Thanks. Saw clips of this yesterday on tv and wanted to see/hear the whole song. So moving.
I never appreciated soul music in the 60's. Got turned on through listening to Derek and Susan and found a whole new world to treat my ears and soul. Thanks to them, Iv'e been able to realize a world of music I unfortunately neglected for way too many years. Aretha was the queen! Thank you for your contribution.
Allman Brothers connection to Aretha Franklin. Duane Allman was on a Aretha session but he said he mostly watched because she showed up with her own guitar player. And Otis Redding wrote RESPECT and recorded it first. Otis was managed by Phil Walden and Jaimoe played drums in Otis' road band for a period. After Otis was tragically killed in a plane crash, Phil signed Duane Allman. It was Phil who introduced Jaimoe to Duane. They played some together soon afterwards and Duane said " You're in". Jaimoe became the first member. Then Berry Oakley and they planned to launch as a 3 piece but Duane wasn't happy with the recordings. Berry told Duane the real magic was happening when he and Dickey Betts played together. So Dickey was hired. Then Dickey and Berry convinced Duane they needed a rock drummer and let Jaimoe do his tasty jazz stuff around a more freight train power drummer so they hired Butch Trucks. Then they said nobody sings as good as the band plays so Duane called Gregg who was in LA and he replaced Reese Wynans.
I'm hearing people now say Aretha Franklin was the best singer to ever stand in front of a microphone. The greatest singer of the 20th century. And no question she was really good and probably was the queen of soul and probably the best female soul singer ever. But there are other genres. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford and many, many more. It's like saying John Bonham was the greatest drummer of the 20th century then you think of Buddy Rich. But if Aretha isn't the greatest singer in the 20th century she was certainly one of the best.
I met Otis Redding while Aretha's version of RESPECT was in the top 10. I ask him what he thought of her doing a song he wrote and recorded. He said " What are you talking about? She took that song away from me. Made me sound bad. But it's my song so I get a little cut of every copie that she sells".
Otis was on a show with Sam and Dave, Solomon Berk and Betty Wright at an old football stadium in Virginia in the summer of 1967. Later that year Otis was killed in a small plane crash. I think Otis' version came out in 1964 and as I said, Otis wrote it.
Duane and Aretha: The Weight
On NPR, they played a recording of Aretha singing at the age of 14, already excellent, and as she sang I could not help but think of Derek's guitar playing hitting many of her notes, offering the same sort of approach in many ways. He has a very "vocal" way of playing. I think it was actually John Mayer who stated that Derek's playing sounds like an old gospel singer singing the blues, and he's right.
They also played part of a sermon by her father, who apparently was such a popular preacher that his sermons were recorded and sold. It was amazing, a spoken piece that had incredible musicality. The sermon had the blues.
