JCC [Funk!] JP's Funkadelic Emporium! (in memoriam Aretha Franklin)

That's nice soul tune, J-Wo. Bit uptempo for you though?

 

I love Funk

My favorite Sly and the Family Stone song:

Studio



and live performance

 

Another legend gone. Funkadelic (and Talking Heads live keyboardist) Bernie Worrell.

 

RIP Eddy Amoo.

The Real Thing's best known song not too funky however.

 

Well, I suppose it's time for my obligatory tribute post now that a true artistic giant has passed off the scene. But Aretha . . . I mean, what is there to even say? She truly became iconic in a way few musical artists do and R.E.S.P.E.C.T. in particular has become an untouchable touchstone of pop culture. The degree to which that song in particular permeated everyone's pop culture knowledge is astounding. So it's absolutely mind blowing when you go back to it . . . and it's still. so. damn. good.



This is the feeling I have about a lot of her music. In terms of laying down a blueprint for pop music going forward , she did astounding work and sometimes returning to those foundational figures is a bit disappointing. A figure like Aretha could easily have gone into camp (and she did, at the end of her career, descend into some particularly bad material), but revisiting a lot of her early stuff is just still electrifying. We've had Beyoncé and Adele now, but those Atlantic recordings from Aretha haven't lost their shine, not one tiny bit.



There's a gospel conviction to her best work. She brought a level of truth and emotional sincerity to songs written specifically for her and also to covers. She had a way of making a song her own and coaxing real soul out of songs both expected and unexpected. She covered Dark End of the Street and Let It Be; those are naturals. But The Weight? Holy Moses? Those are weird choices. And not necessarily was she always right on target. Raving up Eleanor Rigby is a fine idea, but it's unfortunate that she decides to actually be Eleanor Rigby; she gives a pretty good vocal performance on the song given that she has less than three minutes to live. Likewise, I'm a Bridge Over Troubled Water skeptic and there's really no defending that incredibly long intro.



But there's a depth to her catalog that belies the easy list of hits. While her catalog has some disappointing moments, for every disappointing song you unearth, you'll find three or four amazing recordings you've never even heard of once you start digging. Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings is, for this reason, a good place to start with Aretha if you haven't. It's a four-CD, 86-track box set that covers 1967 to 1976. Yes, these were her prime years, but still, it's mind-blowing to realize that these eighty-six astounding tracks all come from a period of less than ten years! And even at that, there's a lot left out. It features only a couple of tracks from Amazing Grace, her breathtaking two-disc live album from 1972.



You see, Aretha was a master of her instrument as well. Rumor has it that I Never Loved a Man, her debut Atlantic album, was struggling as the producers attempted to put her with different backing instrumentalists. But when she sat at the piano, everything snapped into focus. Her talent as a pianist is enough, in my opinion, to distinguish her. She pours so much soul into her vocals you can't imagine she has more to share, but her instrumental work is some of the very best piano in the history of pop music.



So, yes, even a four-disc box set is only a beginning. At base, you've really got to hear at least I Never Loved a Man, her Atlantic debut; Lady Soul, maybe the strongest set of songs captured on any of her single albums; Amazing Grace; Young Gifted & Black. After that you can maybe relax. A little. How many videos can I put in one post? I'm going to have to break this up.

 

Aretha had some bad times in recent years, just musically speaking. It was painful to hear her cover Adele's Rolling in the Deep live; the strength was surprising, but the notes were patchy and it was kind of sad. It was far sadder when the album of Diva Classics came out and the notes were no longer patchy because they were auto-tuned. I won't link to any of that material; feel free to search for it yourself if you're feeling ghoulish. But she turned out really fine material even when R&B had smoothed out, like on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, years after most people had probably counted her out.



It's fitting in the wake of her death to revisit a lot of her old material; it was so often about heartbreak and sadness, emotions fans will be experiencing right now. But there was something transcendent about her songs of grief and pain. Songs of great sorrow and pain reach a place of true catharsis, something a lot of "blues" and "soul" singers can only dream about. The outpouring of pain and suffering is cleansing and wonderful and you walk away from even her saddest songs feeling renewed and transformed, connected to the purity of emotion she's shared and the memories of those emotions you've felt before.

A true genius of music still burns bright. The recordings endure and, I think, will for decades, if not centuries, to come. Maybe the land of the soul means a heavenly home to you; or maybe it means the place Aretha's music takes you when you listen. Or maybe both. However you slice it, in the land of the soul, Aretha Franklin lives on, burns bright, never grows old.

 

Watching this video again, it's really just stunning:



This was one of her last public performances. Just watching as she moved a president to tears, genuinely surprised and delighted Carole King with her appearance, and had EVERYONE in the Kennedy Center, including George Lucas, Viola Davis, Cicely Tyson and Rita Moreno on their feet and dancing. She took them to church.

For me, this was one of the few times I had seen her piano playing. The other time I recalled was when she appeared on Murphy Brown:



In his tribute to her, Elton John said she was one of his favorite pianists. I can see why.

 

Hmm, let's not make this an Obit thread. But for now...