Yet in spite of her countless triumphs there is still a cloud of sorrow that hangs over her, adding to the mystique and mystery of her venerable persona. Out of all the living soul geniuses, (her, Stevie, Sly, Prince) she seems to have the least time enjoying her status.
The most amazing and frustrating thing about Aretha is for all the dumb stuff that has been written about her, her worst critic is herself. Although coming close in the early '70s, she could never build the self-esteem to maintain an artistic persona. Her greatest performances had become her prison, as she felt obligated to the whims of the audience that had given her so much love.
And when her audience revolted against her afro centric pop princess persona, she became an R&B chameleon; doing every flavor of the month style but her own, resulting in an artistic malaise that until only recently she's recovered from.
Yet after all the mysticism, myth and reality that constructs the career of Aretha Franklin, I am always drawn back to a picture of her taken from that time period. It's haunting, dark and unpleasant to see, yet it tells a different story every time I look at it. It's a picture of her in a bouffant hairdo with a vat of makeup on her face that almost covers a swollen jaw, busted lip, a huge shiner under her left eye and a one-inch cut scar on her right. If on the face of a boxer, it would have prevented him from fighting for 60 days.
It was the publicity shot for inside the album.
Article comments
1 - Elvira Black
This is terrific, Robert.
2 - Michael J. West
A damn fine article about a damn fine album. One of my favorites (although, blasphemically, I never much cared for her version of "Respect"; I've always preferred Otis Redding's original).
That said, I have one tiny, tiny nit to pick:
Out of all the living soul geniuses, (her, Stevie, Sly, Prince)
James Brown doesn't count as a living soul genius?
3 - Robert lashley
Elvira: Thank you
Michael: I can dig it, and you're right. I should put the godfather at the end of that caption.
4 - Bryan
"I Never Loved A Man The Way That I Love You" would make a terrific title for a lesbian anthem.
5 - ART
OK LANG
6 - Paul Hill
I have been a fan of Aretha Franklin since she was 14. I heard her as a small boy on a crusade with her father and her voice changed my life. I watched her get pregnant at 14 and again only a few years later, marry and divorce Ted White, hoped she'd find happiness with Ken Cunningham, even Glenn Thurman, but I don't think anything will ever compensate for the early loss of her mother and the eternal desire to please her father. I watched her siblings die one by one and the ups and downs of each of her children and wondered how she could ever be so strong. I think one scripture encapsulates this marvelous woman, "Raise up a child in the way (she) is to go and when (she is)old, they will not depart from it." Her faith has kept her sober, strong and unbending. I've watched her go and come back and I'm glad she's back.
7 - lilkunta
What album had a pic of an abused Aretha? Ive never seen that!
Also, Ive read varous AF interviews & she says Ted was emotionally abusive. She detailed her time in Alabama hen me made them leave after just 1 song being recorded. Bue h was physically abusive as well?