A To Z Challenge, Music Blog

That’s Entertainment – Letter F

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Welcome back to “That’s Entertainment!” –
The A To Z Challenge.
I hope you enjoy my musical selections.
Let’s see what’s up today!

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Artwork by Ernest Federspiel

ARETHA FRANKLIN – The daughter of a Detroit preacher and a gospel singer/pianist, Aretha Franklin grew up in the church singing gospel songs with the choir and performing solos. As a young teen, Franklin performed with her father on his gospel programs in major cities throughout the country and was recognized as a vocal prodigy. At the age of 18, with her father’s approval, Aretha switched from sacred to secular music. She moved to New York and signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. But, as her Detroit friends on the Motown label enjoyed hit after hit, Franklin struggled to achieve crossover success. Critics recognized her talent, but the public remained lukewarm. In 1966, she switched to Atlantic Records where producer Jerry Wexler allowed her to sculpt her own musical identity. At Atlantic, Franklin returned to her gospel-blues roots, and the results were sensational. As a civil-rights-minded nation lent greater support to black urban music, Franklin was crowned the “Queen of Soul.” “Respect”,  her 1967 cover of Otis Redding’s composition, became an anthem operating on personal, sexual, and racial levels. Aretha Franklin became a hitmaker of unprecedented proportions; she was the one and only “Lady Soul.”

This is “Respect” by Aretha Franklin


Please join me again tomorrow for more of “That’s Entertainment” and the A To Z Challenge!

I’m Nancy and I’ll see you on the flip side. 😎

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31 thoughts on “That’s Entertainment – Letter F”

  4. Great pick. Aretha Franklin was an amazing artist, and this song is obviously a classic. I had a ticket for a March 25, 2018 show in New Jersey on what would have been her 76th birthday. She had come out of semi-retirement to do a small tour. It wasn’t meant to be. Several weeks prior to the gig, the tour was canceled on her doctor’s orders, and in August that same year, she passed away.

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  10. Aretha Franklin is a fabulous choice and an old favourite of mine, Nancy … no one like Aretha down here in Aussieland, but back in the seventies we had “The Ferrets” …

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  14. Grest post about an amazing singer…it funny however people may try to change other we all return to type to what we do best and Aretha is a prime example of this and boy when she hit her groove everyone knew it 💜💜

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