Aretha Franklin (30 page)

His recordings were charged with passionate energy, and sung in an emotionally intense style. Although Vandross was exceedingly rotund, his vocal delivery suggested charismatic sex appeal. He suddenly found himself cast as an unlikely, yet musically convincing, sex symbol.

In 1982, two of Luther's wildest dreams came true when his debut solo album was certified Gold and he was asked to produce Aretha's next album. Being at the helm of Franklin's LP was a job that he'd been spending
his entire life in preparation for. In an issue of
Rolling Stone
magazine, he had proclaimed his desire to produce albums by his three favorite singers: Aretha, Dionne, and Diana.

According to Aretha, “I was looking for a producer to do my next album, just prior to
Jump to It
, and I had heard
Never Too Much
. I liked the record, and I liked what I heard. It's a funny thing, but he did something on that particular recording that I was working on at home: ‘A House Is Not a Home.' I said, ‘Aha, he beat you to the punch!' But I still hadn't quite settled on Luther producing me. I had been thinking about him as well as some other people. And then my cousin Brenda, who sings with me, mentioned his name again. ‘Why don't you let Luther Vandross produce your next album, he is really hot!' she said. Coupled with the fact that there was a relatedness and a similarity in stylings, I said, ‘Why not? He obviously knows what he's doing!'”

Clive Davis recalls reading the Vandross interview: “I had read an article that he had done in
Rolling Stone
, where he said that his three favorite artists in the world were Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Diana Ross. It's not easy coming up with not only hit songs, but also songs that would stretch Aretha musically, and also provide her with a black base that she of course so naturally has. Having read that interview that Luther gave to
Rolling Stone
, and with his success at the time as a producer, and as an artist, I thought that it would be a good association. I arranged for the two of them to meet, and that's how it came about.”

In addition to the albums that he produced for himself in 1982 and 1983, Luther also produced four albums for three top divas. His outside productions those two years included Aretha's
Jump to It
and
Get It Right
, Dionne Warwick's
How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
, and Cheryl Lynn's
Instant Love
. All of the albums have a unifying thread. All contain eight songs, up to six minutes each. Several of the songs on each of the four albums were Vandross compositions, and at least one would be a new version of a classic R&B hit from the 1960s. The up-tempo songs would all snap with excitement, led by Marcus Miller's thumping bass. Paul Riser's lush string and horn arrangements made for a full and sensuous sound on all of the tracks. Although each of these four albums are masterfully crafted, Aretha's pair of Luther-produced discs sound the best.

Jump to It
and
Get It Right
were recorded in both New York City and in L. A. When Aretha and Luther got together in the recording studio in Los Angeles, they found that they not only shared a love for music, but also a hearty appetite. “When I first met Luther,” Franklin recalls, “he had me laughing like
crazy
! He's a great guy, and on some of those sessions, boy, we had us some fried chicken … wow! We had a lot of fun together, I can tell you.”

Randy Jones, the original cowboy in the group Village People, was working on his first solo recordings in the early 1980s, for John Hammond's record label Zoo York Records. He recalls a surprise encounter with Aretha and Luther in New York City. According to Jones, “I was just leaving Media Sound recording studio on West 57th Street, when a limousine pulled up out front. The doors swung open and out stepped Luther Vandross. Luther was carrying a purse, and I knew it wasn't his own—because it didn't match his outfit! Following him, out stepped Aretha—who was dressed in full-length fur coat. She stepped out of the car carrying an entire bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken! It was quite a sight to behold, and the two of them were obviously having a great time together.”

A production assistant who was present during the
Jump to It
sessions recalls the night of Aretha and Luther's fried chicken extravaganza. The source claims that it was a wonder the recording was completed, there was so much food in the studio: “You know how you walk into a recording studio, and you walk down long corridors, and it's always kind of dark? As I approached the back studio, where they were recording, it was really dark, and it was really warm, unlike most studios, which are cold—everybody keeps the temperature cool to keep them awake. It must have been up to 95 degrees in there! I walked into this tropical environment, with the lights dimmed. I opened the door to the studio, and the smell of chicken was just overwhelming! There were these industrial-size buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken! The buckets were probably three feet tall by two feet in diameter. I never saw anything like this. There were bones everywhere, and these gigantic cans of Wild Bee Honey. In the middle of all of this hot tea and honey and chicken bones were Aretha and Luther. I never saw anything like this in my life!”

“I dealt with her as one singer to another,” Vandross says of his sessions with Franklin. “I sang her everything the way I heard it, and she took most of my suggestions. The vocals were put down in one take. Aretha is the one take queen.”

Their crowning creation together was the title cut of her 1982 album
Jump to It
. “It's one of the best pieces of material that came along for me in a good little while. Vandross and I very uniquely happened,” explains Aretha. “
Jump to It
started a new pace in recording for me, a different sound. It's perhaps a bit more teen-oriented than some of my earlier things. I like to record what feels good and sound good to me.”

The most exciting part of that particular hit comes at the point where Aretha delivers several lines of the lyrics as though she is on the telephone, gossiping to a girlfriend named Kitty. Among the hot street phrases that she uses in her repartee are lines about getting “the 4-1-1” about “who drop kicked who” (in other words, receiving the information about who has broken up with whom in someone's personal relationship). Mid-conversation, Aretha announces to Kitty that she has to hang up the phone, because it is 3:59 p.m., and her boyfriend is due to call at four o'clock sharp.

Barbara Shelley remembers bringing in a film crew from
The Today Show
, and watching while the tracks for
Jump to It
were being created. “It was a terrific segment,” she recalls of the television footage. “Aretha sat at the piano with Boyd Matteson, and they did a wonderful segment for
The Today Show
together. Aretha sat at the piano with Boyd, and they tested each other on Christian gospel songs, and it was rather fun.”

After the TV taping was over, Barbara hung out at the studio and watched Aretha and Luther get down to work. “When they were working on
Jump to It
,” she recalls “Aretha ad-libbed that whole little rap, that ‘4-1-1 …' I remember sitting in the studio watching her write that segment of the song. She had so much fun. It was like watching a little kid play a game that she loved, for the first time. Aretha in the studio is a sparkling, fun experience. The two of them working on that particular song was great fun, and you knew that song was going to be a success. It was just too much fun and everyone was having too much of a good time for anything less than fantastic to happen as a result of that session.”

Jump to It
was an inspired bit of recording. As
Rolling Stone
raved, “Aretha's back and Luther's got her!” The rest of the album contained special additional gems that generated the same fresh excitement as the title track. The song “If She Don't Want Your Lovin'” is a sassy bit of storytelling, with Aretha telling a man to whom she is attracted to that he had better give up his current love, and check out “Sugar Ray Aretha.” “I Wanna Make It Up to You” is an inspired duet between Aretha and Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops, with the rest of the Tops providing their classic Motown-styled backgrounds along with Erma Franklin. The album also contains an electrifying version of the Isley Brothers' 1969 million-seller “It's Your Thing,” and an ethereal ballad by Smokey Robinson called “Just My Daydream.”

As she had done on all of her first three Arista albums, Aretha eased herself into the producer's chair. The songs “It's Your Thing” and “I Wanna Make It Up to You” were co-produced by Aretha and Luther, and bespoke her growing desire to begin to take more creative responsibility for her musical destiny.

The critical raves for
Jump to It
were numerous. “The ‘Queen of Soul' makes a comeback!” exclaimed
The Chicago Tribune
. “There isn't a false move anywhere, and Franklin has never sounded cockier or more confident …
Jump to It
really is the best soul album so far this year,” heralded
The Los Angeles Times
.
Billboard
announced that “Aretha Franklin's
Jump to It
is her best dance record in ages, a tribute to Luther Vandross' spirited writing and producing.” And
The New York Post
extolled “her best recording in years,” featuring “a contemporary sound that is both appropriate and exciting.”

The song “Jump to It” leapt up the charts, hitting Number One on the R&B singles chart. The album was certified Gold, and on the pop chart the song “Jump to It” (Number Twenty-four) became her biggest smash since “I'm in Love” in 1974. Aretha was definitely back on top.

To reciprocate for Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops' appearance on the
Jump to It
album, Aretha sang a duet with the group on their 1983 Motown album,
Back Where I Belong
. The song was an exciting ballad called “What Have We Got to Lose,” written by Willie Hutch and Berry Gordy, Jr. It had been twenty-six years since Gordy had come to the
Franklin home in Detroit, Michigan, and tried to sign Aretha and her sister Erma to a production contract with him and his then-partner, Billy Davis. At long last, Aretha had recorded a song for Gordy's dynasty-like company, Motown Records.

Aretha had been friends with Levi Stubbs and his singing partners, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Lawrence Payton, and Obie Benson, since her growing up days back in Detroit. Levi's deep and soulful voice worked well with Aretha's singing on “I Wanna Make It Up to You” and “What Have We Got to Lose.” Following the release of the
Jump to It
album, Franklin and the Four Tops headlined a concert engagement at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Aretha was in peak form for the concert, and the Four Tops were also experiencing a resurgence in their career. They had just scored their first Top Twenty pop hit in eight years, with “When She Was My Girl.” Teaming Aretha with the Four Tops was an inspired move—live and on record.

It had been over ten years since Kenneth Reynolds had first met Aretha, while working on
The David Frost Show
. In 1982 he was working for Polygram Records and their subsidiary label, Casablanca, which the Four Tops recorded for—prior to their return to Motown. His next encounter with Aretha was backstage at Radio City Music Hall, when he was in charge of media relations for the Four Tops.

It was that evening, right before the show, when Aretha made a surprise visit to the Four Tops' dressing room. “I was in the dressing room with Levi and Abdul and all the guys, and Gunther Hensler, who was then the president of Polygram,” Reynolds recalls. “When all of a sudden Aretha Franklin walks in. She has a fur coat on, and she has this walk—like you expect Aretha to walk. It was almost as if she was walking on her toes or something. I can remember that so specifically, because I just froze in my tracks when she walked in.

“She walks in and says ‘Hello!' to everybody. She's got this little garment bag draped over her arm, and she walks up to Levi and says, ‘You know that song that I do with George Benson—”Love All the Hurt Away?” I want you to do that with me tonight.' And Levi says, ‘Aretha, I don't know the song.' And she says, ‘Oh don't worry baby, it goes like this: “Dah, dah, dah-da-da dah …”‘ She says, ‘I'll see you out there, it'll be
okay,' She turns and she walks out of the dressing room. Everybody just stood there with their mouths open. Well, obviously Levi was used to this, and he sort of just laughed.

“I turned to Levi and said, ‘What are you going to do? Aretha Franklin just told you to come and sing a song with her. You told her you don't know the song. She says, “It goes like this …” and she sings it to you. And now of course you're supposed to know it because she sang it, and you're supposed to sing it like she sang it!'

“I don't know how he learned all of the words that quickly, maybe it's just the singer's instinct,” Reynolds says. “But I'll tell you something, Levi came out and he sang ‘Love All the Hurt Away' to the point where George Benson should have been ashamed. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. It sounded like they had rehearsed it all day. That's what happens when you put two pros like that together!”

In addition to her recordings, in 1982 Aretha used her voice to raise funds for cultural support and to benefit her favorite charities. On June 14 she starred in a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall for the Joffrey Ballet. Nancy Reagan was the honorary national chairwoman.

“She put on a great show, it was absolutely dynamite!” recalls Roger Max Barrow, who was the director of development for the Joffrey Ballet at the time. “It was called
No Dancing Allowed!
That was sort of a clever way to prepare people that they were coming to a Joffrey concert—with no dancing. As these galas go, especially for classical companies, people are used to seeing full-length ballets, and it's a little staid. This was really unique in that it got the Joffrey really rocking.”