Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Aretha Franklin wasn't the queen of soul.


bubinga5

Recommended Posts

I saw JB in 1971, with Bootsy Collins, and again some time in the early 90's. Those performances were chalk and cheese, sublime to the ridiculous. Throw his later career in the bin but he was at his peak and world class for about 25 years.

James Brown's career was a story of 2 halves. In the first he certainly was The Hardest Working Man In Show Business. In the second, when he was gigging into 70's and with his many addictions he was way past his best. But in the 60's and 70's there was no one who could beat him. He was the guy who inspired every one. There wouldn't be Funk without JB or Hip Hop. Don't write off a whole career based on some of his later, woeful, performances? When he was in his prime he was a unique and original talent, a force of nature even.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the Queen, King,Sultan(s of Swing ) ,etc  are just praise words for the devoted fans. To me , the Beatles were tops and Elvis was just a truck driver from Mississippi . He may have been King early on but the Beatles were tops. not to be confused with the Four Tops ...Macca reins supreme . The Ox could outplay him though...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 25/08/2018 at 01:56, bubinga5 said:

I went to see Anita at the Birmingham NEC back in 98 with my sister. She had some backing singers that I found out were the Perri Sister's. I then bought there album called, The Flight. To this day Its in my top 10 albums. There voices, the music, the keys the bass playing are just fabulous. 

 

I must agree that the Flight album by Perri is magnificent soul. While I'm typing how about Lorraine Ellison who could belt out a soul/gospel song as well as anyone - "Stay With Me" springs to mind.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 25/08/2018 at 16:54, ambient said:

But what they produced, was it pop or soul?

i did say I’m probably completely wrong,  anything like this is anathema to me.

It was Soul that was popular. Its another question is it not?  Any Jazz that was popular was by default pop. The same goes for "Classical" music. Lets not be musical snobs here. Pop is simply short for popular.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just reading the Simon biography of Glenn Miller, and I've reached the chapters dealing with his sudden rise to superstar status in 1938/39.

Much of what I'm reading could be transposed effortlessly to 1978/79, or for that matter to 1898/99. 

The sound of pop music changes from year to year but the essentials remain the same.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My opinion none of these artist are in the same league as Aretha. It takes more than being a great singer to accomplish what Aretha did.

Let's not forget get she was a once in a lifetime artist and has a very special place in history. The others don't in my opinion.

I will continue to wave my 1960s flag high with honor and will always support the icons from my generation.

Blue

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think having a 1st child at 13 (...😵) but still finding a way to build a singing career is pretty special. Let's face it, there are MANY MANY good singers out there, most did/do not make it not for all sorts of reasons. Aretha was a good singer, who built a long career and is well respected. If "Queen of Soul" is in fact a misnomer to me is not very relevant, as far as I'm concerned it is just another label others have given her.

King of Pop, Queen of Soul, Godfather of Funk just all marketing....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎26‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 22:09, Bluewine said:

My opinion none of these artist are in the same league as Aretha. It takes more than being a great singer to accomplish what Aretha did.

Let's not forget get she was a once in a lifetime artist and has a very special place in history. The others don't in my opinion.

I will continue to wave my 1960s flag high with honor and will always support the icons from my generation.

Blue

Yeah what @bluewine  said: she occupies a particular space in the memory; her music and personality were very much part of the 'resistance' in the civil rights movement, and add that to the resonance of her greatest hits and their uses (is there a better feminist tune than Respect that isn't I Will Survive?)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

No love for Duffy then?

On the subject of self given titles didn't the Rolling Stones call themselves the 'greatest rock n roll band in the world' or some such gibberish or was it some other deluded soul?  

Didn't Oasis say they were the best band in the world..Oh didn't I laugh when the long haired monkey said that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 27 August 2018 at 15:18, HazBeen said:

I think having a 1st child at 13 (...😵) but still finding a way to build a singing career is pretty special. Let's face it, there are MANY MANY good singers out there, most did/do not make it not for all sorts of reasons. Aretha was a good singer, who built a long career and is well respected. If "Queen of Soul" is in fact a misnomer to me is not very relevant, as far as I'm concerned it is just another label others have given her.

King of Pop, Queen of Soul, Godfather of Funk just all marketing....

Partly marketing, and partly we (the public) do love our labels - "The King", "The Boss", "The Fab Four" etc....

To me Aretha was the Queen, simply because she exuded Soul even though there may have been technically better singers around, and I doubt we will ever see the like of those icons of the '60's again (Stones included, whatever label describes them) because the world and the route to stardom are now so very different.    

To me - very unoriginally - Soul reached its absolute apex with "What's going on" in 1971.   I even like a lot of what Aretha (and Marvin) did in the '80's, unlike some of their contemporaries 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

No love for Duffy then?

On the subject of self given titles didn't the Rolling Stones call themselves the 'greatest rock n roll band in the world' or some such gibberish or was it some other deluded soul?  

The Rolling Stones are the greatest Rock & Roll band in the world.

Blue

  • Confused 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The title of this thread is proper clickbait stuff and seems particularly poorly timed considering Aretha’s recent death.

Our relationship with music isn’t rational, it’s emotional. What moves you may leave me cold; that’s the power and wonder of music.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...