Aretha FranklinReseñas

Track Listings
Disc: 1
1 I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)
2 Respect
3 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
4 Dr. Feelgood (Love Is Serious Business)
5 Save Me
6 Baby, I Love You
7 (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
8 Chain of Fools
9 (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone
10 Ain't No Way
11 Think
12 I Say a Little Prayer
13 The House That Jack Built
14 See Saw
15 The Weight
16 Share Your Love with Me
17 Eleanor Rigby
Disc: 2
1 Call Me
2 Spirit in the Dark
3 Don't Play That Song
4 You're All I Need to Get By
5 Bridge over Troubled Water
6 Spanish Harlem
7 Rock Steady
8 Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)
9 Day Dreaming
10 Wholy Holy
11 Angel
12 Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
13 I'm in Love

Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz is definitely atypical reading for me, though I have read Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings and Simon and Garfunkel: Old Friends : A Dual Biography
by Joseph Morella and Patricia Barey. What makes it atypical is that though I like her music, I did not own a single album of hers prior to my starting to read this book. I purchased Amazing Grace, described by the author as "probably the best gospel album ever."

Aretha Franklin came to my attention on AM "Top 40" radio with her 1970 fairly minor hit "Don't Play That Song For Me." Later I came to listen to airplay of "Respect", the song after which this book is named, and her brilliant though overplayed cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Her cover turned a folk ballad, essentially, into a gospel song. I barely heard her music until the late 1980's, I think 1988, with her hit "Freeway of Love."

The book is definitely not a hagiography, as many of this mold tend to be. Other Goodreads commentators consider the book to be harshly critical of her. I do not find this, at all, to be the case. I find it a candid and thorough biography, making clear that she is a giant in her genius and contribution to the world of music, while not always perfectly consistent. But who's is? Some people consider the coverage of her life virtual scandal-mongering. To my mind, she comes out quite a bit better than other popular musicians and show business types.

The author, David Ritz, was engaged as her collaborator for an autobiograpy. That autobiography came out in 1999, as Aretha: From These Roots by Aretha Franklin and David Ritz. David Ritz had, in fact, withdrawn as a collaborator when Aretha edited out the non-hagiographic personal materials. What remains is a frank portrait of her life that is, on balance, quite complimentary. The book is not the fairy-tale the subject would have preferred. But those who have a serious interest in an important historical figure and star should read the book, an easy "five stars."

FROM AMAZON: Her soulful, soaring voice has earned her mythic status. Now, in her own moving words, the woman behind the myth is revealed. The result is a captivating self-portrait of one of this century's most fascinating artists, an Aretha Franklin as real as the songs she sings.

For the first time anywhere, Aretha tells her story--the glorious triumphs as well as the heartbreaking pain. With refreshing candor, Aretha tells it like it is, the way she sees it, the way she lived it.

A child prodigy of the golden age of gospel, the daughter of a world-famous preacher, Aretha was the anointed successor to Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward. But her father had a broader vision and helped Aretha enter the field of pop and jazz. By age eighteen, she was under contract to Columbia Records. Six years later, after only a few minor hits, she switched to Atlantic, where she shook the musical world to its roots. Her song "Respect" became the anthem of an epoch, a touchstone for African Americans, for women, for all people struggling to be free. Aretha became the Queen of Soul, the genre's finest interpreter since Ray Charles.

1 Aretha Franklin– Satisfaction
2 Otis Redding– Day Tripper
3 Howard Tate– Girl Of The North Country
4 Otis Clay– She’s About A Mover
5 Jimmy Ruffin– 96 Tears
6 Jr. Walker & The All Stars*– These Eyes
7 Bobby Womack– California Dreamin’
8 Four Tops– Walk Away Renee
9 Percy Sledge– Kind Woman
10 Ike & Tina Turner– Proud Mary
11 Wilson Pickett– Mama Told Me Not To Come
12 Al Green– How Can You Mend A Brokern Heart
13 Aretha Franklin– The Weight
14 The Isley Brothers– Summer Breeze (Part 1)
15 Earth, Wind & Fire– Got To Get You Into My Life
16 Pointer Sisters– Fire
17 The Staple Singers– Slippery People
18 Run-D.M.C.*– Walk This Way½

1 Chain Of Fools
Written-By – D. Covay*
2:44
2 I Say A Little Prayer
Written-By – Bacharach, David*
3:28
3 (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
Written-By – King*, Goffin*, Wexler*
2:39
4 Think
Written-By – Franklin*, White*
2:17
5 Rock Steady
Written-By – Franklin*
3:12
6 Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
Written-By – Paul*, Broadnax*, Wonder*
3:29
7 Respect
Written-By – O. Redding*
2:27
8 Spanish Harlem
Written-By – Leiber*, Spector*
3:30
9 Dr. Feelgood
Written-By – Franklin*, White*
3:15
10 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Written-By – Moman*, Penn*
3:12
11 I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
Written-By – R. Shannon*
2:41
12 Save Me
Written-By – A. Franklin*, C. Franklin*, Ousley*
2:20

Volume One
1-1 I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
Songwriter – Ronnie Shannon
2:49
1-2 Do Right Man - Do Right Woman
Songwriter – Chips Moman, Dan Pennington
3:13
1-3 Save Me
Songwriter – Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, Curtis Ousley
2:17
1-4 Respect
Songwriter – Otis Redding
2:24
1-5 Baby, Baby, Baby
Songwriter – Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin
2:52
1-6 Dr. Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)
Songwriter – Aretha Franklin, Ted White
3:19
1-7 (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
Songwriter – Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Jerry Wexler
2:44
1-8 Soul Serenade
Songwriter – Curtis Ousley, Luther Dixon
2:36
1-9 Drown In My Own Tears
Songwriter – Henry Glover
4:04
1-10 Chain Of Fools
Guitar – Joe South
Songwriter – Don Covay
2:46
1-11 Baby, I Love You
Songwriter – Ronnie Shannon
2:41
1-12 Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)
Songwriter – Carolyn Franklin
2:34
1-13 (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone
Songwriter – Aretha Franklin, Ted White
4:23
1-14 You Are My Sunshine
Songwriter – Charles Mitchell (3), Jimmie Davis
4:19
15 Going Down Slow
Songwriter – James B. Oden
4:29
1-16 Never Let Me Go
Songwriter – Joe Scott*
2:52
1-17 I Wonder
Songwriter – Cecil Gant, Raymond Leveen
4:22
1-18 Prove It
Songwriter – Horace Ott, Randie Evretts
2:57
1-19 Good Times
Songwriter – Sam Cooke
2:06
1-20 Come Back Baby
Songwriter – Walter Davis
2:25
1-21 A Change
Songwriter – Clyde Otis, Dorian Burton
Written By – Herman Wesley Kelley
2:23
1-22 You're A Sweet Sweet Man
Songwriter – Ronnie Shannon
3:15
1-23 Good To Me As I Am To You
Songwriter – Aretha Franklin, Ted White
3:56
1-24 People Get Ready
Songwriter – Curtis Mayfield
3:42
1-25 Ain't No Way
Songwriter – Carolyn Franklin
4:11

1 Respect
2 Think
3 Freeway Of Love
4 Baby, I Love You
5 A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)
6 Day Dreaming
7 I Say A Little Prayer
8 The House That Jack Built
9 (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone
10 Spanish Harlem
11 Jump To It
12 I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
Vocals – George Michael
13 Chain Of Fools
14 Rock Steady
15 Who's Zoomin' Who
16 Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
17 I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
18 Call Me
19 Do Right Woman - Do Right Man
20 Bridge Over Troubled Water

As a "SuperFan" I'm not at this moment sure how I feel about this book, while I did enjoy reading it, i'm conflicted on if I wanted to know all I now know about Aretha. This is chock full of information I wasn't aware of and I will never listen to her songs again without hearing them with a different ear after reading this. While reading this I found myself constantly going to listen to a record that was mentioned in the chapter I was reading ( that was fun). I was turned on to a few tracks I wasn't aware with was Awesome, but My image of her is now a bit Tarnished. I still and will always be a fan but now know too much to keep on rose colored glasses. This is well told and if all true is amazing and worth the read. She was an amazing artist with flaws like the rest of us and she had a very long lasting career while working with the Giants of music. I do wonder the reasoning behind her family & close working folks contributing the harsh way some of them did. A must read for any Aretha Franklin fan so you can come to your own conclusions.

CHECK SHELVES

I ATE THIS UP!

Ritz has long immersed himself in the world of r+b, gospel and soul. He co-wrote a book with Aretha that he felt never quite got to the heart of who she was as a person or a performer and was moved to write another, with the full support of her siblings, managers, and producers, but not her.

It's respectful but it doesn't ignore the impact of the loss of her mother, her early pregnancies, and her father's womanizing. Nor does it make light of her genius-like abilities that were evident at an early age, suggesting that like Michael Jackson or Judy Garland her adult-sized skills made her vulnerable from the start.

I found this interesting, sometimes painful, a little provocative, but very honest. (less)

Original Soundtrack Album, 16 Titel