Aretha reportedly in bad shape

[OldRightHander]

Not a lot of hard facts, but folks are saying she might be near the end.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...813-story.html

[WrongVerb]

[Mutaman]

There's that moment in RESPECT when King Curtis' sax solo is ending and Aretha starts singing again( "Ooo, your kisses"). I nominate that as the greatest moment in the history of the world.

[WrongVerb]

RIP

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/53268...oul-dead-at-76

[Sea Ray]

One of the old time Motown singers. Amazing that so much talent came out of one neighborhood. I think the founder Gordy Berry is still alive. I also hear that they're expanding their museum. I encourage folks to go there if you're in town

[WrongVerb]

[westofyou]

[westofyou]

Wrote this earlier



All Hail The Queen of Soul

I read recently that Detroit lost 400,000 people between 1950-1960, which is more than the total population of the 2nd largest city at that time, Grand Rapids. During that time, they did get one plus in the debit column, Aretha Franklin.

Today is the 41st anniversary of the death of Elvis, I was in Cincinnati that day and I saw a lot of anguish from the generation above mine, they were at a loss. A piece of them had been taken, I understood the magnitude, I didn’t feel the loss as much as them. He didn’t mark a time in my life, he wasn’t a part of me.

But I understood.

Today Aretha Franklin’s family was at her bedside, clutching hands in sorrow, fearing the future and all it will bring, something we all will do, a color in the sky of the world we all must live in.

I grew up in the Detroit area from 1963-1975, it’s a part of me, it lives in a space far away in the memory of a young boy that is somewhere in me even today. I know it’s there, I know it’s part of who I am, it enriches who I am.

That’s where we find Aretha and me… together in the back seat of my mother’s 1967 Thunderbird mono speakers and the dial set on CKLW, 800 AM, also known at the time as “The blackest white station in America” which in hindsight is probably true

It was true tribute to Motown and a pleasure for those who were interested, every day all the hits and all the stars came by and tapped into your young supple mind. Aretha was prevalent, she was the strength that church singers strive for and yet her hooks and style could catch anyone who just loved to groove.

This is where she caught me, this is where she led me, this is where I live.

Today Aretha Franklin died, she was a bigger part of my life than I had thought.

But you understand

Godspeed Queen of Soul… Godspeed

[Sea Ray]

Here's something that's rarely reported about Aretha: She had not one but two kids by the time she was 14 yrs old:

She first became pregnant at the age of 12 and gave birth to her first child, named Clarence after her father, on January 28, 1955. According to the news site Inquisitr, "The father of the child was Donald Burk, a boy she knew from school."[78] On January 22, 1957, then aged 14, Franklin had a second child, named Edward after his father Edward Jordan.

[Mutaman]

Elvis Costello said there were "“No Words Worthy” (https://twitter.com/ElvisCostello/st...640448/photo/1) and he's right.
But Don Lemon came pretty close:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/enter...ntv/index.html

[OldRightHander]

If you have satellite radio, Soul Town is playing non stop Aretha songs for the next few days. I’ve been tapping my toes and smiling for the last two days, which is a fitting way to remember her, I figure.