RESPECT Aretha and me. And to mark the imminent release of the biopic of Aretha Franklin, a walk in her footsteps.
The Queen of Soul was born into music.
The daughter of a Memphis Baptist Minister, he was ‘the man with the million dollar voice’, CL Franklin.
Mum Barbara being a singer and pianist then there was only one thing Aretha was going to do with her life.
Musical legacy
We, of course, associate Aretha most with Detroit, where the Frankins decamped to when she was two, via Buffalo, NY.
The route north was a well-trodden one for a more prosperous life.
Either to the Eastern Seaboard or the Northern Cities of Detroit and Chicago.
All of which created musical magic with Motown and Chicago Blues.
But, of course, that sound was formed in the black churches of the Deep South.
And taking a tangent here to recommend The Black Church: This is our story, this is our song.
Which is on the excellent PBS, the American Public Broadcasting Service.
Winner, winner, US diner
Aretha, of course, was an actress as well as a singer.
And she gave an unforgettable cameo performance in the Blues Brothers.
As she gave a ball-breaking ultimatum to her husband and fellow cafe owner…
Trying to keep him from the clutches of Jake and Elwood getting the band back together… Think.
Aretha, of course, has transcended the cities where she put down her music.
And you’ll find her sung out across the land, across the world.
It’s the instinctive go-to singer in an American diner.
And ny jukebox pick
In my case DC when a regular, down on his luck, gave me his life story.
RESPECT Aretha and me. And Jennifer Hudson who is a stick-on guarantee in the part.