Aretha Franklin - The Queen of Soul has Passed On

**JBMcB** · August-16-18, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by canuck

I like it a lot better than Natalie Cole’s Pink Cadillac which was too tame.

Hah, that's actually her cover of Bruce Springsteen's Pink Cadillac, which is even more tame.

**Gistok** · August-16-18, 06:31 PM

About Aretha Franklin's famous fear of flying....

After a very bumpy and traumatic small plane ride thru a storm in the 1980s, she never flew again. Her comment... "I can fully understand why the Pope kisses the ground whenever he lands at an airport"...

**canuck** · August-16-18, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by JBMcB

Hah, that's actually her cover of Bruce Springsteen's Pink Cadillac, which is even more tame.

Chuckles...

**detroitsgwenivere** · August-16-18, 07:14 PM

This one is my favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-2I1JKwIzo

Aretha was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

**Pam** · August-16-18, 07:23 PM

Short docu. from 1968. Shows her with Mayor Cavanagh and. Dr. King.

https://youtu.be/vHFR5QOoMEM

**birwood** · August-16-18, 07:45 PM

If there is a Rock and Roll Heaven..."Then you know they've one hell of a band"

**Lowell** · August-16-18, 11:09 PM

I can see a major battle brewing in heaven over which choir of angels gets to have Aretha.

**DetroitSoldier** · August-17-18, 07:32 AM

I was born in 1984 so I am not as familiar with Aretha directly as the generations before. My recollections of Aretha are more from constantly hearing her on the radio. As I got older I came to appreciate her talent and the relevance of her music even after 50+ years.

I think it is really cool and special that she actively chose to stay in Detroit. While we have produced a tremendous amount of musical talent, only a handful have decided to stay here after reaching stardom. Not only did Aretha appreciate where she came from, she remainef a part of the community through the decades.

**Maof** · August-17-18, 07:49 AM

No one else can compare.

Announced this morning that her body will lie in state at the Charles Wright museum for four days and a private mass at her father's church.

**cman710** · August-17-18, 10:12 AM

About ten years ago, my [[now) wife surprised me with Aretha Franklin tickets for a concert at a smallish outdoor venue in Massachusetts. It was a wonderful concert and a great time. I am lucky I got to see her in person once.

I am sad about her passing and for the loss experienced by her family. May she rest in peace.

**bust** · August-17-18, 01:26 PM

What a powerful singer and amazing entertainer. May she be remembered for her incredible contributions to music, with gratitude for her work toward civil rights.

I'm disappointed she never got to open the music venue she had been talking about. Maybe one will open in her name.

**msamslex** · August-17-18, 02:10 PM

I just remembered many years ago I saw Aretha carrying the Olympic Torch when it passed through Detroit on it’s last leg for the night. I don’t recall which Olympic year it was but it was dark & cold. Next door neighbors, the kids, & I bundled up, jumped in the car & drove down to see her. Folks were lined up on either side of the path where Aretha was supposed to bring the torch up to the stage which was located somewhere downtown on Woodward. Comerica paking lot?? Can’t remember the venue where it was at. Maybe someone here knows or was there.

Aretha had on a white jogging suit with I believe blue trim & winter hat or headband to cover her ears. She trotted up to the stage carrying the torch, waving to the crowd, with everybody clapping, screaming, & cheering. I had my camera, so I got as close as I could to the stage & was able to take pics. I was really afraid security was going to make me leave because I ran up the still empty path, that Aretha had just come through on her way to the stage, but nothing happened so I was able to get a few pics, not really close but you could see Aretha. I banged into folks on my mad dash up the path who were leaning over the barriers to see her, take pics, etc. & I apologized.

There was was some sort of program regarding the torch & Aretha may have sung a little something. Details are fuzzy.

There was an Olympics display set up & I was able to take pics of our now grown kids holding the torch & I believe a former police officer?? who had won an Olympic medal was there. He was kind enough to let the kids put it on for pics.

A nice memory of Aretha.

**EastsideAl** · August-17-18, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by Pam

Short docu. from 1968. Shows her with Mayor Cavanagh and. Dr. King.

https://youtu.be/vHFR5QOoMEM

This video, from a short ABC TV special, is a fascinating artifact of Aretha at her peak in that crazy year of 1968. Centered around the big "Aretha Franklin Day" celebration and concert at Cobo Arena on Feb. 16 of that year, when Martin Luther King Jr. showed up to give her an award and a little hug [[he would be killed in less than 2 months from then). There's also priceless footage of Aretha in the recording studio, Aretha and her sister Carolyn working on a new song [[the transcendent 'Ain't No Way'), and Aretha working out dance routines with her backup singers [[including Carolyn). There's a shot of her performing [[lip-synch) 'Chain of Fools' in front of dancing teenagers on Swingin' Time on Channel 9, and a few shots of her singing gospel in her father's church. Also some cringe-inducing interview shots with her controlling and physically abusive first husband Ted White. Topped off with the insanely dynamic performance of 'Respect' that closed her Cobo concert.

Often forgotten was Aretha's huge support of Dr. King and the civil rights movement [[of course her father was a major mover in the movement, especially here in Detroit). Here she is singing at Dr. King's funeral [[and clearly barely holding it together):

An excerpt of that great 1968 performance of Respect again:

I was fortunate enough to see her when she was still in close to her best voice, at Masonic Temple in 1976. It was quite as ecstatic as the 1968 show in the clip, but it wasn't far off. My best friend's mother, who took us to the concert, had known Aretha and her siblings as a child and took us backstage to briefly greet her and shake her hand. I'm not one of those people who is easily star-struck, but that's a memory I have always cherished.

**IrishSpartan** · August-18-18, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Pam

Short docu. from 1968. Shows her with Mayor Cavanagh and. Dr. King.

https://youtu.be/vHFR5QOoMEM

If you're referring to the part of the video starting around 0:52 that is not Jerry Cavanagh.

**Pam** · August-18-18, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by IrishSpartan

If you're referring to the part of the video starting around 0:52 that is not Jerry Cavanagh.

He was reading something that said "I Jerome P. Cavanagh" so that's why I thought it was him. Does anyone know who that guy is?

**248lurker** · August-18-18, 03:36 PM

Aretha was a talented singer and a classy woman. She'll be missed.

RIP

**jcole** · August-18-18, 05:32 PM

Probably one of Cavanaugh's aides or a Common Council member.
This is Jerry:

Originally Posted by Pam

He was reading something that said "I Jerome P. Cavanagh" so that's why I though it was him. Does anyone know who that guy is?

**IrishSpartan** · August-18-18, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

Probably one of Cavanaugh's aides or a Common Council member.
This is Jerry:

Yes, he is very likely an aide to Cavanagh. The guy on stage doesn't closely resemble a Common Council member in those days.

**Al Publican** · August-19-18, 03:29 AM

I heard Aretha settled with Saks Fifth Avenue, but not did not cover the entire tab.

**Bigb23** · August-19-18, 03:34 AM

This one made me cry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diwF1-xJwZM

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Navn-vO7U

**jcole** · August-19-18, 07:45 AM

Yes, I was wracking my brain trying to remember a CC member who looked like that and couldn't come up with one either. But I thought maybe... It could also be one of the record company execs who were at that ceremony.

Originally Posted by IrishSpartan

Yes, he is very likely an aide to Cavanagh. The guy on stage doesn't closely resemble a Common Council member in those days.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · August-19-18, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Al Publican

I heard Aretha settled with Saks Fifth Avenue, but not did not cover the entire tab.

This is not cool, especially now.

**jcole** · August-19-18, 11:05 AM

I thought it might be Robin Seymour from CKLW, but I don't think it quite matches up agewise. Seymour would have been 42 then and this guy looks younger.

Originally Posted by jcole

Yes, I was wracking my brain trying to remember a CC member who looked like that and couldn't come up with one either. But I thought maybe... It could also be one of the record company execs who were at that ceremony.

**EastsideAl** · August-19-18, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by jcole

I thought it might be Robin Seymour from CKLW, but I don't think it quite matches up agewise. Seymour would have been 42 then and this guy looks younger.

He also doesn't seem to have the stage presence of a DJ or other pro. Seems like a political guy, but definitely not Jerry Cavanagh. My mother was involved with the Cavanagh administration, and the face looks somewhat familiar, but I can't put a name to him. I'm sure if Mom was still around she'd know who he was.