 Aretha
Franklin, the "Queen of Soul," remains one of the preeminent vocalists of the
age, a singer of great passion and control whose finest recordings define the term soul
music in all its deep, expressive glory. As Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun
observed, "I don't think there's anybody I have known who possesses an instrument
like hers and who has such a thorough background in gospel, the blues and the essential
black-music idiom....She is blessed with an extraordinary combination of remarkable urban
sophistication and of the deep blues feeling that comes from the Delta. The result is
maybe the greatest singer of our time."Franklin
was born in Memphis in 1942 and grew up in Detroit, where her father, the Rev. C.L.
Franklin, was the pastor at the New Bethel Baptist Church. Aretha began singing church
music at an early age, and recorded her first album, The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin,
for the Checker label at age 14.
Her early influences, however, included secular singers
like Dinah Washington, Sam Cooke, LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown. She signed with Columbia
Records in 1960, having been brought to the label by legendary talent scout John Hammond.
However, her tenure at Columbia was an inconclusive one that found her dabbling in pop and
jazz styles. In Hammond's words, "Columbia was a white company who misunderstood her
genius."
With her switch to Atlantic Records in 1966, Aretha helped
usher in an era of fresh, forthright soul music. It commenced with her first single for
the label, "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Loved You)," a salty, importuning
number that unleashed the full force of Franklin's voice upon the world. Her next triumph
was "Respect," a fervent reworking of an Otis Redding number that can in
hindsight be seen as an early volley in the feminist movement and a signature statement of
racial pride. Working under the tutelage of producer Jerry Wexler, engineer Tom Dowd and
arranger Arif Mardin, Franklin rewrote the book on soul music in the late Sixties with a
string of smash crossover singles that included "Chain of Fools,"
"Think" and a memorable rendering of Carole King's "A Natural Woman (You
Make Me Feel)."
The Seventies brought continued success to Franklin, who
has to date charted more million-sellers than any other woman in recording history. During
that decade, the ever-maturing "Lady Soul" (as she was dubbed) released
critically acclaimed albums such as Spirit in the Dark and Young, Gifted and Black. Her
long tenure with Atlantic came to an end after 15 years, and in 1980 she signed with
Arista. There, she recorded everything from gospel to dance music, finding the upper
reaches of the charts with "Freeway of Love" and "I Knew You Were Waiting
(for Me)." The latter song, the second Number One hit of her career, appeared in
1987; that same year, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.
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