Aretha Franklin (17 page)

A few days after the Cobo Hall concert, Rita Griffin recalls going over to Aretha and Ted's house. “
Billboard
was coming up to take some photos and do a little piece, because it had been her first sold-out concert in her hometown. We had posters that had ‘Sold Out!' printed across them. I can remember going up to her home that day, and the reporter from
Billboard
and I sort of sitting around till she finished cooking dinner. Then she freshened up and posed for the photos. That was the homey side of Aretha that I saw that day,” she remembers warmly.

In the spring of 1968 came Aretha's first triumphant concert tour of Europe. During her two-week series of engagements, she visited seven major cities, in England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. She drew rave reviews wherever she appeared. On Monday, May 7, 1968, Aretha performed at the famed Olympia Theater in Paris, and she had the City of Light singing to a new tune. That evening's performance was recorded in its entirety and yielded the “live” album
Aretha in Paris
. Instead of the Sweet Inspirations, her background singers on this tour were her sister Carolyn, along with Wyline Ivey and Charnessa Jones.

To look fashionably like the global star she had become, when Aretha appeared on-stage at the Olympia, she dressed in an outfit befitting the capital of fashion. She wore an empire-waisted light blue chiffon dress, and a wig shaped like a huge bubble, with a single pageboy flip on one side. She was taking the role of “Lady Soul” quite seriously.

In August 1968, Aretha was in Chicago to open the National Democratic Conventions with her unique version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That same month she was booked to perform in Denver, Colorado, for the fee of $20,000. A riot nearly occurred when the concert promoter came up with only half of the fee and Aretha refused to perform. Her television appearances during this era included guest spots
on
The Merv Griffin Show
,
The Mike Douglas Show
,
The Les Crane Show
,
The Joey Bishop Show
, and
The Steve Allen Show
.

While she was in Chicago that August, Aretha demonstrated her generosity when a fourteen-year-old girl came running up to her, claiming to have been abandoned by her family. Actually, the young girl was a runaway from Milwaukee, living by her wits on the street. Her name was Oprah Winfrey.

According to Oprah, she was expecting to stay with a girlfriend of hers in Chicago, but when she arrived, she found no one home. When she spotted Aretha's limousine, Oprah was struck with a scheme to get out of her moneyless fix. “She was getting out of her limo in front of the Sheraton,” Winfrey recalls, “and I ran up to her crying my eyes out. I told her I had been abandoned, though actually I'd run away from home and was just walking the streets. By the time we reached the front door of the hotel, she pulled a hundred dollars out of her purse and gave it to me. It was a great acting job. Ever since that time, I bought every Aretha Franklin album ever.”

In 1985, when Oprah was the hostess of a morning television show called
A.M Chicago
, she made an offer to Aretha. If she would appear as a guest on Winfrey's show, Oprah would return the money she had “borrowed” seventeen years before. Aretha was appearing at Park West in Chicago in April of 1985, and laughingly commented about Winfrey's offer. “I really don't recall the incident. Tell her to come see my show and pay me back!”

Another incident that took place in Chicago in 1968 was the “official crowning” of Aretha as the “Queen of Soul.” She recalls, “I was crowned in Chicago. It was a deejay named Purvis Spann. One night after the show he brought the crown out and crowned me [on-stage]. I was delighted and thrilled. Thereafter the journalists and people started using the term.”

In 1968, Aretha scored another triumphant year on the record charts. The song “Ain't No Way,” which was the “B” side of “Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)” hit the charts, peaking at Number Sixteen on the pop charts and Number Nine on the R&B charts. “Ain't No Way,” like several of Aretha's most popular songs, was written by her sister Carolyn. “Carolyn was a terrific songwriter,” Jerry Wexler recalls. “I gave her the title of ‘Ain't No Way.' I said, ‘Carolyn, I've just got a feeling “Ain't No
Way” is a good phrase for a song.' She said, ‘Sounds good!' I said, ‘You've got it for nothing.'” The song went on to become one of Aretha's most popular songs from this era of her career.

It is especially interesting to note that Aretha's success from 1967 to 1969 was so solid that it also catapulted her sisters into their own recording careers. Since Atlantic Records had Aretha, RCA Records quickly signed Carolyn to her own record deal, and Erma released several songs for Shout Records and for Brunswick Records.

In 1967, Erma scored a Top Ten R&B hit with “Piece of My Heart,” a year before Janis Joplin made the song one of her trademark tunes. In fact, Erma's version of “Piece of My Heart” was so popular it was nominated for a Grammy Award under the category “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female.” She was competing against Aretha, whose song “Chain of Fools” ended up with the trophy.

Carolyn's biggest hits were “It's True I'm Gonna Miss You” in 1969, and “All I Want to Be Is Your Woman” in 1970. She continued to record for RCA Records into the 1970s, releasing the album
I'd Rather Be Lonely
in 1973 and
If You Want Me
in 1976.

Jerry Wexler worked with all three of the Franklin sisters on sessions for Aretha's albums. He especially liked the way their voices sounded together. “It's because of the blend,” says Wexler. “Sisters are naturally harmonic—if they have any music in them, they are gonna be a bet to have a smooth blend, because they match vibratos as well as timbres. The three had three entirely different sounds, but they blended well. Erma's voice was a little grittier, and Carolyn's was a little thinner and prettier. Being the youngest sister, Carolyn was plugged in a little more to the pop / contemporary scene. Erma as more gritty—like her records of ‘Piece of My Heart' and ‘Big Boss Man.' They were dynamite recordings.”

Meanwhile, Aretha continued to produce hit after hit. On May 2, the single “Think” was released, and became her sixth Number One R&B hit, her sixth Gold single, and her sixth Top Ten pop hit. In July, her fourth album for Atlantic,
Aretha Now
, was released and immediately climbed into the Top Ten on the LP Charts and was certified Gold. She continued to score R&B and pop Top Tens that year with “I Say a Little Prayer for You” (Gold) and “The House that Jack Built” (Gold).

In November of 1968 the album
Aretha in Paris
was released, peaking at Number Thirteen on the LP charts. It contained live versions of thirteen of her songs from her first four Atlantic albums. It was produced by Jerry Wexler, with recording engineer Jean-Michael Poudubois, and the orchestra was conducted by Donald Townes. Aretha was captured in strong voice at the peak of her first plateau of international fame. This was one of the most enjoyable “live” albums released in the 1960s, and her performance—as captured here—reaffirms her title of Lady Soul.

While her singing on
Aretha in Paris
is crisp and exciting, her accompaniment is a bit bland and the arrangements a little Las Vegas-like. “That album embarrassed me!” Jerry Wexler exclaims. “Ted White's only interference at this time, came not in the studio, but in the fact that he selected the band that accompanied her on live appearances, which was a
horrible
band.”

According to Wexler, the Donald Townes band was even disliked by club owners. “I went to Las Vegas with [Aretha and] that Donald Townes band. And the manager or the entertainment director of—I forget which of the casinos it was—came up to me and started vilifying me for this band. I said, ‘Hey, man—it's not my band. Give me a break!”

Wexler hated the band so much that on the back of the original
Aretha in Paris
album, he is listed—at his request—as “Supervisor,” not “Producer.” [The 1994 CD version of
Aretha in Paris
carries the credit: “Original Recordings Produced by Jerry Wexler”]. According to him, “I was the one who finally brought about … how should I say … I don't want to say ‘the demise of Donald Townes' … but I brought about the institution of King Curtis & the Kingpins—who by that time were working with her in the studio—to be her regular band out on appearances.”

The single “See Saw” was released on November 1, 1968. It peaked at Number Fourteen pop, Number Nine R&B, and was certified Gold. On February 4, 1969, the single “The Weight” was released, reaching Number Three R&B and Number Nineteen pop. Aretha took her third Grammy Award in early 1969 for her hit single “Chain of Fools,” which seized the “Best R&B Performance, Female” prize.

Although Aretha was gathering a nice little collection of Grammy Awards in the late sixties, the awards ceremonies weren't anything like
the glitter spectacles they are nowadays. These were not evenings when Aretha put on one of her outrageous beehive-like wigs and a beaded gown and accepted her statuette. The Grammys were not even televised until 1971, which was actually the first year that Aretha picked up her trophy herself. She was later to explain, “When I started getting Gold records and Grammys, I said, ‘Wow! This is really something!' I mean, I never even knew the Grammys were that important. Jerry Wexler used to pick up the awards for me.”

Although her career was soaring, her home life was making her miserable. Her marriage to Ted had turned into a nightmare and it took its toll on her. She was depressed, and to distract herself from her problems, she chain-smoked and over-ate. Photos from the later part of the year show her as round-faced and overweight. To mask her added weight, she started wearing chiffon dresses with huge, wing-like sleeves.

Now that Aretha Franklin had been crowned the “Queen of Soul,” she started taking her role very seriously. And, she wasn't above fighting for her crown. She has had a career-long history for starting feuds with other female singers. Detroit's own Martha Reeves was one of the first to find out just how territorial Aretha could be. She had a run-in with Franklin during this era following a performance in New York City. Martha & the Vandellas were riding high on their own latest hits “Jimmy Mack” and “Honey Chile,” when Aretha paid them a surprise backstage visit, and Franklin wasn't at all happy.

Martha explains, “At The Apollo, we were proudly doing a tribute to our own Aretha Franklin, Detroit's ‘Queen of Soul.' It was an arrangement of Maurice King's featured on our
Live
album. ‘Respect' and “Do Right Woman' were combined in a way where we did bits and pieces of each song, then on with our hits. Suddenly a parade proceeded up the aisle and backstage during our song, and it was perfectly timed. We finished our show and returned to our second-floor dressing room. Shortly afterward, ‘the Queen' was let into our room. I saw her backup singers Margaret Branch, Carolyn Franklin, Brenda Franklin, and about seven or eight more members of her entourage gathered like a gang, ready for violence.”

According to Reeves, she had no idea what to expect. “Aretha finally spoke, saying curtly: ‘I heard you have been singing my songs,
Miss Martha.' I was waiting to hear her say more, maybe, ‘Thanks for the tribute,' or ‘Nice arrangement,' but she was finished and remained solemn.” Clearly, Aretha was unamused at the thought of another Detroit diva singing her hits.

After a moment of dead silence, Martha continued, “‘Well, you won't hear that anymore,' I replied. She appeared satisfied with this decision. I guess it bothered her to hear another singer doing her hits. I know the feeling. She turned and walked out, with everyone following her except Carolyn, whom I was always in constant contact with and always greeted with open arms. She nervously tried to explain that her sister was truly upset that we were singing her songs. I had only been following directions, doing material prepared for us at Motown's artist development department. Although the brilliantly designed arrangement was a definite showstopper and a fine work of art, we dropped it from our show and it wasn't missed. Besides, I still had several of my own new songs to sing!”

In January 1969, Aretha released her sixth Atlantic album,
Soul ‘69
, which represented a whole new approach to her music. Her first four studio albums had created a strong basis for her career and for her musical identity. From this point on, she was free to experiment musically. If she wanted to go off into a whole jazz phase, as she did with
Soul ‘69
, she had such a strong and devoted audience that she could experiment, and her fans would go along with her. She later did that with her gospel albums as well.

Aretha's first four Atlantic albums set the tone for a solid seven years of Number One million-sellers. Recording them solidified several lifelong friendships. In addition to her working relationship with Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Tom Dowd, Aretha also cemented her friendship with Cissy Houston and The Sweet Inspirations, who sang background vocals for several of Aretha's most memorable hits, right up through the 1980s. She also established a strong rapport with several musicians who gave those first four Top Ten albums their distinctive sound. Aretha especially became very close with drummer Roger Hawkins and sax player King Curtis.

During this, Aretha's first golden era, she wasn't afraid to attack any type of material. One of the reasons for her across-the-board appeal, and her instant popularity with the rock & roll record buyers, was the fact that
she recorded her own exciting versions of several of the hottest rock hits of the 1960s. In her first two years at Atlantic, Aretha rocked with her own distinctive versions of the Rolling Stones' “Satisfaction,” the Rascals' “Groovin',” and ? & the Mysterians' “96 Tears.” In addition, she also recorded three Sam Cooke compositions: “You Send Me,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and “Good Times.”