Aretha the “Queen of Souls” in heaven

Aretha the “Queen of Souls” in heaven Pt1

Aretha Franklin left us on August 16th 2018 causing Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE to Tweet: "Let’s all take a moment to give thanks for the beautiful life of Aretha Franklin, the Queen of our souls, who inspired us all for many many years. She will be missed but the memory of her greatness as a musician and a fine human being will live with us forever. Love Paul"


In an article in The New Yorker dated August 16th, 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and writer David Remnick wrote: "What artist built a sturdier and more sublime arc, from the songs of the first praise houses and black churches to the blues to R. & B. to pop and hip-hop?" (Aretha Franklin: A Legacy in Music)



Georgetown University sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson said at her funeral : "She moved from being the queen of soul to the queen of souls."

Aretha Louise Franklin was born March 25, 1942 in, Memphis, Tennessee Her Father, was a circuit Preacher in the American Baptist Church as well as civil rights activist who worked closely with The Blessed Dr. Martin Luther King.


Aretha taught herself the piano at about age ten shortly after her mother an accomplished pianist herself died. Mahalia Jackson the “Queen of Gospel” helped her grandmother raise Aretha and tutored her gospel presentation. She traveled with her father on his Gospel Caravan from age 10. 

Her earliest recorded appearances were on Spirituals - Various Artists [195?]  J.V.B. 100

Aretha Franklin's earliest recordings, made at the age of 14 at the New Bethel Baptist church, Detroit, Michigan in the '50s. . . performing 'There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood'


 Four years later at age 18 she told her father that she wanted to move to New York and perform popular music like her friend Sam Cooke her father agreed and became her manager. C. L. Franklin brought a demo record to Columbia Records who eventually decided to record her.
They felt they needed to categorize music at Columbia records for marketing, but Columbia didn’t realize that Aretha was beyond Categorization. They wanted her to be Billie Holiday but her repertoire incorporated gospel, jazz, blues, R&B and pop standards. She performed for Martin, at age 16 and shared a bill with John Coltrane at 19.

Aretha recorded her first album for Columbia Records between August 1960 and January 1961. The Album Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo Columbia CS8412 was released Feb 27th   1961. A prolonged engagement at the village gate served as her record release party The Coltrane quartet alternated sets with her group with The Ray Bryant Trio for the first two weeks, and the list of other Jazz stars was extensive including Horace Silver, Herbie Mann, Art Blakey and others. 









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Over the years Aretha was known for her financial support of civil rights causes. Reverend Jesse Jackson said: “She did 11 concerts for free and hosted us at her home and did a fundraiser for my campaign. Aretha has always been a very socially conscious artist, an inspiration, not just an entertainer.” Reverend Jesse Jackson



Aretha receives the Southern Christian Leadership Award from the Blessed Dr. Martin Luther King in Detroit on Feb. 24, 1967

In 1970 Franklin offered to post bail for political activist, academic, and author Angela Davis accused of furnishing weapons to Jonathan Jackson who entered a courtroom in Marin County, California, in August 1970 armed with three guns, which were registered to Davis and kidnapping Superior Court judge Harold Haley, prosecutor Gary Thomas, and three jurors in Marin County, California. Jackson was attempting to free the Soledad Brothers, three African-American inmates charged with the murder of a white prison guard, John Vincent Mills, at California's Soledad Prison on January 16, 1970. Franklin said: “whether it’s $100,000 or $250,000… Angela Davis must go free. Black people will be free.”

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