Mar 27, 2011

Take a Look: The Complete Aretha Franklin (on Columbia)


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As a youth, I remember secretly enjoying the music the older folks listened to--The Beatles, Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, to name a few. This music still feeds my soul & I've come to measure today's artists by the high bar that was set decades ago. Sadly, very few artists today measure up. The soul of Bob Dylan & James Brown is missing. The courage & passion of Nina Simone & Tina Turner are missing. The funky rebellon of Jimi Hendrix & Pink Floyd....again...missing. Every now and then, we get a reminder of what real music sounds like when we hear a Jill Scott, Michael Buble or Anthony Hamilton.


When I looked at the above trailer of Aretha's years with Columbia records, I saw right away why she's called the Queen of Soul. Look at her eyes. That voice....so full of raw passion & honesty, grace and vocal sophistication. There's a reason this gifted woman has won every music award there is to include 20 Grammys. Her interpretation of the Otis Redding piece, "Try a Little Tenderness" is still the best I've ever heard so I had to share it.



This impressive box-set consists of 7 studio albums and multiple sessions between 1960-1966 during the heat of the Civil Rights struggles. Like other artists in this period,this precocious & prodigious 18 year old was pushing the lines of race, gender and soul in her recordings with Columbia & embodied what is meant to be young, gifted & black (& a woman on top of that!).

OneLove

:::MME:::

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