Aretha+Franklin

=**Aretha Franklin** = = = Aretha Franklin, queen of soul, was born on March 25th, 1942. She sang, composed and played the piano. She is known to have embraced jazz with a tremendous gospel flare. She began her career early, and although she had little success to start out, she is now considered the Queen of Soul with her 20 # 1 singles, 18 competitive Grammys, two honorary Grammys and the accomplishment of being the first female inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Franklin reigned in Europe and America as “Lady Soul”, a black pride symbol. The electrifying Aretha Franklin is one the most significant voices in the history of music.

**Early Personal Life**
Aretha Franklin was born in a two-bedroom house on 406 Lucy Street in Mem toc phis, the 5th of 6 children. She and her family moved to Buffalo where her parents split due to their troubled marriage. Aretha was raised by her grandmother Rachel because her dad worked as a Baptist minister. Unfortunately, her mother died when she was at the age of 10. While living with her father, she sang as a child in his church. Franklin made her first recording at the age of 14 as a gospel singer. Her talent was very apparent at a young age. Many gospel artists noticed her powerful voice when Franklin went on a gospel revival tour with her father’s church. She made friends with Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke, and Clara Ward, all popular gospel artists of the time. Due to being on the road all the time and exposure to adult behaviors, Franklin became a mother at the age of only 14. She had a second child two years after. She married Ted White in 1961 and divorced him in 1969.

**Successful Comeback**
After a short break, she got the blessing from her father to travel to New York, and there she was signed to Columbia Records. Under that label, Franklin released her first album titled //The Great Aretha Franklin//. Although she released a few very successful songs, Aretha left Columbia Records for Atlantic to further her soul career. In comparison to her work with Atlantic Records, her beginning career was very tame. Her first hit single with Atlantic Records was titled “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” In the late '60s, “Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop”. Her career began to soar with the release of many new hit songs. Her song “RESPECT (1967)” the lyrics, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me R-E-S-P-E-C-T Take care, TCB” was an anthem to woman fighting for respect as well as African Americans fighting for civil rights during the time of Martin Luther King Jr. In addition to “Respect”, "Baby I Love You," "Chain of Fools," "Since You've Been Gone," "Think" and "The House That Jack Built" are topped the charts under her Atlantic Records deal. Her superstardom became even more evident from 1967-1972 with the release of those songs, and ending that decade with her biggest-selling album ever. It sold over two million copies, and also grew to be the best-selling gospel album of all time. This incredibly successful album was titled //Amazing Grace.//

==**Accomplishments** == To this day, Aretha Franklin is still performing and winning awards. Aretha won a Grammy each year between 1969 and 1975. She sang at Jimmy Carter’s inauguration, and in 2009, she sang at President Obama’s inauguration. From 1967-1982, Aretha released ten #1 albums, more than any other female vocalist. She was honored with The National Medal of Arts in 1999, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

=Analysis =

Since she began performing, Aretha Louise Franklin has forever changed the meaning of soul, gospel, R&B, jazz and blues. Not only has her music influenced many artists, but her music has affected the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the Woman’s Liberation Movement.

One major influence in Aretha Franklin’s life was her father. Revered C.L. Franklin was the pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. He was a nationally known as “the Man with the Million-Dollar Voice”. Her father’s musical background had a great impact on her early success. Aretha Franklin was influenced by many artists that she befriended during her early career like Clara Ward, Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland and Sam Cooke. They were all currently gospel singers, but they all, just like Franklin, migrated from gospel to music with a more jazzy and soulful feel. Mahalia Jackson was a talented gospel singer and mentored Franklin. Sam Cooke was a great influence on the young singer as well. He encouraged Franklin to record with his current label, RCA. She almost did, but talent scout John Hammond signed her to Columbia Records. Because of this signing, Aretha Franklin’s gospel specialty began to change. She was gaining acceptance in to the R&B world, especially with the song “Today I Sing the Blues (1960)”, which then also started to round her style of music. Young Aretha Franklin was no longer just a gospel singer in her father’s Baptist church, and Atlantic Records recognized that.

Signing to Atlantic Records changed Franklin’s crowd, and attitude. Her music began to gain even more success, and her appeal became even more appealing. With Atlantic, she released one of her most popular songs to this day…”Respect” Franklin is greatly associated with the 1960s because of this one song. This song media type="youtube" key="_DZ3_obMXwU" width="356" height="294" align="right"was an anthem right at the beginning of the woman’s liberation movement. The second wave of the Feminist movement in history took place during from 1960-1980. During this time feminists were focused on ending discrimination. The song “Respect” was the perfect theme song for the woman fighting and striving for equality. Not only did this song demand respect, but it insisted that one might take a look from a woman’s point of view, and understand what respect truly meant. She even sang her songs at Civil Rights rallies during the 1960s.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">She grew to be a symbol of equality, and had many admirers. An example of an artist who was inspired and influenced by Aretha Franklin’s music and voice was singer Chaka Khan. In 1969 a very young Chaka Khan was on tour with the Shades of Black and The Afro Arts Theater. She was 15 and admired Aretha Franklin’s voice. At a performance in Philadelphia, she decided to sing just like Franklin, and got some attention. She has been singing that way since the late 60s, and now Chaka Khan is known as the Queen of Funk.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another thing Franklin also was known for was the inspiration she had to write music using her own experiences. Although many previous artists used this same tactic, Franklin brought a whole new meaning to the word “heartache”. Over 20 of her songs and albums were based off of Franklin’s personal trials and sorrow. She had experienced one a many heartbreaks. She talks about an album titled “A Woman Going Out of Luck (2007)” in an interview, “It was based on a relationship that I had, and it just didn’t happen for various reasons. I was very much in love with that person.” The very fact that Franklin’s music related to her, made it that much easier to relate to for her fans. The realness of her music was inspiring alone.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In an interview with the New York Times she spoke about John Hammond, head of Columbia Records, and said, “He said at one point that I would soon be singing for kings and queens, which fortunately I had the good fortune to do so. So to date I have sung for Prince Charles, and the Queen Mum, Queen Elizabeth, and President Carter, and President Clinton. A number of inaugural balls and it has just been very charmed and wonderful.” These accomplishments she mentioned are few of many. Aretha Franklin is listed in Time Magazine’s //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The 25 Most Powerful Woman of the Past Century // list. Franklin was the only featured singer at the 2009 inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama, which is an tremendously great honor. Besides her countless amazingly extraordinary performances, Franklin has been honored through the music world in numerous ways. She was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in November of 2008 she was names Rolling Stone’s number 1 all-time best singer of the rock era. She received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University just last year. It is obvious that Aretha Franklin was, and still is impacting lives with her music to this day.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works Cited <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Aretha Franklin Biography - Biography.com." //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Biography.com //. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Aretha-Franklin-9301157>. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Aretha Franklin: Biography | Rolling Stone Music." //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rolling Stone | Music News, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More //. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/aretha-franklin/biography>. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Aretha-Franklin.com - Biography and Discography." //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aretha-Franklin.com - The Queen Of Soul //. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.aretha-franklin.com/bio.htm>. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Beck, Robyn. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aretha Franklin Performs at Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony //. 2009. Getty Images, Washington D.C.. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1603107/aretha-at-obama-inauguration-latest-milestone-legendary-career.jhtml //. Web. 3 June 2011. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Carroll, Jillian. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aretha Franklin //. Chicago: Raintree, 2004. Print. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Warren, Holly, Patricia Romanowski Bashe, and Jon Pareles. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Rolling stone encyclopedia of rock & roll //. 3rd ed. New York: Fireside, 2001. Print.