Aretha Franklin

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.

March 25, 1942
Aretha Franklin was born.

February 1, 1967
After signing Aretha Franklin, Jerry Wexler records “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” at Rick Hall’s Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The song hits Number Nine on the pop charts.

June 3, 1967
Aretha Franklin hits #1 with “Respect”.

September 9, 1967
Aretha Franklin hits #4 with “Baby I Love You”.

November 4, 1967
Aretha Franklin hits #8 with “Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)”.

January 20, 1968
Aretha Franklin hits #2 with “Chain of Fools”.

June 15, 1968
Aretha Franklin hits #7 with “Think”.

December 14, 1968
Aretha Franklin hits #14 with “See Saw”.

1971
Aretha Franklin hits #9 with “Rock Steady”.

February 23, 1974
Aretha Franklin hits #3 with “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”.

January 19, 1977
Aretha Franklin sings “God Bless America” a cappella at Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Inaugural Gala.

1987
Aretha Franklin is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.