Podcasts about Sarah Vaughan

I love how instagram can just bring us all together! I had a pleasure of sitting down with Kels last week for my first interview for #womentowatch Wednesday, lean in and give a listen! From her website https://www.findingkels.com/about KELS is the perfect mix of jazz, pop and soul. Her brash vocals and sultry style reflect the old school sound of some of her biggest influences- Ms. Lauryn Hill, Sarah Vaughan, Erykah Badu, Adele, and Amy Winehouse with a profound lyricism to match. Born in Germany to military parents, she moved often as a child. By age 5 she was living in Pittsburgh with her mother and brother. KELS started writing songs at 13 years old. Growing up she was heavily involved in choir, singing at church and in jazz ensembles. Her debut EP, Slow Ryde, released in November 2021 displays her unique vocal style and versatile songwriting. KELS debuted her original music at a series of music festivals in Pittsburgh during the summer of 2021- headlining at The Three Rivers Arts Festival, Millvale Music Festival, Picklesburgh and opened for Kat Wright on her fall tour stop at Thunderbird Music Hall. In early 2022, KELS released a series of live renditions of original music. Most notably, her independent release of “Just Let Me Go (Live at Kingfly Spirits)” gained over half a million views on TikTok and has been streamed over a quarter of a million times across all listening platforms. Her newest release, "Be Fine." was featured in Earmilk and Newsweek as well as on a billboard in downtown Atlanta. KELS has been based in Atlanta for one year, and recently held her first headlining show at Smith's Olde Bar. The show sold out before doors opened. KELS is currently touring the United States independently. If you're available and in Austin this week (since I'll be out of town) please go see her and support her on tour this year! March 8 sofar sounds Austin: https://www.sofarsounds.com/events/45543 March 16th no ticket needed: She goes on at 8pm at The Hive in Austin! Please be sure to follow KELS on all social at @findingKels and listen to her on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0JzgaVLxpCeDg5WIm06DsU?si=l7pee-VCRVWMcvEgXp7GSw

Larry Coryell con Dori Caymmi en 'Live from Bahia' ('The crab peddler'), Dori Caymmi en 'Poesia musicada' ('Estrela de cinco pontas', 'Marinheiragem') y 'Mundo de dentro' ('Quebra-mar' -con Renato Braz-, 'Amazonas'), Joyce con Dori Caymmi en 'Rio Bahia' ('Rio Bahia'), Nana Caymmi, Dori Caymmi y Danilo Caymmi en 'Caymmi ('Retirantes', 'Sereia'/'Rainha do mar', 'Modinha para Tereza Batista'/'Vamos falar de Tereza', 'A mãe da água e a menina'), Sarah Vaughan con Dorival Caymmi ('Roses and roses') y Dori Caymmi ('Like a lover'), Sarah Vaughan ('Obsession') y Dorival Caymmi, Vinicius de Moraes y Quarteto em Cy 'No Zum zum' ('Saudade da Bahia'/'Das rosas'). Escuchar audio

Can AJ find us a version of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" that doesn't have any strings? Tune in to this episode of Same Difference and find out! Johnny and AJ will listen to and discuss versions of this beautiful Jazz standard by Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Clifford Brown, The Platters, Coleman Hawkins, and new-to-us artist Cait And The Critters.

Part two - Anthony talks with Award winning songwriter John Durrill. His songs have been sung by over sixty major recording artists in the US and around the world. Frank Sinatra, Cher, Chicago, Reba, Bette Midler, Ray Charles , The Everly Brothers, Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Merle Haggard, Peggy Lee, and Fats Domino are a sampling of singers who have recorded his works. Durrill's compositions have sold over 50 million singles, albums DVD's, and CDs.Starting out in 1967 John wrote and recorded the number one single, “Western Union”, and the following year joined the world famous group, The Ventures, recording “Hawaii 5-0” with them. He has written and recorded with The Ventures for over four decades, and in 2008 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Madonna, and John Mellencamp.Durrill wrote songs for five of Clint Eastwood's films creating the number one hit “Misery and Gin” for Merle Haggard in Bronco Billy. His top five song, “Charlotte's Web”for The Statler Brothers in Smokey and the Bandit received multiple awards. Altogether John has composed for more than 20 films, and in the early eighties conceived the “Will Rogers Follies” that went on to receive several Tonys.A long time affiliation with the musical group Chicago brought about his “Child's Prayer” on the Chicago XXV Christmas CD, and his “Rockin and Rollin on Christmas Day” on the group's O Christmas Three CD was written with group member Lee Loughnane..Currently, a book on John's life is in the works entitled “My Life is a Song”, and he is composing music for film and television. Miranda Lambert recently sang his “Misery and Gin” on the ACM Awards Show.

Anthony talks with Award winning songwriter John Durrill. His songs have been sung by over sixty major recording artists in the US and around the world. Frank Sinatra, Cher, Chicago, Reba, Bette Midler, Ray Charles , The Everly Brothers, Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Merle Haggard, Peggy Lee, and Fats Domino are a sampling of singers who have recorded his works. Durrill's compositions have sold over 50 million singles, albums DVD's, and CDs.Starting out in 1967 John wrote and recorded the number one single, “Western Union”, and the following year joined the world famous group, The Ventures, recording “Hawaii 5-0” with them. He has written and recorded with The Ventures for over four decades, and in 2008 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Madonna, and John Mellencamp.Durrill wrote songs for five of Clint Eastwood's films creating the number one hit “Misery and Gin” for Merle Haggard in Bronco Billy. His top five song, “Charlotte's Web”for The Statler Brothers in Smokey and the Bandit received multiple awards. Altogether John has composed for more than 20 films, and in the early eighties conceived the “Will Rogers Follies” that went on to receive several Tonys.A long time affiliation with the musical group Chicago brought about his “Child's Prayer” on the Chicago XXV Christmas CD, and his “Rockin and Rollin on Christmas Day” on the group's O Christmas Three CD was written with group member Lee Loughnane..Currently, a book on John's life is in the works entitled “My Life is a Song”, and he is composing music for film and television. Miranda Lambert recently sang his “Misery and Gin” on the ACM Awards Show.

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! Este monográfico está dedicado a la figura del saxofonista Ernie Watts. Repasamos sus apariciones en discos de artistas tan destacados como Lee Ritenour, Gino Vannelli, Michael Franks, Bill Withers, Randy Crawford, Patti Austin, Whitney Houston, Gene Page, Sarah Vaughan, Christopher Cross, Dave Grusin y la banda Ambrosia.Escucha este episodio completo y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo de Cloud Jazz Smooth Jazz. Descubre antes que nadie los nuevos episodios, y participa en la comunidad exclusiva de oyentes en https://go.ivoox.com/sq/27170

Canciones de uno de los grandes compositores de la música brasileña de los últimos sesenta años, Edu Lobo, en grabaciones de Paul Desmond ('Circles'), Rosa Passos ('Zanga zangada'), Zélia Duncan ('Ave rara'), Geraldo Azevedo ('Viola fora de moda'), Gal Costa y Jaques Morelenbaum ('Canto triste'), Caetano Veloso ('Upa neguinho'), Tavito y Be Happy ('Reza'), Sarah Vaughan ('To say good bye'), Edu Lobo y María Bethânia ('Pra dizer adeus', 'Cirandeiro'), Helen Merrill ('Casaforte'), Kip Hanrahan ('Nocturnal heart'), Milton Nascimento ('Beatriz'), Zizi Possi ('O circo místico') y Edu Lobo y Chico Buarque ('Na carreira'). Escuchar audio

Todd Field began his career as a jazz musician and as an actor; he has appeared in over forty films, including Kubrick's “Eyes Wide Shut” and Woody Allen's “Radio Days”. He then went on to direct two full-length award-winning films, “In the Bedroom” - about grief and revenge in a close-knit family - and “Little Children”, starring Kate Winslet. Both were nominated for multiple Oscars. This week his third feature film “Tar” opens in Britain. Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tar, the conductor of a major German orchestra; the film is an exploration of the darker side of the classical music world, the power of the conductor, and of abusive power more generally – it's also a celebration of some really wonderful music. In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Todd Field talks about how he started writing “Tar” by interviewing classical musicians, and particularly women working in the industry. He looks back on his “free-range” childhood in Oregon, and tells how his wife financed his ambition to become a film director by buying a truck, going round flea-markets, and starting an interior-design shop. He reveals the struggle to release his award-winning film “In the Bedroom” after Harvey Weinstein bought it and demanded more and more cuts. Field won the fight and retained the film he believed in, but it took six months and a fiendishly clever strategy invented by his friend Tom Cruise. Todd Field started out as a jazz musician in a big band, and his choices include two tracks by Sarah Vaughan, whom he met backstage at a concert in Oregon. Other choices include Mahler's Symphony No 5; Elgar's Cello Concerto; and Gorecki's second string quartet, which played constantly in his head while making “Tar”. A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3 Produced by Elizabeth Burke

Our music this go round is provided by these wonderful artists: Thelonious Monk, Luciano Pavarotti, the Stooges, Amy Winehouse, Tame Impala, Sarah Vaughan, Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard. Painting by Walter J. Pugliese. Commercial Free, Small Batch Radio Crafted in the West Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania... Heard All Over The World. Tell Your Friends and Neighbors... Happy New Year.

Jess Gillam and composer Caroline Shaw share their favourite music, with tracks by wordsmith Kae Tempest, a concert waltz by Scott Joplin, the incredible voice of Sarah Vaughan and an unfinished piece by Schubert (but not the one you're thinking!). Playlist: Clara Schumann: 3 Romances Op. 22 No. 3 [Elena Urioste - violin, Isata Kanneh-Mason - piano] Mark Guiliana - a path to bliss Scott Joplin - Bethena [Randy Kerber - piano] Sarah Vaughan - Tenderly Josquin des Prez - Mille regretz [Hilliard Ensemble] Stanley Myers - Saxophone Concerto [John Harle, Argo Symphony Orchestra, James Judd] Kae Tempest - People's Faces Schubert - Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, D.571 (Fragment) [Andras Schiff - piano]

La chanteuse Abyale présente à Paris son nouveau spectacle «Madame Jazz(e)». Elle nous emmène à la découverte des grandes divas jazz et blues du 20ème siècle et nous fait partager sa passion. Elle rend hommage notamment à Sarah Vaughan et Nina Simone. Abyale interprète merveilleusement Ella Fitzgerald Elle a même écrit et composé une chanson en l'honneur de Billie Holiday, «When Billie Sings ». Avec sa voix suave de conteuse, Abyale nous livre aussi des anecdotes étonnantes. Pour découvrir Abyale dans «Madame Jazz(e)», rendez-vous le jeudi 22 décembre à 19h30 au Sunside, 60, rue des Lombards dans le 1er. Photo de Michaël Guiliani.

Do you know how the lady in the harbor feels? Great torch songs from Broadway musicals sung by Sara Bareilles, Barbra Streisand, Sarah Vaughan, Eydie Gormé and many more.  

Series: AlphaSermon Title: Alpha Sunday TestimoniesScripture: VariousPreaching: Pastor Mike, Laura Willard, Sarah Vaughan, Ken HowardDate: 11/6/22

On tonight's show: Sarah Vaughan & the Hugo Peretti Orchestra, Tommy Flanagan and Paul Chambers with Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell & Kenny Clarke, Johnny Richards, Clark Terry with Paul Gonsalves, Horace Silver, Gene Ammons, Dave Brubeck, Mose Allison, Ella Fitzgerald, the Benny Carter All-Star Sax Ensemble, and Miles Davis with Quincy Jones.

22-year-old jazz phenom Samara Joy is out with her debut album, Linger Awhile. With comparisons to the likes of Sarah Vaughan and other great jazz artists, Samara is taking the music world by storm. She talks to us about her career, when she knew music was her “thing,” and keeping it all together at such a young age.  

22-year-old jazz phenom Samara Joy is out with her debut album, Linger Awhile. With comparisons to the likes of Sarah Vaughan and other great jazz artists, Samara is taking the music world by storm. She talks to us about her career, when she knew music was her “thing,” and keeping it all together at such a young age.  

Isaias Afwerki, usually known as Isaias, is Eritrea's only ever President, having served in the role since 1993. After rising through the ranks of Eritrea's liberation movement during a thirty-year war for independence against Ethiopia, Isaias has instituted a colossal centralisation of power around himself; Eritrea has no free newspapers, no constitution, no parliament; it doesn't even have a formal budget. The country also has one of the strictest systems of conscription in the world.  Though this state of affairs is very unpleasant to the ordinary Eritreans wo have to live  with it every day, the international community would probably be happy leaving Isaias be if he left the world alone. But this isn't what Isaias has done. Since 1993, Isaias has involved Eritrea in wars in Sudan, Somalia, the DRC and most significantly Ethiopia, where, since 2020, the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments have been waging war against the Tigrayans. This war is the deadliest war the world has seen this decade so far, and Isaias, who hates the Tigrayans, is largely to blame for it. Never more than Isaias has my guest and I discussed a single person so singularly to blame for so much harm. My guest today is Martin Plaut. Martin is a journalist specialising in the Horn of Africa region, he worked as a BBC news journalist for nearly thirty years and currently works for Chatham House. Along with Sarah Vaughan, he is the lead author on an upcoming book, Understanding Ethiopia's Tigray War, due to be released in February 2023. As well as the War in Tigray, we discuss Eritrea's colonial history, the country's long struggle for independence, and the implications of being governed not just by one group of people for thirty years, but by a single individual. 

2 https://www.kevineubanks.com George and I are thrilled to welcome Kevin Eubanks to the show! We've been fans for a long time so this is going to be awesome! Bio: Kevin Eubanks, guitarist and prolific composer. He is well known by many as the former Music Director of The Tonight Show band, appearing on the show 18 years (1992 - 2010). His laid-back style and affability seems to belie the concentration and focus that have made him successful both as a consummate musician and a household name for late-night TV viewers. Kevin was born into a musical household in Philadelphia, PA. His mother, Vera Eubanks, is a gospel and classical pianist and organist with a Masters Degree in music education. She has taught both privately and in the school system, until her recent retirement. Vera's brother, the late Ray Bryant, was a journeyman jazz pianist who recorded and toured with jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Sarah Vaughan not to mention a hit record of his own. Kevin was thus exposed to world-class music in his formative years as he began violin lessons, his first instrument, at age seven. His brother Robin, is a trombonist, arranger and tenured professor at Oberlin College and his brother Duane is consistently influencing so many younger musicians as a trumpet teacher and continues to expand his recording career. Kevin also studied the trumpet before making his commitment to the guitar which was solidified with his entrance to the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston from which he has received an ‘Honorary Doctorate' degree. He has also received an ‘Honorary Doctorate' degree from Redlands University in California. Kevin moved to New York after attending Berklee College of Music where his career kicked off in earnest. He started playing with some of the greats of Jazz, including Art Blakey, Slide Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Sam Rivers, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland, Ron Carter and others. In addition to working in other bands, Kevin become the leader of his own group and traveled to Jordan, Pakistan, India and Kuwait on tours sponsored by the US State Department, not to mention the European/Japanese Jazz circuit which so many artists frequent. Contact Counterparts: www.counterpartsshow.com

2 https://www.kevineubanks.com George and I are thrilled to welcome Kevin Eubanks to the show! We've been fans for a long time so this is going to be awesome! Bio: Kevin Eubanks, guitarist and prolific composer. He is well known by many as the former Music Director of The Tonight Show band, appearing on the show 18 years (1992 - 2010). His laid-back style and affability seems to belie the concentration and focus that have made him successful both as a consummate musician and a household name for late-night TV viewers. Kevin was born into a musical household in Philadelphia, PA. His mother, Vera Eubanks, is a gospel and classical pianist and organist with a Masters Degree in music education. She has taught both privately and in the school system, until her recent retirement. Vera's brother, the late Ray Bryant, was a journeyman jazz pianist who recorded and toured with jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Sarah Vaughan not to mention a hit record of his own. Kevin was thus exposed to world-class music in his formative years as he began violin lessons, his first instrument, at age seven. His brother Robin, is a trombonist, arranger and tenured professor at Oberlin College and his brother Duane is consistently influencing so many younger musicians as a trumpet teacher and continues to expand his recording career. Kevin also studied the trumpet before making his commitment to the guitar which was solidified with his entrance to the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston from which he has received an ‘Honorary Doctorate' degree. He has also received an ‘Honorary Doctorate' degree from Redlands University in California. Kevin moved to New York after attending Berklee College of Music where his career kicked off in earnest. He started playing with some of the greats of Jazz, including Art Blakey, Slide Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Sam Rivers, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland, Ron Carter and others. In addition to working in other bands, Kevin become the leader of his own group and traveled to Jordan, Pakistan, India and Kuwait on tours sponsored by the US State Department, not to mention the European/Japanese Jazz circuit which so many artists frequent. Contact Counterparts: www.counterpartsshow.com

"I'm Through With Love" (Terminé con el amor) fue escrita en 1931 por Fud Livingston, Matty Malneck y Gus Kahn. La canción ha sido popular desde que fue escrita, con grabaciones de Nat Cole, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie y Sarah Vaughan, entre muchas grabaciones. Marilyn Monroe cantó la canción en la película Some Like It Hot de 1959. Escuchamos algunas de ellas, junto a Carmen McRae, Getz, Jarret, Diana Krall, Monheit y hasta Woody Allen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

https://www.kevineubanks.com George and I are thrilled to welcome Kevin Eubanks to the show! We've been fans for a long time so this is going to be awesome! Bio: Kevin Eubanks, guitarist, and prolific composer. He is well known by many as the former Music Director of The Tonight Show band, appearing on the show 18 years (1992 - 2010). His laid-back style and affability seem to belie the concentration and focus that have made him successful both as a consummate musician and a household name for late-night TV viewers. Kevin was born into a musical household in Philadelphia, PA. His mother, Vera Eubanks, is a gospel and classical pianist and organist with a Masters Degree in music education. She has taught both privately and in the school system, until her recent retirement. Vera's brother, the late Ray Bryant, was a journeyman jazz pianist who recorded and toured with jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Sarah Vaughan not to mention a hit record of his own. Kevin was thus exposed to world-class music in his formative years as he began violin lessons, his first instrument, at age seven. His brother Robin, is a trombonist, arranger and tenured professor at Oberlin College and his brother Duane is consistently influencing so many younger musicians as a trumpet teacher and continues to expand his recording career. Kevin also studied the trumpet before making his commitment to the guitar which was solidified with his entrance to the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston from which he has received an ‘Honorary Doctorate' degree. He has also received an ‘Honorary Doctorate' degree from Redlands University in California. Kevin moved to New York after attending Berklee College of Music where his career kicked off in earnest. He started playing with some of the greats of Jazz, including Art Blakey, Slide Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Sam Rivers, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland, Ron Carter and others. In addition to working in other bands, Kevin become the leader of his own group and traveled to Jordan, Pakistan, India and Kuwait on tours sponsored by the US State Department, not to mention the European/Japanese Jazz circuit which so many artists frequent. Contact Counterparts: www.counterpartsshow.com

For Video Edition, Please Click and Subscribe Here:  https://youtu.be/Pa6ZuENFQNI “I had the sense of being in the presence of a pop-soul superwoman whose every gesture and inflection conveyed confidence and mastery.” - Stephen Holden, New York Times “(Henry) can sell a power ballad as well as Whitney, Diana and Patti.” - Jazz Times “A paragon of perfection. The voice that pours out of her is even more impressive…the vocal love child of Whitney Houston and Sarah Vaughan." -Jordan Levin, Miami Herald “Listen and you'll hear an artist who knows how to make a song her own… Henry aims right for the emotional center…". - Philip Van Vleck, Billboard Since her debut, Nicole Henry has established herself among the jazz world's most acclaimed performers, possessing a potent combination of dynamic vocal abilities, impeccable phrasing, and powerful emotional resonance. Her passionate, soulful voice and heartfelt charisma have earned her a Soul Train Award for “Best Traditional Jazz Performance," and four Top-10 U.S. Billboard, Jazz Week and HMV Japan jazz albums. Heralded by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Japan Times, El Pais, Jazz Times, Essence and more, Ms. Henry tells real stories through peerless interpretations of repertoire from the American Songbook, classic and contemporary jazz, popular standards, blues and originals. She has captivated audiences in over 20 countries, headlining at venues in cities including New York, Tokyo, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Miami. Ms. Henry has also performed in more than 30 music festivals worldwide and in some of the world's most famous venues including Blue Note; Jazz at Lincoln Center...  

On this episode:  from the 1920's and 30's we'll hear Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins. The 40's and 50's with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Modern Jazz Quartet, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, and Mose Allison, and then we'll take it out with Weather Report, and Cal Tjader, from the 1970's.

On this episode: From the 1920s and 30s we'll hear Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, and Coleman Hawkins. Then we move to the '40s and '50s with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Modern Jazz Quartet, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, and Mose Allison, and then we'll take it out with Weather Report, and Cal Tjader, from the 1970s.

DARK MYSTERIES Tuesday and Friday at 2am CET - Wednesday and Friday at 1pm CET (podcast on Sundays). This program is hosted by Madeleine d'Este. This week, Madeleine talks about the book "Anatomy of a Scandal" by Sarah Vaughan.

Ivan Lins grabó en 1980 su canción 'Setembro' que, nueve años después, Quincy Jones recuperó con las voces de Sarah Vaughan y el grupo Take 6 para su disco 'Back on the block'. Del nuevo disco de Bruno Capinan, 'Tara rara', las canciones 'Ode ao povo brasileiro', 'Deuses deusas' y 'Meu preto'. 'Serotonina' es el título de un nuevo disco de João Donato y contiene temas como 'Simbora', 'Doce de amora' o 'Bombons'. Y Joyce Moreno ha publicado 'Brasileiras cançoes' con 'Todo mundo', la canción que le da título, 'O sopro do mar' y 'Não deu certo (mas foi divertido)'. Cierra 'Introit', música de John Zorn, que han grabado Bill Frisell, John Medeski, Kenny Wollesen y Brian Marsella. Escuchar audio

Falling out of love is a heartbreaking feeling. The expansiveness. warmth, and joy of being with your beloved is just gone.  It may have happened suddenly or overtime, but there is no doubt that 'the loving feeling" is gone. This week Kevin and Niseema explore some of the reasons why what used be a "tuning in" to our partner, suddenly turns into a "tuning out."  Expectations, lack of relationship skills, stress, personal history, our own body, etc., can turn that loving feeling into irritability and loneliness.  If love is the antidote to loneliness, then what may be the antidote to the "loss" of love?--------------------For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP  at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org.These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening,Kevin and Niseemawww.tffpp.orghttps://www.kevinlmhc.comwww.niseema.comwww.thepositivemindcenter.comPRODUCTION CREDITSOpening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, ShadowfaxBreak Music: "Mean to Me", Performed by: Sarah Vaughan, Written by: Fred Ahert, Roy Turk,Produced by: J Isaacs, J. MCEWEN Source: Columbia/LegacyEnd Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive PsychologyThe Positive Mind is produced with the help of:Engineering: Geoff BradyProducer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian GioelloMarketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

As a trombonist, composer-arranger and bandleader, Ed Neumeister is a musician's musician. Raised in the Bay Area, he was a professional musician by his mid-teens. He backed such iconic vocal stars as Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan there, performed in various symphony orchestras. As a leader, Neumeister has recorded nine albums, ranging from large ensembles to small groups to solo trombone. He has released many of them via his own label, MeisteroMusic, including his latest: 3 for the Road, presenting his trio with vocalist Jay Clayton and the late pianist Fritz Pauer.

El Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales cumple 250 años, y hemos invitado a Asunción de los Ríos, vicedirectora de Investigación. Después, Raquel Martín une danza y antropología. Y rematamos con la Divapedia de Jon González que hoy recorre de la O a la S: Patti LaBelle, Rihanna, Róisín Murphy, Rosalía, Sia, Sade, Dame Shirley Bassey y Sarah Vaughan.  Escuchar audio

Abrimos nuestro quinto volumen de la Divapedia para seguir descubriendo voces femeninas inconfundibles e inolvidades. Jon González reune hoy a Patti Labelle, Rihanna, Róisín Murphy, Rosalía, Sade, Shirley Bassey y Sarah Vaughan.  Escuchar audio

Sarah Lois Vaughan, nidknamed "Sassy", was a four Grammy Award winner and an American Jazz singer.

durée : 01:54:53 - Michel Legrand en long, en large (2/2) - par : Thierry Jousse - Aujourd'hui Thierry Jousse vous propose une évasion dans l'œuvre de Michel Legrand avec de grandes voix féminines : Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey, Sarah Vaughan, Dusty Springfield… - réalisé par : Olivier Guérin

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Meet Sarah Vaughan, author of ‘Reputation' and ‘Anatomy of a Scandal', currently a hit on Netflix. How to prepare for your publicity campaign. And Anthony Trollope's secret to writing. You can also win ‘The Family Upstairs' by Lisa Jewell. Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grandes damas del jazz cantando clásicos brasileños: Carmen McRae ('Dindi', 'Like a lover'/'O cantador'), Shirley Horn ('Love dance', 'The island'/'Começar de novo'), Sarah Vaughan ('Bonita', 'Copacabana', 'To say goodbye'/'Pra dizer adeus', 'Double rainbow'/'Chovendo na roseira') y Ella Fitzgerald ('Dreamer'/'Vivo sonhando', 'Wave', 'Dindi'). Escuchar audio

Mostly vocals on this episode of Jazz After Dark: Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, Etta Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Vince Guaraldi Trio, Astrud Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Chet Baker, Lena Horne, Eva Cassidy, Lizz Wright, Eriko Ishihara, and Cassandra Wilson.

The first of a two-part interview with the editor of "The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein II," Mark Eden Horowitz, with brand-new insights of our greatest lyricist. With songs performed by Irene Dunne, Paul Robeson, Sarah Vaughan and more.  

Canciones de Cole Porter, nacido el 9 de junio de 1891, en grabaciones de Ben Webster & Coleman Hawkins ('You'd be so nice to come home to'), Sarah Vaughan ('Just one of those things'), Louis Armstrong ('Just one of those things', 'Let's fall in love'), Ella Fitzgerald ('I love Paris', 'Anything goes', 'Night and day'), Billie Holiday ('Easy to love', 'Love for sale'), Caetano Veloso ('Love for sale', 'So in love'), Betty Carter ('Most gentlemen don't like love') y John Coltrane ('Everytime we say goodbye'). Escuchar audio

This week Joe is featuring Vocalist Sarah Vaughan from her 1978 Pablo Records recording titled “How Long Has This Been Going On”.

In this episode, Nicole and Gayle share the remaining books that have caught their eye and are coming out in June and July! As always, they also update us on what they've been reading during these two weeks. As always you can find below the whole booklist they run through during the episode: Strangers on A Train by Patricia Highsmith | https://amzn.to/3r4Y5xy (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780393351934 (Bookshop) Memphis by Tara Stringfellow | https://amzn.to/3Md1hPx (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780593230480 (Bookshop) Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter | https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Wrong-Number-Tiktok-Made-ebook/dp/B09VYS4J85/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Mr.-Wrong-Number-&qid=1654184998&sr=8-1 (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780593437261 (Bookshop) This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub | https://amzn.to/3MtQ7GQ (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780525539001 (Bookshop) You Have a Friend in 10A by Maggie Shipstead | https://amzn.to/3Mczqib (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780525656999 (Bookshop) Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown | https://amzn.to/3m9zF36 (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780593328545 (Bookshop) The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown | https://amzn.to/3GGrZia (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780425244142 (Bookshop) Shmutz by Felicia Berliner | https://amzn.to/3PVFu1G (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781982177621 (Bookshop) NSFW by Isabel Kaplan | Amazon | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781250822895 (Bookshop) Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabirelle Zevin | https://amzn.to/3m8T988 (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780593321201 (Bookshop) The Pink Hotel by Liska Jacobs | https://amzn.to/3GFVnoR (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780374603151 (Bookshop) The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid | https://amzn.to/3NfoaCX (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780593538814 (Bookshop) Reputation by Sarah Vaughan | https://www.amazon.com/Reputation-timely-page-turner-everyone-talking-ebook/dp/B09FKK6DRJ/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Reputation&qid=1654185621&sr=8-4 (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781668000069 (Bookshop) Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka | https://amzn.to/3fMQddW (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780063052734 (Bookshop) Keya Das's Second Act by Sopan Deb | https://amzn.to/3GMJ6iy (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781982185473 (Bookshop) Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc by Katherine J. Chen | https://www.amazon.com/Joan-stunning-feminist-reimagining-Arc-ebook/dp/B09SCNTXMR/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Joan%3A-A-Novel-of-Joan-of-Arc&qid=1654185563&sr=8-1 (Amazon) Corinne by Rebecca Morrow | https://amzn.to/3M5RYAM (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781250279996 (Bookshop) Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781250279996 (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/books/briefly-a-delicious-life/9781982190941 (Bookshop) When Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff | https://amzn.to/3GJTDuT (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780063142022 (Bookshop) Haven by Emma Donoghue | https://amzn.to/3NUpafX (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780316413930 (Bookshop)

Episode 149 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Respect", and the journey of Aretha Franklin from teenage gospel singer to the Queen of Soul. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a fifteen-minute bonus episode available, on "I'm Just a Mops" by the Mops. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Also, people may be interested in a Facebook discussion group for the podcast, run by a friend of mine (I'm not on FB myself) which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/293630102611672/ Errata I say "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby to a Dixie Melody" instead of "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody". Also I say Spooner Oldham co-wrote "Do Right Woman". I meant Chips Moman. Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Aretha Franklin. My main biographical source for Aretha Franklin is Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz, and this is where most of the quotes from musicians come from. I also relied heavily on I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You by Matt Dobkin. Information on C.L. Franklin came from Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore. Rick Hall's The Man From Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame contains his side of the story. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom is possibly less essential, but still definitely worth reading. And the I Never Loved a Man album is available in this five-album box set for a ludicrously cheap price. But it's actually worth getting this nineteen-CD set with her first sixteen Atlantic albums and a couple of bonus discs of demos and outtakes. There's barely a duff track in the whole nineteen discs. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before I start this episode,  I have to say that there are some things people may want to be aware of before listening to this. This episode has to deal, at least in passing, with subjects including child sexual abuse, intimate partner abuse, racism, and misogyny. I will of course try to deal with those subjects as tactfully as possible, but those of you who may be upset by those topics may want to check the episode transcript before or instead of listening. Those of you who leave comments or send me messages saying "why can't you just talk about the music instead of all this woke virtue-signalling?" may also want to skip this episode. You can go ahead and skip all the future ones as well, I won't mind. And one more thing to say before I get into the meat of the episode -- this episode puts me in a more difficult position than most other episodes of the podcast have. When I've talked about awful things that have happened in the course of this podcast previously, I have either been talking about perpetrators -- people like Phil Spector or Jerry Lee Lewis who did truly reprehensible things -- or about victims who have talked very publicly about the abuse they've suffered, people like Ronnie Spector or Tina Turner, who said very clearly "this is what happened to me and I want it on the public record". In the case of Aretha Franklin, she has been portrayed as a victim *by others*, and there are things that have been said about her life and her relationships which suggest that she suffered in some very terrible ways. But she herself apparently never saw herself as a victim, and didn't want some aspects of her private life talking about. At the start of David Ritz's biography of her, which is one of my main sources here, he recounts a conversation he had with her: "When I mentioned the possibility of my writing an independent biography, she said, “As long as I can approve it before it's published.” “Then it wouldn't be independent,” I said. “Why should it be independent?” “So I can tell the story from my point of view.” “But it's not your story, it's mine.” “You're an important historical figure, Aretha. Others will inevitably come along to tell your story. That's the blessing and burden of being a public figure.” “More burden than blessing,” she said." Now, Aretha Franklin is sadly dead, but I think that she still deserves the basic respect of being allowed privacy. So I will talk here about public matters, things she acknowledged in her own autobiography, and things that she and the people around her did in public situations like recording studios and concert venues. But there are aspects to the story of Aretha Franklin as that story is commonly told, which may well be true, but are of mostly prurient interest, don't add much to the story of how the music came to be made, and which she herself didn't want people talking about. So there will be things people might expect me to talk about in this episode, incidents where people in her life, usually men, treated her badly, that I'm going to leave out. That information is out there if people want to look for it, but I don't see myself as under any obligation to share it. That's not me making excuses for people who did inexcusable things, that's me showing some respect to one of the towering artistic figures of the latter half of the twentieth century. Because, of course, respect is what this is all about: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Respect"] One name that's come up a few times in this podcast, but who we haven't really talked about that much, is Bobby "Blue" Bland. We mentioned him as the single biggest influence on the style of Van Morrison, but Bland was an important figure in the Memphis music scene of the early fifties, which we talked about in several early episodes. He was one of the Beale Streeters, the loose aggregation of musicians that also included B.B. King and Johnny Ace, he worked with Ike Turner, and was one of the key links between blues and soul in the fifties and early sixties, with records like "Turn on Your Love Light": [Excerpt: Bobby "Blue" Bland, "Turn on Your Love Light"] But while Bland was influenced by many musicians we've talked about, his biggest influence wasn't a singer at all. It was a preacher he saw give a sermon in the early 1940s. As he said decades later: "Wasn't his words that got me—I couldn't tell you what he talked on that day, couldn't tell you what any of it meant, but it was the way he talked. He talked like he was singing. He talked music. The thing that really got me, though, was this squall-like sound he made to emphasize a certain word. He'd catch the word in his mouth, let it roll around and squeeze it with his tongue. When it popped on out, it exploded, and the ladies started waving and shouting. I liked all that. I started popping and shouting too. That next week I asked Mama when we were going back to Memphis to church. “‘Since when you so keen on church?' Mama asked. “‘I like that preacher,' I said. “‘Reverend Franklin?' she asked. “‘Well, if he's the one who sings when he preaches, that's the one I like.'" Bland was impressed by C.L. Franklin, and so were other Memphis musicians. Long after Franklin had moved to Detroit, they remembered him, and Bland and B.B. King would go to Franklin's church to see him preach whenever they were in the city. And Bland studied Franklin's records. He said later "I liked whatever was on the radio, especially those first things Nat Cole did with his trio. Naturally I liked the blues singers like Roy Brown, the jump singers like Louis Jordan, and the ballad singers like Billy Eckstine, but, brother, the man who really shaped me was Reverend Franklin." Bland would study Franklin's records, and would take the style that Franklin used in recorded sermons like "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest": [Excerpt: C.L. Franklin, "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest"] And you can definitely hear that preaching style on records like Bland's "I Pity the Fool": [Excerpt: Bobby "Blue" Bland, "I Pity the Fool"] But of course, that wasn't the only influence the Reverend C.L. Franklin had on the course of soul music. C.L. Franklin had grown up poor, on a Mississippi farm, and had not even finished grade school because he was needed to work behind the mule, ploughing the farm for his stepfather. But he had a fierce intelligence and became an autodidact, travelling regularly to the nearest library, thirty miles away, on a horse-drawn wagon, and reading everything he could get his hands on. At the age of sixteen he received what he believed to be a message from God, and decided to become an itinerant preacher. He would travel between many small country churches and build up audiences there -- and he would also study everyone else preaching there, analysing their sermons, seeing if he could anticipate their line of argument and get ahead of them, figuring out the structure. But unlike many people in the conservative Black Baptist churches of the time, he never saw the spiritual and secular worlds as incompatible. He saw blues music and Black church sermons as both being part of the same thing -- a Black culture and folklore that was worthy of respect in both its spiritual and secular aspects. He soon built up a small circuit of local churches where he would preach occasionally, but wasn't the main pastor at any of them. He got married aged twenty, though that marriage didn't last, and he seems to have been ambitious for a greater respectability. When that marriage failed, in June 1936, he married Barbara Siggers, a very intelligent, cultured, young single mother who had attended Booker T Washington High School, the best Black school in Memphis, and he adopted her son Vaughn. While he was mostly still doing churches in Mississippi, he took on one in Memphis as well, in an extremely poor area, but it gave him a foot in the door to the biggest Black city in the US. Barbara would later be called "one of the really great gospel singers" by no less than Mahalia Jackson. We don't have any recordings of Barbara singing, but Mahalia Jackson certainly knew what she was talking about when it came to great gospel singers: [Excerpt: Mahalia Jackson, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"] Rev. Franklin was hugely personally ambitious, and he also wanted to get out of rural Mississippi, where the Klan were very active at this time, especially after his daughter Erma was born in 1938. They moved to Memphis in 1939, where he got a full-time position at New Salem Baptist Church, where for the first time he was able to earn a steady living from just one church and not have to tour round multiple churches. He soon became so popular that if you wanted to get a seat for the service at noon, you had to turn up for the 8AM Sunday School or you'd be forced to stand. He also enrolled for college courses at LeMoyne College. He didn't get a degree, but spent three years as a part-time student studying theology, literature, and sociology, and soon developed a liberal theology that was very different from the conservative fundamentalism he'd grown up in, though still very much part of the Baptist church. Where he'd grown up with a literalism that said the Bible was literally true, he started to accept things like evolution, and to see much of the Bible as metaphor. Now, we talked in the last episode about how impossible it is to get an accurate picture of the lives of religious leaders, because their life stories are told by those who admire them, and that's very much the case for C.L. Franklin. Franklin was a man who had many, many, admirable qualities -- he was fiercely intelligent, well-read, a superb public speaker, a man who was by all accounts genuinely compassionate towards those in need, and he became one of the leaders of the civil rights movement and inspired tens of thousands, maybe even millions, of people, directly and indirectly, to change the world for the better. He also raised several children who loved and admired him and were protective of his memory. And as such, there is an inevitable bias in the sources on Franklin's life. And so there's a tendency to soften the very worst things he did, some of which were very, very bad. For example in Nick Salvatore's biography of him, he talks about Franklin, in 1940, fathering a daughter with someone who is described as "a teenager" and "quite young". No details of her age other than that are given, and a few paragraphs later the age of a girl who was then sixteen *is* given, talking about having known the girl in question, and so the impression is given that the girl he impregnated was also probably in her late teens. Which would still be bad, but a man in his early twenties fathering a child with a girl in her late teens is something that can perhaps be forgiven as being a different time. But while the girl in question may have been a teenager when she gave birth, she was *twelve years old* when she became pregnant, by C.L. Franklin, the pastor of her church, who was in a position of power over her in multiple ways. Twelve years old. And this is not the only awful thing that Franklin did -- he was also known to regularly beat up women he was having affairs with, in public. I mention this now because everything else I say about him in this episode is filtered through sources who saw these things as forgivable character flaws in an otherwise admirable human being, and I can't correct for those biases because I don't know the truth. So it's going to sound like he was a truly great man. But bear those facts in mind. Barbara stayed with Franklin for the present, after discovering what he had done, but their marriage was a difficult one, and they split up and reconciled a handful of times. They had three more children together -- Cecil, Aretha, and Carolyn -- and remained together as Franklin moved on first to a church in Buffalo, New York, and then to New Bethel Church, in Detroit, on Hastings Street, a street which was the centre of Black nightlife in the city, as immortalised in John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun": [Excerpt: John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillen"] Before moving to Detroit, Franklin had already started to get more political, as his congregation in Buffalo had largely been union members, and being free from the worst excesses of segregation allowed him to talk more openly about civil rights, but that only accelerated when he moved to Detroit, which had been torn apart just a couple of years earlier by police violence against Black protestors. Franklin had started building a reputation when in Memphis using radio broadcasts, and by the time he moved to Detroit he was able to command a very high salary, and not only that, his family were given a mansion by the church, in a rich part of town far away from most of his congregation. Smokey Robinson, who was Cecil Franklin's best friend and a frequent visitor to the mansion through most of his childhood, described it later, saying "Once inside, I'm awestruck -- oil paintings, velvet tapestries, silk curtains, mahogany cabinets filled with ornate objects of silver and gold. Man, I've never seen nothing like that before!" He made a lot of money, but he also increased church attendance so much that he earned that money. He had already been broadcasting on the radio, but when he started his Sunday night broadcasts in Detroit, he came up with a trick of having his sermons run long, so the show would end before the climax. People listening decided that they would have to start turning up in person to hear the end of the sermons, and soon he became so popular that the church would be so full that crowds would have to form on the street outside to listen. Other churches rescheduled their services so they wouldn't clash with Franklin's, and most of the other Black Baptist ministers in the city would go along to watch him preach. In 1948 though, a couple of years after moving to Detroit, Barbara finally left her husband. She took Vaughn with her and moved back to Buffalo, leaving the four biological children she'd had with C.L. with their father.  But it's important to note that she didn't leave her children -- they would visit her on a regular basis, and stay with her over school holidays. Aretha later said "Despite the fact that it has been written innumerable times, it is an absolute lie that my mother abandoned us. In no way, shape, form, or fashion did our mother desert us." Barbara's place in the home was filled by many women -- C.L. Franklin's mother moved up from Mississippi to help him take care of the children, the ladies from the church would often help out, and even stars like Mahalia Jackson would turn up and cook meals for the children. There were also the women with whom Franklin carried on affairs, including Anna Gordy, Ruth Brown, and Dinah Washington, the most important female jazz and blues singer of the fifties, who had major R&B hits with records like her version of "Cold Cold Heart": [Excerpt: Dinah Washington, "Cold Cold Heart"] Although my own favourite record of hers is "Big Long Slidin' Thing", which she made with arranger Quincy Jones: [Excerpt: Dinah Washington, "Big Long Slidin' Thing"] It's about a trombone. Get your minds out of the gutter. Washington was one of the biggest vocal influences on young Aretha, but the single biggest influence was Clara Ward, another of C.L. Franklin's many girlfriends. Ward was the longest-lasting of these, and there seems to have been a lot of hope on both her part and Aretha's that she and Rev. Franklin would marry, though Franklin always made it very clear that monogamy wouldn't suit him. Ward was one of the three major female gospel singers of the middle part of the century, and possibly even more technically impressive as a vocalist than the other two, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson. Where Jackson was an austere performer, who refused to perform in secular contexts at all for most of her life, and took herself and her music very seriously, and Tharpe was a raunchier, funnier, more down-to-earth performer who was happy to play for blues audiences and even to play secular music on occasion, Ward was a *glamorous* performer, who wore sequined dresses and piled her hair high on her head. Ward had become a singer in 1931 when her mother had what she later talked about as a religious epiphany, and decided she wasn't going to be a labourer any more, she was going to devote her life to gospel music. Ward's mother had formed a vocal group with her two daughters, and Clara quickly became the star and her mother's meal ticket -- and her mother was very possessive of that ticket, to the extent that Ward, who was a bisexual woman who mostly preferred men, had more relationships with women, because her mother wouldn't let her be alone with the men she was attracted to. But Ward did manage to keep a relationship going with C.L. Franklin, and Aretha Franklin talked about the moment she decided to become a singer, when she saw Ward singing "Peace in the Valley" at a funeral: [Excerpt: Clara Ward, "Peace in the Valley"] As well as looking towards Ward as a vocal influence, Aretha was also influenced by her as a person -- she became a mother figure to Aretha, who would talk later about watching Ward eat, and noting her taking little delicate bites, and getting an idea of what it meant to be ladylike from her. After Ward's death in 1973, a notebook was found in which she had written her opinions of other singers. For Aretha she wrote “My baby Aretha, she doesn't know how good she is. Doubts self. Some day—to the moon. I love that girl.” Ward's influence became especially important to Aretha and her siblings after their mother died of a heart attack a few years after leaving her husband, when Aretha was ten, and Aretha, already a very introverted child, became even more so. Everyone who knew Aretha said that her later diva-ish reputation came out of a deep sense of insecurity and introversion -- that she was a desperately private, closed-off, person who would rarely express her emotions at all, and who would look away from you rather than make eye contact. The only time she let herself express emotions was when she performed music. And music was hugely important in the Franklin household. Most preachers in the Black church at that time were a bit dismissive of gospel music, because they thought the music took away from their prestige -- they saw it as a necessary evil, and resented it taking up space when their congregations could have been listening to them. But Rev. Franklin was himself a rather good singer, and even made a few gospel records himself in 1950, recording for Joe Von Battle, who owned a record shop on Hastings Street and also put out records by blues singers: [Excerpt: C.L. Franklin, "I Am Climbing Higher Mountains" ] The church's musical director was James Cleveland, one of the most important gospel artists of the fifties and sixties, who sang with groups like the Caravans: [Excerpt: The Caravans, "What Kind of Man is This?" ] Cleveland, who had started out in the choir run by Thomas Dorsey, the writer of “Take My Hand Precious Lord” and “Peace in the Valley”, moved in with the Franklin family for a while, and he gave the girls tips on playing the piano -- much later he would play piano on Aretha's album Amazing Grace, and she said of him “He showed me some real nice chords, and I liked his deep, deep sound”. Other than Clara Ward, he was probably the single biggest musical influence on Aretha. And all the touring gospel musicians would make appearances at New Bethel Church, not least of them Sam Cooke, who first appeared there with the Highway QCs and would continue to do so after joining the Soul Stirrers: [Excerpt: The Soul Stirrers, "Touch the Hem of his Garment"] Young Aretha and her older sister Erma both had massive crushes on Cooke, and there were rumours that he had an affair with one or both of them when they were in their teens, though both denied it. Aretha later said "When I first saw him, all I could do was sigh... Sam was love on first hearing, love at first sight." But it wasn't just gospel music that filled the house. One of the major ways that C.L. Franklin's liberalism showed was in his love of secular music, especially jazz and blues, which he regarded as just as important in Black cultural life as gospel music. We already talked about Dinah Washington being a regular visitor to the house, but every major Black entertainer would visit the Franklin residence when they were in Detroit. Both Aretha and Cecil Franklin vividly remembered visits from Art Tatum, who would sit at the piano and play for the family and their guests: [Excerpt: Art Tatum, "Tiger Rag"] Tatum was such a spectacular pianist that there's now a musicological term, the tatum, named after him, for the smallest possible discernible rhythmic interval between two notes. Young Aretha was thrilled by his technique, and by that of Oscar Peterson, who also regularly came to the Franklin home, sometimes along with Ella Fitzgerald. Nat "King" Cole was another regular visitor. The Franklin children all absorbed the music these people -- the most important musicians of the time -- were playing in their home, and young Aretha in particular became an astonishing singer and also an accomplished pianist. Smokey Robinson later said: “The other thing that knocked us out about Aretha was her piano playing. There was a grand piano in the Franklin living room, and we all liked to mess around. We'd pick out little melodies with one finger. But when Aretha sat down, even as a seven-year-old, she started playing chords—big chords. Later I'd recognize them as complex church chords, the kind used to accompany the preacher and the solo singer. At the time, though, all I could do was view Aretha as a wonder child. Mind you, this was Detroit, where musical talent ran strong and free. Everyone was singing and harmonizing; everyone was playing piano and guitar. Aretha came out of this world, but she also came out of another far-off magical world none of us really understood. She came from a distant musical planet where children are born with their gifts fully formed.” C.L. Franklin became more involved in the music business still when Joe Von Battle started releasing records of his sermons, which had become steadily more politically aware: [Excerpt: C.L. Franklin, "Dry Bones in the Valley"] Franklin was not a Marxist -- he was a liberal, but like many liberals was willing to stand with Marxists where they had shared interests, even when it was dangerous. For example in 1954, at the height of McCarthyism, he had James and Grace Lee Boggs, two Marxist revolutionaries, come to the pulpit and talk about their support for the anti-colonial revolution in Kenya, and they sold four hundred copies of their pamphlet after their talk, because he saw that the struggle of Black Africans to get out from white colonial rule was the same struggle as that of Black Americans. And Franklin's powerful sermons started getting broadcast on the radio in areas further out from Detroit, as Chess Records picked up the distribution for them and people started playing the records on other stations. People like future Congressman John Lewis and the Reverend Jesse Jackson would later talk about listening to C.L. Franklin's records on the radio and being inspired -- a whole generation of Black Civil Rights leaders took their cues from him, and as the 1950s and 60s went on he became closer and closer to Martin Luther King in particular. But C.L. Franklin was always as much an ambitious showman as an activist, and he started putting together gospel tours, consisting mostly of music but with himself giving a sermon as the headline act. And he became very, very wealthy from these tours. On one trip in the south, his car broke down, and he couldn't find a mechanic willing to work on it. A group of white men started mocking him with racist terms, trying to provoke him, as he was dressed well and driving a nice car (albeit one that had broken down). Rather than arguing with them, he walked to a car dealership, and bought a new car with the cash that he had on him. By 1956 he was getting around $4000 per appearance, roughly equivalent to $43,000 today, and he was making a *lot* of appearances. He also sold half a million records that year. Various gospel singers, including the Clara Ward Singers, would perform on the tours he organised, and one of those performers was Franklin's middle daughter Aretha. Aretha had become pregnant when she was twelve, and after giving birth to the child she dropped out of school, but her grandmother did most of the child-rearing for her, while she accompanied her father on tour. Aretha's first recordings, made when she was just fourteen, show what an astonishing talent she already was at that young age. She would grow as an artist, of course, as she aged and gained experience, but those early gospel records already show an astounding maturity and ability. It's jaw-dropping to listen to these records of a fourteen-year-old, and immediately recognise them as a fully-formed Aretha Franklin. [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "There is a Fountain Filled With Blood"] Smokey Robinson's assessment that she was born with her gifts fully formed doesn't seem like an exaggeration when you hear that. For the latter half of the fifties, Aretha toured with her father, performing on the gospel circuit and becoming known there. But the Franklin sisters were starting to get ideas about moving into secular music. This was largely because their family friend Sam Cooke had done just that, with "You Send Me": [Excerpt: Sam Cooke, "You Send Me"] Aretha and Erma still worshipped Cooke, and Aretha would later talk about getting dressed up just to watch Cooke appear on the TV. Their brother Cecil later said "I remember the night Sam came to sing at the Flame Show Bar in Detroit. Erma and Ree said they weren't going because they were so heartbroken that Sam had recently married. I didn't believe them. And I knew I was right when they started getting dressed about noon for the nine o'clock show. Because they were underage, they put on a ton of makeup to look older. It didn't matter 'cause Berry Gordy's sisters, Anna and Gwen, worked the photo concession down there, taking pictures of the party people. Anna was tight with Daddy and was sure to let my sisters in. She did, and they came home with stars in their eyes.” Moving from gospel to secular music still had a stigma against it in the gospel world, but Rev. Franklin had never seen secular music as sinful, and he encouraged his daughters in their ambitions. Erma was the first to go secular, forming a girl group, the Cleo-Patrettes, at the suggestion of the Four Tops, who were family friends, and recording a single for Joe Von Battle's J-V-B label, "No Other Love": [Excerpt: The Cleo-Patrettes, "No Other Love"] But the group didn't go any further, as Rev. Franklin insisted that his eldest daughter had to finish school and go to university before she could become a professional singer. Erma missed other opportunities for different reasons, though -- Berry Gordy, at this time still a jobbing songwriter, offered her a song he'd written with his sister and Roquel Davis, but Erma thought of herself as a jazz singer and didn't want to do R&B, and so "All I Could Do Was Cry" was given to Etta James instead, who had a top forty pop hit with it: [Excerpt: Etta James, "All I Could Do Was Cry"] While Erma's move into secular music was slowed by her father wanting her to have an education, there was no such pressure on Aretha, as she had already dropped out. But Aretha had a different problem -- she was very insecure, and said that church audiences "weren't critics, but worshippers", but she was worried that nightclub audiences in particular were just the kind of people who would just be looking for flaws, rather than wanting to support the performer as church audiences did. But eventually she got up the nerve to make the move. There was the possibility of her getting signed to Motown -- her brother was still best friends with Smokey Robinson, while the Gordy family were close to her father -- but Rev. Franklin had his eye on bigger things. He wanted her to be signed to Columbia, which in 1960 was the most prestigious of all the major labels. As Aretha's brother Cecil later said "He wanted Ree on Columbia, the label that recorded Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Percy Faith, and Doris Day. Daddy said that Columbia was the biggest and best record company in the world. Leonard Bernstein recorded for Columbia." They went out to New York to see Phil Moore, a legendary vocal coach and arranger who had helped make Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge into stars, but Moore actually refused to take her on as a client, saying "She does not require my services. Her style has already been developed. Her style is in place. It is a unique style that, in my professional opinion, requires no alteration. It simply requires the right material. Her stage presentation is not of immediate concern. All that will come later. The immediate concern is the material that will suit her best. And the reason that concern will not be easily addressed is because I can't imagine any material that will not suit her." That last would become a problem for the next few years, but the immediate issue was to get someone at Columbia to listen to her, and Moore could help with that -- he was friends with John Hammond. Hammond is a name that's come up several times in the podcast already -- we mentioned him in the very earliest episodes, and also in episode ninety-eight, where we looked at his signing of Bob Dylan. But Hammond was a legend in the music business. He had produced sessions for Bessie Smith, had discovered Count Basie and Billie Holiday, had convinced Benny Goodman to hire Charlie Christian and Lionel Hampton, had signed Pete Seeger and the Weavers to Columbia, had organised the Spirituals to Swing concerts which we talked about in the first few episodes of this podcast, and was about to put out the first album of Robert Johnson's recordings. Of all the executives at Columbia, he was the one who had the greatest eye for talent, and the greatest understanding of Black musical culture. Moore suggested that the Franklins get Major Holley to produce a demo recording that he could get Hammond to listen to. Major Holley was a family friend, and a jazz bassist who had played with Oscar Peterson and Coleman Hawkins among others, and he put together a set of songs for Aretha that would emphasise the jazz side of her abilities, pitching her as a Dinah Washington style bluesy jazz singer. The highlight of the demo was a version of "Today I Sing the Blues", a song that had originally been recorded by Helen Humes, the singer who we last heard of recording “Be Baba Leba” with Bill Doggett: [Excerpt: Helen Humes, "Today I Sing the Blues"] That original version had been produced by Hammond, but the song had also recently been covered by Aretha's idol, Sam Cooke: [Excerpt: Sam Cooke, "Today I Sing the Blues"] Hammond was hugely impressed by the demo, and signed Aretha straight away, and got to work producing her first album. But he and Rev. Franklin had different ideas about what Aretha should do. Hammond wanted to make a fairly raw-sounding bluesy jazz album, the kind of recording he had produced with Bessie Smith or Billie Holiday, but Rev. Franklin wanted his daughter to make music that would cross over to the white pop market -- he was aiming for the same kind of audience that Nat "King" Cole or Harry Belafonte had, and he wanted her recording standards like "Over the Rainbow". This showed a lack of understanding on Rev. Franklin's part of how such crossovers actually worked at this point. As Etta James later said, "If you wanna have Black hits, you gotta understand the Black streets, you gotta work those streets and work those DJs to get airplay on Black stations... Or looking at it another way, in those days you had to get the Black audience to love the hell outta you and then hope the love would cross over to the white side. Columbia didn't know nothing 'bout crossing over.” But Hammond knew they had to make a record quickly, because Sam Cooke had been working on RCA Records, trying to get them to sign Aretha, and Rev. Franklin wanted an album out so they could start booking club dates for her, and was saying that if they didn't get one done quickly he'd take up that offer, and so they came up with a compromise set of songs which satisfied nobody, but did produce two R&B top ten hits, "Won't Be Long" and Aretha's version of "Today I Sing the Blues": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Today I Sing the Blues"] This is not to say that Aretha herself saw this as a compromise -- she later said "I have never compromised my material. Even then, I knew a good song from a bad one. And if Hammond, one of the legends of the business, didn't know how to produce a record, who does? No, the fault was with promotion." And this is something important to bear in mind as we talk about her Columbia records. Many, *many* people have presented those records as Aretha being told what to do by producers who didn't understand her art and were making her record songs that didn't fit her style. That's not what's happening with the Columbia records. Everyone actually involved said that Aretha was very involved in the choices made -- and there are some genuinely great tracks on those albums. The problem is that they're *unfocused*. Aretha was only eighteen when she signed to the label, and she loved all sorts of music -- blues, jazz, soul, standards, gospel, middle-of-the-road pop music -- and wanted to sing all those kinds of music. And she *could* sing all those kinds of music, and sing them well. But it meant the records weren't coherent. You didn't know what you were getting, and there was no artistic personality that dominated them, it was just what Aretha felt like recording. Around this time, Aretha started to think that maybe her father didn't know what he was talking about when it came to popular music success, even though she idolised him in most areas, and she turned to another figure, who would soon become both her husband and manager. Ted White. Her sister Erma, who was at that time touring with Lloyd Price, had introduced them, but in fact Aretha had first seen White years earlier, in her own house -- he had been Dinah Washington's boyfriend in the fifties, and her first sight of him had been carrying a drunk Washington out of the house after a party. In interviews with David Ritz, who wrote biographies of many major soul stars including both Aretha Franklin and Etta James, James had a lot to say about White, saying “Ted White was famous even before he got with Aretha. My boyfriend at the time, Harvey Fuqua, used to talk about him. Ted was supposed to be the slickest pimp in Detroit. When I learned that Aretha married him, I wasn't surprised. A lot of the big-time singers who we idolized as girls—like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan—had pimps for boyfriends and managers. That was standard operating procedure. My own mother had made a living turning tricks. When we were getting started, that way of life was part of the music business. It was in our genes. Part of the lure of pimps was that they got us paid." She compared White to Ike Turner, saying "Ike made Tina, no doubt about it. He developed her talent. He showed her what it meant to be a performer. He got her famous. Of course, Ted White was not a performer, but he was savvy about the world. When Harvey Fuqua introduced me to him—this was the fifties, before he was with Aretha—I saw him as a super-hip extra-smooth cat. I liked him. He knew music. He knew songwriters who were writing hit songs. He had manners. Later, when I ran into him and Aretha—this was the sixties—I saw that she wasn't as shy as she used to be." White was a pimp, but he was also someone with music business experience -- he owned an unsuccessful publishing company, and also ran a chain of jukeboxes. He was also thirty, while Aretha was only eighteen. But White didn't like the people in Aretha's life at the time -- he didn't get on well with her father, and he also clashed with John Hammond. And Aretha was also annoyed at Hammond, because her sister Erma had signed to Epic, a Columbia subsidiary, and was releasing her own singles: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Hello Again"] Aretha was certain that Hammond had signed Erma, even though Hammond had nothing to do with Epic Records, and Erma had actually been recommended by Lloyd Price. And Aretha, while for much of her career she would support her sister, was also terrified that her sister might have a big hit before her and leave Aretha in her shadow. Hammond was still the credited producer on Aretha's second album, The Electrifying Aretha Franklin, but his lack of say in the sessions can be shown in the choice of lead-off single. "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" was originally recorded by Al Jolson in 1918: [Excerpt: Al Jolson, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody"] Rev. Franklin pushed for the song, as he was a fan of Jolson -- Jolson, oddly, had a large Black fanbase, despite his having been a blackface performer, because he had *also* been a strong advocate of Black musicians like Cab Calloway, and the level of racism in the media of the twenties through forties was so astonishingly high that even a blackface performer could seem comparatively OK. Aretha's performance was good, but it was hardly the kind of thing that audiences were clamouring for in 1961: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody"] That single came out the month after _Down Beat_ magazine gave Aretha the "new-star female vocalist award", and it oddly made the pop top forty, her first record to do so, and the B-side made the R&B top ten, but for the next few years both chart success and critical acclaim eluded her. None of her next nine singles would make higher than number eighty-six on the Hot One Hundred, and none would make the R&B charts at all. After that transitional second album, she was paired with producer Bob Mersey, who was precisely the kind of white pop producer that one would expect for someone who hoped for crossover success. Mersey was the producer for many of Columbia's biggest stars at the time -- people like Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, Julie Andrews, Patti Page, and Mel Tormé -- and it was that kind of audience that Aretha wanted to go for at this point. To give an example of the kind of thing that Mersey was doing, just the month before he started work on his first collaboration with Aretha, _The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin_, his production of Andy Williams singing "Moon River" was released: [Excerpt: Andy Williams, "Moon River"] This was the kind of audience Aretha was going for when it came to record sales – the person she compared herself to most frequently at this point was Barbra Streisand – though in live performances she was playing with a small jazz group in jazz venues, and going for the same kind of jazz-soul crossover audience as Dinah Washington or Ray Charles. The strategy seems to have been to get something like the success of her idol Sam Cooke, who could play to soul audiences but also play the Copacabana, but the problem was that Cooke had built an audience before doing that -- she hadn't. But even though she hadn't built up an audience, musicians were starting to pay attention. Ted White, who was still in touch with Dinah Washington, later said “Women are very catty. They'll see a girl who's dressed very well and they'll say, Yeah, but look at those shoes, or look at that hairdo. Aretha was the only singer I've ever known that Dinah had no negative comments about. She just stood with her mouth open when she heard Aretha sing.” The great jazz vocalist Carmen McRea went to see Aretha at the Village Vanguard in New York around this time, having heard the comparisons to Dinah Washington, and met her afterwards. She later said "Given how emotionally she sang, I expected her to have a supercharged emotional personality like Dinah. Instead, she was the shyest thing I've ever met. Would hardly look me in the eye. Didn't say more than two words. I mean, this bitch gave bashful a new meaning. Anyway, I didn't give her any advice because she didn't ask for any, but I knew goddamn well that, no matter how good she was—and she was absolutely wonderful—she'd have to make up her mind whether she wanted to be Della Reese, Dinah Washington, or Sarah Vaughan. I also had a feeling she wouldn't have minded being Leslie Uggams or Diahann Carroll. I remember thinking that if she didn't figure out who she was—and quick—she was gonna get lost in the weeds of the music biz." So musicians were listening to Aretha, even if everyone else wasn't. The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin, for example, was full of old standards like "Try a Little Tenderness": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Try a Little Tenderness"] That performance inspired Otis Redding to cut his own version of that song a few years later: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness"] And it might also have inspired Aretha's friend and idol Sam Cooke to include the song in his own lounge sets. The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin also included Aretha's first original composition, but in general it wasn't a very well-received album. In 1963, the first cracks started to develop in Aretha's relationship with Ted White. According to her siblings, part of the strain was because Aretha's increasing commitment to the civil rights movement was costing her professional opportunities. Her brother Cecil later said "Ted White had complete sway over her when it came to what engagements to accept and what songs to sing. But if Daddy called and said, ‘Ree, I want you to sing for Dr. King,' she'd drop everything and do just that. I don't think Ted had objections to her support of Dr. King's cause, and he realized it would raise her visibility. But I do remember the time that there was a conflict between a big club gig and doing a benefit for Dr. King. Ted said, ‘Take the club gig. We need the money.' But Ree said, ‘Dr. King needs me more.' She defied her husband. Maybe that was the start of their marital trouble. Their thing was always troubled because it was based on each of them using the other. Whatever the case, my sister proved to be a strong soldier in the civil rights fight. That made me proud of her and it kept her relationship with Daddy from collapsing entirely." In part her increasing activism was because of her father's own increase in activity. The benefit that Cecil is talking about there is probably one in Chicago organised by Mahalia Jackson, where Aretha headlined on a bill that also included Jackson, Eartha Kitt, and the comedian Dick Gregory. That was less than a month before her father organised the Detroit Walk to Freedom, a trial run for the more famous March on Washington a few weeks later. The Detroit Walk to Freedom was run by the Detroit Council for Human Rights, which was formed by Rev. Franklin and Rev. Albert Cleage, a much more radical Black nationalist who often differed with Franklin's more moderate integrationist stance. They both worked together to organise the Walk to Freedom, but Franklin's stance predominated, as several white liberal politicians, like the Mayor of Detroit, Jerome Cavanagh, were included in the largely-Black March. It drew crowds of 125,000 people, and Dr. King called it "one of the most wonderful things that has happened in America", and it was the largest civil rights demonstration in American history up to that point. King's speech in Detroit was recorded and released on Motown Records: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Original 'I Have a Dream' Speech”] He later returned to the same ideas in his more famous speech in Washington. During that civil rights spring and summer of 1963, Aretha also recorded what many think of as the best of her Columbia albums, a collection of jazz standards  called Laughing on the Outside, which included songs like "Solitude", "Ol' Man River" and "I Wanna Be Around": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Wanna Be Around"] The opening track, "Skylark", was Etta James' favourite ever Aretha Franklin performance, and is regarded by many as the definitive take on the song: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Skylark"] Etta James later talked about discussing the track with the great jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, one of Aretha's early influences, who had recorded her own version of the song: "Sarah said, ‘Have you heard of this Aretha Franklin girl?' I said, ‘You heard her do “Skylark,” didn't you?' Sarah said, ‘Yes, I did, and I'm never singing that song again.” But while the album got noticed by other musicians, it didn't get much attention from the wider public. Mersey decided that a change in direction was needed, and they needed to get in someone with more of a jazz background to work with Aretha. He brought in pianist and arranger Bobby Scott, who had previously worked with people like Lester Young, and Scott said of their first meeting “My first memory of Aretha is that she wouldn't look at me when I spoke. She withdrew from the encounter in a way that intrigued me. At first I thought she was just shy—and she was—but I also felt her reading me...For all her deference to my experience and her reluctance to speak up, when she did look me in the eye, she did so with a quiet intensity before saying, ‘I like all your ideas, Mr. Scott, but please remember I do want hits.'” They started recording together, but the sides they cut wouldn't be released for a few years. Instead, Aretha and Mersey went in yet another direction. Dinah Washington died suddenly in December 1963, and given that Aretha was already being compared to Washington by almost everyone, and that Washington had been a huge influence on her, as well as having been close to both her father and her husband/manager, it made sense to go into the studio and quickly cut a tribute album, with Aretha singing Washington's hits: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Cold Cold Heart"] Unfortunately, while Washington had been wildly popular, and one of the most important figures in jazz and R&B in the forties and fifties, her style was out of date. The tribute album, titled Unforgettable, came out in February 1964, the same month that Beatlemania hit the US. Dinah Washington was the past, and trying to position Aretha as "the new Dinah Washington" would doom her to obscurity. John Hammond later said "I remember thinking that if Aretha never does another album she will be remembered for this one. No, the problem was timing. Dinah had died, and, outside the black community, interest in her had waned dramatically. Popular music was in a radical and revolutionary moment, and that moment had nothing to do with Dinah Washington, great as she was and will always be.” At this point, Columbia brought in Clyde Otis, an independent producer and songwriter who had worked with artists like Washington and Sarah Vaughan, and indeed had written one of the songs on Unforgettable, but had also worked with people like Brook Benton, who had a much more R&B audience. For example, he'd written "Baby, You Got What It Takes" for Benton and Washington to do as a duet: [Excerpt: Brook Benton and Dinah Washington, "Baby, You Got What it Takes"] In 1962, when he was working at Mercury Records before going independent, Otis had produced thirty-three of the fifty-one singles the label put out that year that had charted. Columbia had decided that they were going to position Aretha firmly in the R&B market, and assigned Otis to do just that. At first, though, Otis had no more luck with getting Aretha to sing R&B than anyone else had. He later said "Aretha, though, couldn't be deterred from her determination to beat Barbra Streisand at Barbra's own game. I kept saying, ‘Ree, you can outsing Streisand any day of the week. That's not the point. The point is to find a hit.' But that summer she just wanted straight-up ballads. She insisted that she do ‘People,' Streisand's smash. Aretha sang the hell out of it, but no one's gonna beat Barbra at her own game." But after several months of this, eventually Aretha and White came round to the idea of making an R&B record. Otis produced an album of contemporary R&B, with covers of music from the more sophisticated end of the soul market, songs like "My Guy", "Every Little Bit Hurts", and "Walk on By", along with a few new originals brought in by Otis. The title track, "Runnin' Out of Fools", became her biggest hit in three years, making number fifty-seven on the pop charts and number thirty on the R&B charts: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Runnin' Out of Fools"] After that album, they recorded another album with Otis producing, a live-in-the-studio jazz album, but again nobody involved could agree on a style for her. By this time it was obvious that she was unhappy with Columbia and would be leaving the label soon, and they wanted to get as much material in the can as they could, so they could continue releasing material after she left. But her working relationship with Otis was deteriorating -- Otis and Ted White did not get on, Aretha and White were having their own problems, and Aretha had started just not showing up for some sessions, with nobody knowing where she was. Columbia passed her on to yet another producer, this time Bob Johnston, who had just had a hit with Patti Page, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte": [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte"] Johnston was just about to hit an incredible hot streak as a producer. At the same time as his sessions with Aretha, he was also producing Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, and just after the sessions finished he'd go on to produce Simon & Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence album. In the next few years he would produce a run of classic Dylan albums like Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, and New Morning, Simon & Garfunkel's follow up Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, Leonard Cohen's first three albums, and Johnny Cash's comeback with the Live at Folsom Prison album and its follow up At San Quentin. He also produced records for Marty Robbins, Flatt & Scruggs, the Byrds, and Burl Ives during that time period. But you may notice that while that's as great a run of records as any producer was putting out at the time, it has little to do with the kind of music that Aretha Franklin was making then, or would become famous with. Johnston produced a string-heavy session in which Aretha once again tried to sing old standards by people like Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern. She then just didn't turn up for some more sessions, until one final session in August, when she recorded songs like "Swanee" and "You Made Me Love You". For more than a year, she didn't go into a studio. She also missed many gigs and disappeared from her family's life for periods of time. Columbia kept putting out records of things she'd already recorded, but none of them had any success at all. Many of the records she'd made for Columbia had been genuinely great -- there's a popular perception that she was being held back by a record company that forced her to sing material she didn't like, but in fact she *loved* old standards, and jazz tunes, and contemporary pop at least as much as any other kind of music. Truly great musicians tend to have extremely eclectic tastes, and Aretha Franklin was a truly great musician if anyone was. Her Columbia albums are as good as any albums in those genres put out in that time period, and she remained proud of them for the rest of her life. But that very eclecticism had meant that she hadn't established a strong identity as a performer -- everyone who heard her records knew she was a great singer, but nobody knew what "an Aretha Franklin record" really meant -- and she hadn't had a single real hit, which was the thing she wanted more than anything. All that changed when in the early hours of the morning, Jerry Wexler was at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals recording a Wilson Pickett track -- from the timeline, it was probably the session for "Mustang Sally", which coincidentally was published by Ted White's publishing company, as Sir Mack Rice, the writer, was a neighbour of White and Franklin, and to which Aretha had made an uncredited songwriting contribution: [Excerpt: Wilson Pickett, "Mustang Sally"] Whatever the session, it wasn't going well. Percy Sledge, another Atlantic artist who recorded at Muscle Shoals, had turned up and had started winding Pickett up, telling him he sounded just like James Brown. Pickett *hated* Brown -- it seems like almost every male soul singer of the sixties hated James Brown -- and went to physically attack Sledge. Wexler got between the two men to protect his investments in them -- both were the kind of men who could easily cause some serious damage to anyone they hit -- and Pickett threw him to one side and charged at Sledge. At that moment the phone went, and Wexler yelled at the two of them to calm down so he could talk on the phone. The call was telling him that Aretha Franklin was interested in recording for Atlantic. Rev. Louise Bishop, later a Democratic politician in Pennsylvania, was at this time a broadcaster, presenting a radio gospel programme, and she knew Aretha. She'd been to see her perform, and had been astonished by Aretha's performance of a recent Otis Redding single, "Respect": [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Respect"] Redding will, by the way, be getting his own episode in a few months' time, which is why I've not covered the making of that record here. Bishop thought that Aretha did the song even better than Redding -- something Bishop hadn't thought possible. When she got talking to Aretha after the show, she discovered that her contract with Columbia was up, and Aretha didn't really know what she was going to do -- maybe she'd start her own label or something. She hadn't been into the studio in more than a year, but she did have some songs she'd been working on. Bishop was good friends with Jerry Wexler, and she knew that he was a big fan of Aretha's, and had been saying for a while that when her contract was up he'd like to sign her. Bishop offered to make the connection, and then went back home and phoned Wexler's wife, waking her up -- it was one in the morning by this point, but Bishop was accustomed to phoning Wexler late at night when it was something important. Wexler's wife then phoned him in Muscle Shoals, and he phoned Bishop back and made the arrangements to meet up. Initially, Wexler wasn't thinking about producing Aretha himself -- this was still the period when he and the Ertegun brothers were thinking of selling Atlantic and getting out of the music business, and so while he signed her to the label he was originally going to hand her over to Jim Stewart at Stax to record, as he had with Sam and Dave. But in a baffling turn of events, Jim Stewart didn't actually want to record her, and so Wexler determined that he had better do it himself. And he didn't want to do it with slick New York musicians -- he wanted to bring out the gospel sound in her voice, and he thought the best way to do that was with musicians from what Charles Hughes refers to as "the country-soul triangle" of Nashville, Memphis, and Muscle Shoals. So he booked a week's worth of sessions at FAME studios, and got in FAME's regular rhythm section, plus a couple of musicians from American Recordings in Memphis -- Chips Moman and Spooner Oldham. Oldham's friend and songwriting partner Dan Penn came along as well -- he wasn't officially part of the session, but he was a fan of Aretha's and wasn't going to miss this. Penn had been the first person that Rick Hall, the owner of FAME, had called when Wexler had booked the studio, because Hall hadn't actually heard of Aretha Franklin up to that point, but didn't want to let Wexler know that. Penn had assured him that Aretha was one of the all-time great talents, and that she just needed the right production to become massive. As Hall put it in his autobiography, "Dan tended in those days to hate anything he didn't write, so I figured if he felt that strongly about her, then she was probably going to be a big star." Charlie Chalmers, a horn player who regularly played with these musicians, was tasked with putting together a horn section. The first song they recorded that day was one that the musicians weren't that impressed with at first. "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)" was written by a songwriter named Ronnie Shannon, who had driven from Georgia to Detroit hoping to sell his songs to Motown. He'd popped into a barber's shop where Ted White was having his hair cut to ask for directions to Motown, and White had signed him to his own publishing company and got him to write songs for Aretha. On hearing the demo, the musicians thought that the song was mediocre and a bit shapeless: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You) (demo)"] But everyone there was agreed that Aretha herself was spectacular. She didn't speak much to the musicians, just went to the piano and sat down and started playing, and Jerry Wexler later compared her playing to Thelonius Monk (who was indeed one of the jazz musicians who had influenced her). While Spooner Oldham had been booked to play piano, it was quickly decided to switch him to electric piano and organ, leaving the acoustic piano for Aretha to play, and she would play piano on all the sessions Wexler produced for her in future. Although while Wexler is the credited producer (and on this initial session Rick Hall at FAME is a credited co-producer), everyone involved, including Wexler, said that the musicians were taking their cues from Aretha rather than anyone else. She would outline the arrangements at the piano, and everyone else would fit in with what she was doing, coming up with head arrangements directed by her. But Wexler played a vital role in mediating between her and the musicians and engineering staff, all of whom he knew and she didn't. As Rick Hall said "After her brief introduction by Wexler, she said very little to me or anyone else in the studio other than Jerry or her husband for the rest of the day. I don't think Aretha and I ever made eye contact after our introduction, simply because we were both so totally focused on our music and consumed by what we were doing." The musicians started working on "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)", and at first found it difficult to get the groove, but then Oldham came up with an electric piano lick which everyone involved thought of as the key that unlocked the song for them: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)"] After that, they took a break. Most of them were pleased with the track, though Rick Hall wasn't especially happy. But then Rick Hall wasn't especially happy about anything at that point. He'd always used mono for his recordings until then, but had been basically forced to install at least a two-track system by Tom Dowd, Atlantic's chief engineer, and was resentful of this imposition. During the break, Dan Penn went off to finish a song he and Spooner Oldham had been writing, which he hoped Aretha would record at the session: [Excerpt: Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"] They had the basic structure of the song down, but hadn't quite finished the middle eight, and both Jerry Wexler and Aretha Franklin chipped in uncredited lyrical contributions -- Aretha's line was "as long as we're together baby, you'd better show some respect to me". Penn, Oldham, Chips Moman, Roger Hawkins, and Tommy Cogbill started cutting a backing track for the song, with Penn singing lead initially with the idea that Aretha would overdub her vocal. But while they were doing this, things had been going wrong with the other participants. All the FAME and American rhythm section players were white, as were Wexler, Hall, and Dowd, and Wexler had been very aware of this, and of the fact that they were recording in Alabama, where Aretha and her husband might not feel totally safe, so he'd specifically requested that the horn section at least contain some Black musicians. But Charlie Chalmers hadn't been able to get any of the Black musicians he would normally call when putting together a horn section, and had ended up with an all-white horn section as well, including one player, a trumpet player called Ken Laxton, who had a reputation as a good player but had never worked with any of the other musicians there -- he was an outsider in a group of people who regularly worked together and had a pre-existing relationship. As the two outsiders, Laxton and Ted White had, at first, bonded, and indeed had started drinking vodka together, passing a bottle between themselves, in a way that Rick Hall would normally not allow in a session -- at the time, the county the studio was in was still a dry county. But as Wexler said, “A redneck patronizing a Black man is a dangerous camaraderie,” and White and Laxton soon had a major falling out. Everyone involved tells a different story about what it was that caused them to start rowing, though it seems to have been to do with Laxton not showing the proper respect for Aretha, or even actually sexually assaulting her -- Dan Penn later said “I always heard he patted her on the butt or somethin', and what would have been wrong with that anyway?”, which says an awful lot about the attitudes of these white Southern men who thought of themselves as very progressive, and were -- for white Southern men in early 1967. Either way, White got very, very annoyed, and insisted that Laxton get fired from the session, which he was, but that still didn't satisfy White, and he stormed off to the motel, drunk and angry. The rest of them finished cutting a basic track for "Do Right Woman", but nobody was very happy with it. Oldham said later “She liked the song but hadn't had time to practice it or settle into it I remember there was Roger playing the drums and Cogbill playing the bass. And I'm on these little simplistic chords on organ, just holding chords so the song would be understood. And that was sort of where it was left. Dan had to sing the vocal, because she didn't know the song, in the wrong key for him. That's what they left with—Dan singing the wrong-key vocal and this little simplistic organ and a bass and a drum. We had a whole week to do everything—we had plenty of time—so there was no hurry to do anything in particular.” Penn was less optimistic, saying "But as I rem

This show is being brought to you by www.gubbarum.com Jazz singer-songwriter Ori Dagan has attracted a dedicated and growing audience, both in his native Toronto and internationally. He brings a wry and agile sense of swing to everything he does, whether interpreting a standard, spinning a pop tune on its head or introducing his own original music and lyrics. His rich bass-baritone is unmistakable; his irreverent songcraft speaks to the lineage of Nat Cole novelty numbers and the impeccably swinging humor of the late Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg. His scat singing has the natural, fluid, bop-inflected feel of the best in that idiom, inspired by heroines and heroes Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Anita O'Day and Sheila Jordan (with whom Dagan recorded a duet in 2017).

Tonight on Jazz After Dark: from the 1940s, we'll hear Helen Forrest with Harry James, Gene Krupa, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday. Then Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Strayhorn with Johnny Hodges, Tony Bennett, Buddy Rich, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk

We've got your number--in fact, more than a dozen numbers from the fabulous Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh score. Original and revival casts--Sid Caesar, Martin Short, Faith Prince--plus Sarah Vaughan, Judy Garland, and more.

I Interview Sarah Vaughan about her latest book “Reputation” and also review “Year Of Wonder” by Clemency Burton-Hill, ”Not a Happy Family” by Shari Lapena, “Something to Hide” by Elizabeth George and “Faceless” by Vanda Simon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tonight on Jazz After Dark: Harlan Leonard, Art Tatum with  Benny Carter and Louis Bellson, Ruby Braff, Oscar Peterson Trio, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with  Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, Art Farmer, Bobby Militello with the Brubeck family, and Perico Sambeat.