Aretha's Gospel Power

 

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I'm tired, I'm weak, I'm lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Well, loving tributes to the musical genius of Aretha Franklin are pouring in on news of her death, and Emperor Trump is claiming she worked for him -- she sang once at his casino -- even though she stated that she wanted nothing to do with him. The emperor's unrelenting narcissism aside, Franklin deserves every accolade she receives. She won twenty Grammys during her long career and even into her seventies she could command a stage. Her version of You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman sung at the Lincoln Center tribute to Carole King was powerful, even though she was 72 at the time. A real leader, President Obama, was present at that event and he was visibly moved to tears. Franklin sang at Obama's first inauguration and wowed everyone with her hat. 





Franklin was known as the Queen of Soul but she began as a gospel singer in her pastor father's Detroit congregation. Her earliest recording was as a 14-year-old playing and singing Precious Lord in church (see words above and image below). 

It's stunning to realize that Aretha had already given birth to one child and was pregnant with another at that early age. Throughout the years she dealt with bad relationships and substance abuse and yet managed to develop a remarkable career. And many commentators have noted that while her music could be raunchy, there was always the sense of "church" as well, an up-welling of gospel power which sustained her through the hard times and triumphs. 

 

Franklin supported civil rights during the 60's when her career was at its height. She knew Martin Luther King and she sang at MLK's funeral. She was also quietly generous, paying for the funerals of people too poor to do so on their own.

I'm not big on cornball "she's now an angel in the heavenly choir" declarations, but she has to be part of the chorus somehow! I'm having some computer challenges at the moment so you'll have to put the link below into a search engine yourself. It's the Globe and Mail top ten Aretha songs and its worth reading and listening.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-ten-essential-aretha-franklin-songs/

 
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