Sally and I watched the Capitol Fourth program on PBS Saturday night. We were both startled to see Aretha Franklin. She has never been slim but it looks like she's shockingly overweight, and that morbid obesity can't be good for her health. The red dress probably didn't help the over all visual effect, either.
I guess we're not giving her much R-E-S-P-E-C-T, are we?
Anyway, despite dissing her for her Saturday night ensemble, I remember Aretha with a lot of fondness. Some of her songs can't be topped and no one has ever been able to successfully cover them. Dionne Warwick did "I Say A Little Prayer"*, but how many people remember her version, even thought it was also a hit record?
Here are some great videos of early Aretha. I think "I Never Loved A Man" might be one of the all time greatest soul songs. I don't know how you feel about it, but to me it is a song that never fails to move me.
*Warwick and songwriter Burt Bacharach were linked with a string of 1960's hits. It's too bad that Aretha came along and stole her thunder, but then, Aretha created thunder.
No comments:
Post a Comment