Aaron Cohen - Aretha Franklins Amazing Grace

AmAzing grAce It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom Exile on Main Street or Electric Ladyland are as significant and worthy of study as The Catcher in the Rye or Middlemarch . The series is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration The New YorkTimes Book Review Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just arent enough Rolling Stone One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet Bookslut These are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate fantastic design, well-executed thinking, and things that make your house look cool. Each volume in this series takes a seminal album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these. We are huge nerds Vice A brilliant series each one a work of real love NME (UK) Passionate, obsessive, and smart Nylon Religious tracts for the rock n roll faithful Boldtype [A] consistently excellent series Uncut (UK) We arent naive enough to think that were your only source for reading about music (but if we had our way watch out). For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, youd do well to check out Continuums 33 1/3 series of books Pitchfork For reviews of individual titles in the series, please visit our website at www.continuumbooks.com and 33third.blogspot.com For a complete list of books in this series, see the back of this book Amazing Grace Aaron Cohen The Continuum International Publishing Group 80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX www.continuumbooks.com 2011 by Aaron Cohen All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers. Library of Congress Catalogue-in-Publication Data Cohen, Aaron. Aretha Franklins Amazing grace / by Aaron Cohen. p. cm. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4411-4888-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. paper) 1.

Franklin, Aretha. Amazing grace. I. Title. II. Series.

ML420.F778C64 2011 782.421644092--dc23 2011022487 ISBN: 978-1-4411-1208-8 Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN Acknowledgments This book owes its existence to David Barker and everyone at Continuum who know the enduring value of albums, including Amazing Grace. My spiritual big brothers Anthony Heilbut and David Ritz have permanently enriched the studies of gospel and Aretha Franklin. Ive been fortunate to work with an outstanding team at DownBeat/Maher Publications, particu larly Frank Alkyer, Ed Enright, Jason Koransky, Kevin Maher, Zach Phillips, Bobby Reed, Jennifer Ruban-Gentile, Ara Tirado, and Andy Williams. Its been edifying, and a great trip, to experience journalism through the daily newspaper trenches at the Chicago Tribune, especially because of Lou Carlozo, Greg Kot, Howard Reich, Heidi Stevens, and Kevin M. Williams. v A A r o n C o h e n Friends, relatives, and professional associates have helped in numerous ways and Ill always be grateful for: Lisa Bellamore, Peter Berkowitz, Wallace Best, Nathan Brackett, Daphne Brooks, Robert Buerglener, Bill Carpenter, Shalini Chatterjee, Matt Cohen, Steven Dolins, Alan Elliott, James Al Finley, Gordon Flagg, Bob Gendron, Jerma Jackson, Virginia Jahnke, Herb Jordan, Robert Kendrick, Nick Macri, Bob Marovich, John Murph, David Nathan, Paul Natkin, James and Susan Neumann, Ral Nio, Michael Orlove, Jeremy Perney, Amanda Petrusich, James Porter, Michael Randolph, Ben Ratliff, Arno Rotbart, Evan Schofer, Jon Schofer, Scott Sherman, Marc Silver, Ivan Watkins, Stephan Wender, Chris Weston, and Matt Weston.

I thank all those who patiently answered my interview questions, particularly: Inez Andrews, Pastor George Ashford, Archbishop Carl Bean, Marshall Chess, Jessy Dixon, Jimmy Douglass, the late Cornell Dupree, John Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Alexander Hamilton, Barbara Harris, Regina Jones, Joe Mardin, VaShawn Mitchell, Walter Moorehead, Debbie Orange, Gene Paul, Herbert Pickard, Rodena Preston, Bernard Pretty Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Eric Reed, Dianne Reeves, Henry Saskowski, and Richard Smallwood. A student of gospel could not have better teachers, vi A m A z i n g g r A c e or better friends, than Chicagos Gay family: Donald, Donna, Bozie, Gregory, Margaret, and the late Geraldine. I first heard Christian music when my childhood best friend Jeff Harlings choir made me realize that different religions songs frequently share ideals. My memories of him will always be radiant. For hospitality on California research trips, all kinds of support and wonderful dinners, I send big hugs to my Los Angeles family: Mel, Sherie, and Helen Scheer. Even if music journalism has never been a lucrative career, my editor mom and historian dad are the most encouraging parents any writer would ever need.

My wife Lavonne is truly amazing: I owe every thing to her diligent research help and unconditional love. This book is dedicated to her. vii Chapter One Aretha Franklin could have proclaimed whatever she wanted when she walked up the aisle of the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, on January 13, 1972. Her performance would be the first of two nights there and her intro duction, the audiences cheers, and an arsenal of microphones and cameras, gave her the foundation and anticipation to shout in a voice that had become internationally familiar. Still, at that church, when Franklin wasnt singing, she hardly said anything. Franklin was away from Detroit, where she was raised, and New York, where she lived, but a longtime friend, Rev.

James Cleveland, led the New Temple service in front of his choir and her working band. Another minister, her father, Rev. C. L. Franklin, was in the house as were her sisters and a couple A A r o n C o h e n of mentors. Her Young, Gifted and Black album would be released less than two weeks later, but she never mentioned that in the church.

Neither did Cleveland nor her father. Arethas sense of style spoke for itself. On both nights she wore bright gowns, and dangling jeweled earrings, yet not an amount of glitter that could be called distracting. Her eyeliner and lipstick enhanced what may have been a shy smile. During those two nights, she sang religious songs with a fervor that incited ecstatic shouts from the congregation, and almost the same reaction from the seasoned musicians working alongside her. Other than unleashing her luminous vocal sound, nothing that Aretha Franklin said pronounced her as one of the most popular and influential singers on the planet.

On those January nights she just seemed appreciative and eager to collaborate. About six months later, Atlantic would release the double-album AmazingGrace, which documented those nights. It remains the biggest selling LP of her career. Franklin never had to say outright how much recording in the church meant to her. But it can be inferred from her 1974 appearance on the television quiz show Whats My Line? When asked about her trajectory, her answer was the sort of laconic statement that has always typified her interviews: I did sing in the young peoples choir in my fathers A m A z i n g g r A c e church I started there, Franklin said simply. And from there, here.1 She left out a few high points on that quiz show.

As the world knows, most of her hit singles had been recorded by that time. National magazines featured her on the cover, and she had become a generational icon even before a nostalgia industry conceived of such a role. Still, Franklins polite and brief words on Whats My Line? summing up where she came from, and what shes accomplished, didnt acknowledge any of that, as if none of it mattered. But through her polite terse statement, she indicated the one thing that mattered a great deal. The familiar Franklin narrative goes like this: Daughter of a famous minister, Aretha Franklin began singing gospel as a girl; crossed over to jazz inflected pop; achieved little initial success; then, working with a street-smart producer, brought her earliest church background to a grittier take on r&b; became American soul royalty. All of which contains some truth, yet misses the most interesting part of the story.