Aretha Franklin: The Queen Of Soul

In this photo provided by Mercedes-Benz, singer Aretha Franklin, left, and baseball star Reggie Jackson attend the opening day of the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge at JetOne Jets Polo Field in Bridgehampton, N.Y., Saturday, July 21, 2007.

Legendary singer Aretha Franklin and escort arrive at the State Department dinner, during the the Annual Kennedy Center Honors Awards 2007, on Saturday Dec. 1, 2007 in Washington.

<--The 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors State Department dinner . Washington DC, USA - 01.12.07


A movie adaptation of ARETHA FRANKLIN's autobiography FROM THESE ROOTS has been put on hold thanks to a casting row between studio bosses and the legendary singer. Franklin has already axed talks with Hollywood studios over a big screen version of her life story, and she's now feuding with TV bosses, because neither party are
prepared to relinquish control over the project. The 65-year-old diva tells website Spinner.com, "We opened negotiations with a movie offer that we had to take off the table because the contract simply was not anything I could sign or work with. "It just was not there in terms of the contracts after reading, scrutinizing everything with my agent and my attorneys. We then went to a telefilm, which is still on the table now. "It's hard for the network to relinquish control of the prime casting, and it's equally as hard for me and I'm not going to relinquish control when it comes to myself, my family, and my father. So that's where we are." Franklin suggests one of the major issues is her insistence that Billy Dee Williams plays her father in the TV film.

2Primal Scream:

рыженькая :)
а в The Cipriani Wall Street Concert - как будто блондинка :)

когда ж она наконец-то договорится со стьюдио энд ти-ви боссами?
не раньше выхода 'A Woman Falling Out of Love', наверно..

будущий отец Ариты в биопике:
<--Billy Dee Williams at the LA premiere of 20th Century Fox's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - 5/12/2005

ARETHA FRANKLIN has requested that rapper NELLY perform a "funky" version of one of her hits when the legendary singer is honoured at the Grammy Awards. Grammy organisers will pay tribute to Franklin during January's (08) ceremony as part of their MusiCares program - and have asked the 65-year-old to nominate contemporary artists to perform covers of her most famous tracks. She reveals to Spinner.com, "Some of the artists that I requested are evangelist Ruby Terry, and Chris Brown and Nelly. Those are three of the people that I requested. "I want Nelly to do anything he'd like to do that's up and funky."

14/12/2007

C женихом Willie Wilkerson Jr.
Opening Night Gala at the US Open Tennis Tournament, Flushing Meadow, New York City, USA - 27.08.07

2Primal Scream:
>C женихом Willie Wilkerson Jr.
ах, какой мужчина :)
интересно, счастлива ли она по-женски :)

Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live In Philly, 1972
An individually numbered, limited edition of 7500 copies from Rhino Handmade.

TRACK LIST

INTRODUCTION (ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA)/ROCK STEADY
THIS GIRL'S IN LOVE WITH YOU
MEDLEY: I NEVER LOVED A MAN (THE WAY I LOVE YOU)/I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER
MEDLEY: DAY DREAMING/THINK
SPANISH HARLEM
MEDLEY: CHAIN OF FOOLS/SEE SAW
DON'T PLAY THAT SONG
RESPECT
MEDLEY: BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER/WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK (Instrumental
OH ME OH MY (I'M A FOOL FOR YOU BABY)
THAT'S THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT CHA
APRIL FOOLS
SPIRIT IN THE DARK

In 1972, Aretha Franklin was a superstar at the peak of her artistic powers and the height of her success. It was about mid-way through her historic years at Atlantic Records, a period when her singles and albums were reaping awards and scaling the charts on a regular basis, and when her legend status was sealed. That year, she was the special guest artist at the annual convention for The National Association of Television & Radio Announcers (NATRA), then the only organization in existence for black broadcasters. OH ME OH MY: ARETHA LIVE IN PHILLY, 1972, recorded that long ago night in city known for its soul music, captures a truly inspired performance by the undisputed Queen of Soul. It features many of her most immortal songs, as well as Aretha's only known live recordings of several tunes.

Offered in a limited edition of 7,500 copies, this landmark release is previously unissued in any form and was, in fact, unknown and lost to the ages in the depths of a tape library until 2003. It was discovered that year by re-eminent R&B/soul historian David Nathan, when he was tasked with combing the substantial Atlantic Records vaults to find every box with Aretha's name on it in the interest of finding true hidden gems. The U.K.-born Nathan's own career had personally intersected with Aretha as far back as December 1966, when he had a phone conversation with her at the Soul City Records store he co-owned in London at the time.

Nathan, who co-produced OH ME OH MY and wrote its liner notes, remembers of his sleuthing of the vaults that there were two tape boxes simply marked “Aretha Franklin, NATRA, Philadelphia, 1972.” “Thankfully,” he says, “spending almost my entire working life in the world of R&B and soul music, I knew what NATRA was…I attended a couple of the famous conventions toward the end of NATRA's existence, and they were the one opportunity for disc jockeys to schmooze with each other and, more importantly, to hang with promotion folks from any record company worth its salt involved with rhythm & blues. Remember, these were the days long before two or three corporations ran the entire radio industry: It was all about the “personal touch,” the influence a promotion person might have with a specific deejay, and black deejays made or broke recording careers. Performing at a NATRA convention was a big, big deal. It was an artist's way of saying thank you…”

On OH ME OH MY: ARETHA LIVE IN PHILLY, 1972, Aretha Franklin expressed her gratitude with a fourteen-song set that fully reveals the magnitude of her gifts and the magic of her performance art. Although the tapes bear no specific date, Nathan believes the NATRA show was in the spring of '72. In the context of Franklin's career, it was the year following the huge mainstream success of her seminal 1971 live recording, Aretha Live At The Fillmore West. It would have been shortly after she finished recording Amazing Grace in Los Angeles, a GRAMMY®-winning masterpiece about which John Hammond said, “This will be the album...that will go down in history as both Aretha's shining hour and the final breakthrough of black gospel music to mass appreciation.” 1972 would also see the release of the classic Young Gifted And Black, another GRAMMY-winning album, and the one that delivered “Oh Me Oh My,” the song that lends this Rhino Handmade release its title.

Remarkably, OH ME OH MY: ARETHA LIVE IN PHILLY, 1972 features Franklin's only known live recordings several songs including her cover of the Bacharach/David classic “This Girl's In Love With You” (also the title of a '70 Aretha album), “Day Dreaming,” “April Fools” and “Young, Gifted And Black.” Also featured are stirring live versions of Aretha signature songs including “Spanish Harlem,” “Chain Of Fools,” “Rock Steady” and, of course, “Respect.”


The set closes with a rendition of “Spirit In The Dark,” the song on which she was joined by Ray Charles on Live At The Fillmore. Nathan writes, “She is no less fiery and urgent on this version… Aretha might as well have been back at her father's New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit as she invests all of her early gospel training into what becomes a foot-stompin', hand-clappin', to-the-bone throwdown. It's Aretha, in her essence, giving glorious praise as only she can. Amen!”

Bridge Over Troubled Water : We've Only Just Begun.mp3 (8.94 MB)
http://www.kalamu.com/bol/wp-content/content/music/04%20Bridge%20Over%20Troubled%20Wate...

Before MTV, BET and whatever-TV, there was black radio. Specifically, there were black DJs dropping science with raps so smooth that silk is a synonym for how they emceed. Indeed, if you want to know the roots of modern day MCs, you need to jet back to the sixties and seventies when nearly every major metro area with a population of thirty-or-more thousand Negroes had a black-oriented radio station. (Only a handful of which were actually owned by blacks!)

From coast to coast, from New York to New Orleans, these cats set standards for music appreciation that were unmatched then and even fifty years later have never yet been equaled. These guys had an organization, The National Association of Television & Radio Announcers, bka NATRA. These were real DJs, not computerized readers of prepared scripts or players of preselected playlists. These DJs selected the music they played and came up with their own chatter to complement the selected platters. They were tastemakers and trendsetters. They engaged their audiences in a true musical and sociological dialogue, often making sometimes subtle, sometimes blantant commentary as they ran the 411 on the latest releases and kept alive classics from yesteryear. The breadth of the music one could hear was wider and deeper than an ocean. Black radio disc jockeys, what a blessing they were.

In 1972 Aretha Franklin performed at NATRA’s annual convention. Do I need to say anything more?! ;->) Yes, I do. This document is available in a limited edition of 7500 copies. Once they are gone… well, word to the wise, this Rhino Handmade recording is available here: http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=7757. If you don’t get it, that’s on you. Aretha Franklin is the gold standard of soul music. Listen and be renewed.

2mary_live:

>2Primal Scream:
>>C женихом Willie Wilkerson Jr.
>ах, какой мужчина :)
>интересно, счастлива ли она по-женски :)

Конечно. Но на ее месте я бы на это наплевал.

The best soul singer I’ve ever heard

Aretha Franklin. Man, oh, man. I’m listening to ol’ girl blow on "Bridge On Troubled Water" and I’m thinking about two things: commercial radio and young singers. And while thinking on those subjects, I’m gonna say something that might sound bad at first. You know who I blame for the current sorry state of R&B (over-)singing? That’s right, Aretha Franklin.

But is it really Aretha’s fault? Can we really blame her for being so much better at what she does than damn near everyone else that when all of the ‘everyone elses’ attempt to copy her they sound not just bad, but awful? I think so. We can blame her. All this wailing and screeching that assaults my tender ears every time I try to listen to the radio, or when I accidently pause too long on Fox when American Idol is on, or when I suffered through that two-hour Oscar-nominated debacle Dreamgirls, it’s all Aretha’s fault.

As I detailed a couple of months ago, Aretha had the pipes and the ability to damn near blow the walls off a place, but she also had the good sense and the skill to use that power judiciously. The problem is, there are so many lesser singers who just don’t know when to chill out with all that yelling. Somewhere in the dark recesses of their tone deaf heads they must imagine they sound just like Lady Soul herself when what they actually sound like is two cats fighting under the house at three in the morning.

I’m listening to "Me Oh My" right now. So, so sweet. (Is Aretha playing piano too? Just wondering.) For me, Aretha is the ultimate emoter of that modern city blues sound. When she opens her mouth you hear all the pain, wonder, hurt and joy of the inner city. It really doesn’t matter what she’s singing about. She could be singing a love song, a spiritual song, a political song or a blues song and I still hear that same thing: that cool, hard, sweet, sharp, deep, deep, deep blues. She’s the best soul singer I’ve ever heard and I’m including everyone male or female I’ve ever heard sing anything.

Aretha just ad-libbed, "They say if I lose a little more weight, I just might be kinda fine." That’s funny.

2Primal Scream:
> на ее месте я бы на это наплевал.

:) можно быть успешным и гениальным в творчестве, и одновременно с этим безумно одиноким даже с самыми близкими людьми.. для мужчины, наверно, это состояние более естественно..

Я и без этого у ее ног, хоть и виртуально. Хотя из-за нее я однажды уже довел себя до членовредительства.

2Primal Scream:
by the way - как Вам 'like a bridge'?

2Primal Scream:

>Я и без этого у ее ног, хоть и виртуально. Хотя
>из-за нее я однажды уже довел себя до членовредительства.

как это?

а я всё слушаю эту филевскую вариацию :) у неё есть такие песни, которые вытягивают из тебя нервы постепенно, по ниточке, непереставая, вот этот бридж как раз такой :)

ох, бедные соседи))))

2mary_live:

>ох, бедные соседи))))

Пусть наслаждаются, если ума хватит.

>как это?

Не расскажу.

2mary_live:

>2Primal Scream:
>by the way - как Вам 'like a bridge'?

Bridge - глубоко духовная и душевная вещь, но ее лучше слушать в состоянии влюбленности.