to Ted White, her manager and music director.  She was married to actor Glynn Turman from 1978 to 1984. 

Notable performances include a last minute fill-in for an ailing Pavarotti, performing the operatic standard “Nessum Dorma” at the 1998 Grammy ceremony, “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XL in Detroit, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” at Barack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration, and her 2015 performance of “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” in tribute to Carole King at the Kennedy Center Honors.  Her father said she would sing for kings and queens.

Arturo Gomez notes her piano virtuosity on this YouTube clip from the Steve Allen show in 1964.  Franklin performs “Won’t Be Long.”

A notable non-performance would include her visit to Red Rocks in 1968.  KUVO’s Victor Cooper was in the crowd when background singers came out in street clothes, and her husband went to the mic, announcing that the promoter had reneged on the contract, and Aretha Franklin would not perform.  Mayhem ensued.  Angry fans turned over the piano.  As a business woman, Franklin regularly required cash payments in advance, before the music started.  Denver Post archives found an image here.

Aretha Franklin is survived by four children and four grandchildren.  Her autobiography is “Aretha: From These Roots,” written with David Ritz (Villard, 1999).

KUVO hosts are celebrating Aretha Franklin’s musical legacy through the weekend.  KUVO show details here.