Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin (22 page)

“Aretha’s success no doubt helped Erma get her deal at Shout. Her ‘Piece of My Heart’ was an R-and-B hit, but when Janis Joplin covered it and made it into a million-seller pop hit, Erma kept on keeping on. She got another deal at Brunswick Records. Aretha isn’t the only driven and determined Franklin sister. If Aretha’s heat could help Erma, it could also help me. And no doubt it did. I’m not sure I would have gotten the RCA deal if I had continued to be Candy Carroll. But once I was in the door, I was going to give it all I had.”

And she did.
Baby Dynamite,
Carolyn’s debut album, is rock-solid soul. Her vocals measure up to the strongest singers of the day. The charts are tight and the songs—especially her own haunting “I Don’t Want to Lose You” and ingenious “Boxer”—are infectious. The sound is the end-of-the-sixties Sly Stone–Stax/Volt–Muscle Shoals horn-punched groove-and-grind R&B.

“I sang on those sessions,” said cousin Brenda Corbett. “It had the same kind of feeling as Aretha’s sessions. Very free, very loose, very spontaneous. We all knew that Carolyn, like Erma, was a
sensational singer, and she proved us right. We were thrilled with the results.”

“My idea was to play it for Ree and have her give me an endorsement by writing the liner notes,” said Carolyn. “I gave her an early version and waited weeks for her reaction. When she never responded I finally called and put her on the spot. ‘I’ve heard it,’ she said, ‘and I love it, but I don’t know what to write.’ ‘Write that you love it,’ I said. ‘Write whatever you want, Ree, but just write something. My label is counting on your endorsement.’

“Finally, I turned to my dad. He said he’d get Aretha to write something. But even he couldn’t move her. Instead, he wrote the notes himself and did a beautiful job.”

“Musically,” wrote Reverend Franklin, “in terms of formal training in music, Carolyn possibly excels both her sisters (Erma and Aretha). She has a rich background in music training as she majored in music theory and harmony at the University of Southern California. She also possesses a genius for composing which is well known to entertainers and most people in the industry.”

Attempting to make peace among his daughters, Reverend concluded his remarks on a diplomatic note: “As Carolyn embarks on her own career as an artist, I think I will use the words of her sister Aretha, whom she asked to write the liner notes for this album. Aretha wrote, ‘This is my sister Carolyn, and she is ready!’ When Aretha was told that this was not sufficient for the liner notes, she said, ‘That’s all there is to say.’ ”

The record earned some critical praise but yielded no hits. Within weeks, Erma’s “Gotta Find Me a Lover (Twenty-Four Hours a Day)” was also released but did not catch on. Meanwhile, Aretha’s “I Can’t See Myself Leaving You” rose to number three on the R&B charts, where it remained for nine weeks.

On April 14, Frank Sinatra introduced Aretha Franklin at the forty-first Academy Awards. She sang “Funny Girl” as her former Columbia label mate Barbra Streisand watched from her front-row seat. Nominated for best actress for her work in the film
Funny
Girl,
Streisand shared the prize with Katharine Hepburn for
The Lion in Winter.

“If I must say so myself, I pulled off that coup,” Ruth Bowen told me. “The producer wasn’t sure Aretha could handle a song like ‘Funny Girl.’ ‘Pah-leeeze,’ I told the man, ‘Aretha could sing the French national anthem better than Edith Piaf. When she’s through with “Funny Girl,” Ms. Streisand will never want to touch the goddamn song again.’ He listened to me and the day after the ceremony apologized for ever doubting my word. The appearance put Aretha in the center of mainstream American entertainment—a place she’d never lose.”

Aretha’s memories of the event were the Frank Sinatra introduction, the Arnold Scaasi gown Diahann Carroll wore to the Governor’s Ball, and her own outfit with an extravagant gold antler headdress. (She chose a color photograph of that Academy Awards appearance to grace the back of her autobiography.)

The higher her public profile, the greater her entrepreneurial ambitions. In May, for example,
Jet
reported that Aretha was planning her own magazine,
Respect,
and her own label, Respect Records.

“Both these ventures went nowhere,” said Ruth Bowen. “The plain truth is that Aretha lacks fundamental business sense. She’s not organized. She’s not disciplined. Every one of her nonmusic schemes has failed. I kept telling her—leave the business to us and just stick with your music.”

On May 26, Aretha returned to the music. She was back in the Atlantic studios in New York with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section—Barry Beckett on keys, Jimmy Johnson on guitar, David Hood on bass, and Roger Hawkins on drums. Eddie Hinton, whom Wexler called “the white Otis Redding,” and Duane Allman doubled on guitar on Aretha’s searing version of Jessie Hill and Dr. John’s “When the Battle Is Over.” She also sang Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do” and Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s “Oh No Not My Baby.”

By then Arif Mardin and Tommy Dowd had become full-fledged coproducers with Wexler.

“They were mainly in New York,” Wexler explained, “and I was mainly in Miami. Of course I came to every vocal session, but I was less hands-on. I was feeling less controlling and more willing to turn over many of the in-studio decisions to Tommy and Arif. To get the right sound, my presence really wasn’t required.”

“Aretha should have been listed as the fourth producer,” said Cecil. “She should have been listed as the main producer. She was the one who was really in charge at those sessions. I spoke to Wexler about it, but he wasn’t willing to budge. His point was that she got credit as the artist. She got all the glory she needed. Besides, he said, no one really cares about the producer anyway. Maybe so, but fair is fair and I felt strongly that her role was being hidden from the public. Aretha felt this way as well, but, given her lucrative history with Atlantic, she was unwilling to make waves. Her position was that Wexler’s promotional skills were as great as his producer skills. He had such high enthusiasm for everything Aretha did, he became her greatest cheerleader. She thought if she insisted on getting producer credit, he might be miffed and back off on that enthusiasm. I didn’t agree. Wexler and the Erteguns were making a fortune on my sister. They weren’t about to back off no matter what. Give her the credit she was due. Give her extra points for producing. Just be fair.”

That wouldn’t happen for several more years. Aretha went along with the program but not without resentment.

“There are passive-aggressive parts to my sister’s personality,” said Erma. “She lets her anger stew for weeks, months, or even years. Then something inconsequential will set her off and suddenly all the anger comes spilling out.”

Around the time of the “Honest I Do” session, Aretha learned that she was pregnant by Ken Cunningham.

“She was happy to know she was having a child with Ken,” said Ruth, “but she was also determined not to marry. She said one marriage had been enough. She was glad to be living with the man without any legal commitments. One commitment, though, that was damaged by her pregnancy was a weeklong engagement I had
booked her in Vegas. This was a breakthrough for Aretha, both in terms of venue and fee. Vegas was the obvious next step up in her career. But then, Aretha being Aretha, she canceled at the last minute. When she told me it was because of morning sickness, I reminded her that she didn’t have to sing in the morning, only at night. The result was a legal mess.”

Jet
reported, in its People Are Talking About column: “Soul singer Aretha Franklin and her whereabouts since she fell ill in Las Vegas and was unable to complete her engagement at the prestigious Caesar’s Palace. It was announced at the time that Miss Franklin was being rushed to Detroit to be put under the care of her physician, but a check with her home days later brought the information that Miss Franklin was not there and, in fact, had not been home in several weeks.”

“Aretha was always getting caught in her little fibs,” said Ruth, “and it was my job to clean up after her.”

On July 24, 1969,
Jet
referred to its previous story:

“The mystery was cleared up when her friend and booking manager Ruth Bowen revealed that Aretha had been in Detroit’s Ford Hospital being treated for a throat infection and Mrs. Bowen declares, Aretha is ‘sicker over the fact I had to cancel two engagements, one in Tampa, Fla., and the other in New Orleans that would have enriched her bank account by $100,000.’ The two dates have been rescheduled as has the cancelled Caesar’s Palace engagement.”

That same summer, Carolyn remembered her sister’s reaction to the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, the spark that ignited the gay rights movement.

“My friends and I were talking about it as a great thing,” said Carolyn. “Civil rights had been a topic. Women’s rights were being discussed. Now for the first time there might be a conversation about gay rights. When I mentioned this to Aretha, though, she said that she found the topic distasteful.”

On July 26, the
New York Times
reported, “Aretha Franklin, the soul singer, pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct
yesterday and was fined $50 in the Highland Park Municipal Court. The charges resulted from a traffic accident Tuesday night when, the authorities said, Miss Franklin became belligerent toward the police who investigated.”

“Her pregnancy was not easy,” said Ruth Bowen. “She was moodier than usual. One day she could be funny as hell—doing her Jimmy Durante or Judy Garland imitation. Aretha had a wonderful sense of humor and was also a great mimic. But the next day, forget it. When items about her ‘disorderly conduct’ appeared in the paper, her first instinct was to fire whatever publicist she had hired. Then she’d call one of her friends at
Jet
to clean up the story and give it another spin. Sometimes
Jet
cooperated, but sometimes they didn’t.”

On August 7,
Jet
reported, “High-strung soul queen Aretha Franklin, claiming to be too distraught over the death of the Rev. A. D. Williams King and the earlier death of singer Judy Garland, missed a court date in Highland Park (Detroit), Mich. and forfeited a $50 bond. In court the next day, however, a subdued Miss Franklin made an appearance and paid a $50 fine on disorderly conduct charges. Police said the 27-year-old singer, driving a Cadillac, hit a parked car in a parking lot, became ‘belligerent’ and refused to cooperate with police. They said she also threw a $100 bill on the desk and left when her bond was set at $50 and she didn’t have any change.”

Meanwhile, her music kept selling. In August Aretha’s blistering version of Al “TNT” Braggs’s “Share Your Love with Me,” a hit for Bobby Bland, was an even bigger hit for the Queen. It crossed over to the pop charts, where it climbed to number thirteen.

A week later, Carolyn’s “It’s True I’m Gonna Miss You” found its way to the R&B charts—renamed the soul charts—but never rose above twenty-three.

Then in September, Aretha canceled all personal appearances and concerts for the rest of the year.

“The wrangling with Ted over the divorce settlement was
driving her crazy,” said Cecil. “Ted felt entitled to a lot since, in his mind, he was responsible for her success. Naturally, Ree didn’t feel that way at all.”

“Aretha never personally told me about the cancellations,” Ruth Bowen said. “I learned about it in the trades like everyone else. Naturally, I was furious. Since I had booked those gigs, wasn’t I entitled to an advance notice about cancellations? I couldn’t get through to Aretha, but I gave Cecil hell. I felt bad about that because I knew that Cecil, like all of us, was merely serving a whimsical queen.”

In
From These Roots,
Aretha wrote that, even though she was with Ken Cunningham, she occasionally saw Dennis Edwards as well. She admitted that her fascination with the Temptation had not entirely quieted, and, despite her domestic arrangement with Cunningham, she also found time for Edwards. When pressed, she said that Cunningham was not threatened by her friendships with other men.

“When she showed up in Miami in October, she was in a pissy mood,” said Wexler. “She decided to record ‘Son of a Preacher Man,’ now claiming that she had always wanted to sing it but I had given it to Dusty Springfield before she had a chance. She refused to remember that I had offered it to her first. No matter, she sang the shit out of it. She sang the shit out of everything during those Criteria sessions. It was a great studio, and the Muscle Shoals boys had come down to back her along with the Sweet Inspirations. It was the first time she did Beatles songs—‘Eleanor Rigby’ and ‘Let It Be.’

“McCartney and Lennon had written ‘Let It Be’ specifically for Aretha, but when I played her the demo, back many months before, she wasn’t sure whether the religious implications were compatible with her Baptist background. She thought the Mother Mary reference might be a bit Catholic. So she put off recording it. Paul and John knew they had a hit, got tired of waiting for her, and put out their version first. Aretha’s version is magnificent, but by then the
Beatles had made the first and most lasting impression. It could have been another one of her signature songs but, as with ‘Preacher Man,’ her equivocation proved costly.”

“When it came to the lyrics of songs and what they meant,” said Ruth Bowen, “Aretha was hard to read. For example, she called me one day and said that she just walked out of an interview because some reporter had wanted to know how her father felt about her singing such sexy songs. ‘I don’t sing sexy songs,’ she told the writer. ‘I sing soul songs.’ He pointed to ‘Dr. Feelgood’ as an example of an explicitly sexy song. ‘ “Dr. Feelgood,” ’ she told him, ‘is about romance, not sex.’ When the reporter gave her other examples, like the ‘sock-it-to-me’ line in ‘Respect,’ she got up and left. She told me that she wasn’t going to tolerate questions from someone who reads sex into every line. Naturally I didn’t say a word because it really wasn’t my business. But for someone like Aretha, who wasn’t exactly reticent about voicing her sexual needs, her prudish attitude seemed somewhat ridiculous.”