Aretha: Her story was in her songs

June 19, 2019 4:16 PM

Aretha: Her story was in her songs

Six songs tell you as much about Aretha Franklin as any memoir ever could. The Queen of Soul was not much for talking about her life, so with the help of Oprah Winfrey, Paul Simon, Questlove and others, we peel back the layers of emotion, technique and lived experience she packed into these key performances.

posted by kirkaracha (4 comments total)

A large reason her music transcended into our culture is that her story was also other peoples' story...good music touches the soul. I am experiencing this phenomenon less and less in modern music...I'm sure there are a lot of reasons for it. Some music just carries a little extra into the experience.
posted by Chuffy at 4:58 PM on June 19, 2019

About the Kennedy Center performance honoring Carole King; The night Aretha Franklin brought the nation’s first black president to tears
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:37 PM on June 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Her version of Bridge Over Troubled Water is mentioned in the article, so I looked it up... and I can't remember the last time I saw this many kind, complimentary YouTube comments all in a row: https://youtu.be/_9-yfeA2JZs Well earned.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 5:59 PM on June 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Thank you so much for this post.
posted by y2karl at 11:46 PM on June 20, 2019