In an intimate and inspirational memoir, America's Queen of Soul recounts the story of her life, from her childhood as the daughter of a Baptist minister in Detroit to her meteoric rise to success, offering insights into the joys of motherhood, romance, and the faith and determination that have taken her to the top. 250,000 first printing. Tour. - (Baker & Taylor)
Her soulful, soaring voice has earned her mythic status. Now, in her own moving words, the woman behind the myth is revealed. The result is a captivating self-portrait of one of this century's most fascinating artists, an Aretha Franklin as real as the songs she sings.
For the first time anywhere, Aretha tells her story--the glorious triumphs as well as the heartbreaking pain. With refreshing candor, Aretha tells it like it is, the way she sees it, the way she lived it.
A child prodigy of the golden age of gospel, the daughter of a world-famous preacher, Aretha was the anointed successor to Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward. But her father had a broader vision and helped Aretha enter the field of pop and jazz. By age eighteen, she was under contract to Columbia Records. Six years later, after only a few minor hits, she switched to Atlantic, where she shook the musical world to its roots. Her song "Respect" became the anthem of an epoch, a touchstone for African Americans, for women, for all people struggling to be free. Aretha became the Queen of Soul, the genre's finest interpreter since Ray Charles.
In Aretha: From These Roots, the singer gets up-close and personal. In rich detail, she paints a vivid picture of a Detroit long gone: the storefront churches, the basement parties, the explosive R&B shows. She documents her life as a single teenage mother, working to balance home life with career, coping with two challenging marriages and, later, romantic relationships that were the source of both tremendous joy and unforeseen heartache.
Along the way, we meet the characters who lit up her life: her charismatic father, the Reverend C. L. Franklin, "the man with the million-dollar voice"; Sam Cooke, the man of her dreams; her singing sisters, Erma and Carolyn, and her manager-brother, Cecil; her famous colleagues--Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Luther Vandross, and Luciano Pavarotti--as well as some famous rivals.
Aretha emerges as a triumphant woman of rare wit, willing to share with us her passion for great music, great food, and great love affairs. Her book does more than illuminate some of the most exciting songs ever sung; it lets you into the heart and mind of the mesmerizing woman who sang them. - (Random House, Inc.)
Aretha Franklin has won more Grammys--fifteen--than any female in history and was granted the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. The first wo-man to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she was also the youngest recipient of a Ken-nedy Center Honor. The state of Michigan has pro-claimed her voice a natural resource. Miss Franklin lives in Detroit.
David Ritz, a three-time winner of the Ralph Glea-son Music Book Award, is the bestselling biographer of Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, B. B. King, Smokey Robinson, Etta James, Jerry Wexler, and Sinbad. His novels include Blue Notes Under a Green Felt Hat; his lyrics include "Sexual Healing." Mr. Ritz, who won a 1992 Grammy for Best Album Notes, lives in Los Angeles. - (Random House, Inc.)
soaring voice has earned her mythic status. Now, in her own moving words, the woman behind the myth is revealed. The result is a captivating self-portrait of one of this century's most fascinating artists, an Aretha Franklin as real as the songs she sings.
For the first time anywhere, Aretha tells her story--the glorious triumphs as well as the heartbreaking pain. With refreshing candor, Aretha tells it like it is, the way she sees it, the way she lived it.
A child prodigy of the golden age of gospel, the daughter of a world-famous preacher, Aretha was the anointed successor to Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward. But her father had a broader vision and helped Aretha enter the field of pop and jazz. By age eighteen, she was under contract to Columbia Records. Six years later, after only a few minor hits, she switched to Atlantic, where she shook the musical world to its roots. Her song - (Random House, Inc.)
Booklist Reviews
The Queen of Soul tells the story of her life with grace and dignity, glad for the opportunity to correct erroneous assumptions about her past. Coauthor Ritz--an old hand at this genre, having written books with Ray Charles, Etta James, and B. B. King--is the perfect accompanist, allowing Franklin's speaking voice, an instrument almost as powerful as her singing voice, to flow freely. She begins with keenly detailed memories of her lively childhood. After her parents separated, she and her four siblings spent summers in Buffalo with their mother until her untimely death, then lived year-round in Detroit with their father, the famous Reverend Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. A brilliant orator, he recognized his daughter's extraordinary talents early on and never failed to support and encourage her, even after she became pregnant at age 14 and then had a second son two years later and dropped out of high school. Music and motherhood were clearly her callings, and with a circle of family friends that included Martin Luther King Jr., Art Tatum, and Berry Gordon, she didn't lack for meaningful education. Franklin vividly describes her early performances with her father, her segue into secular music, and her rise to the top, always paying tribute to her mentors, from James Cleveland to Sam Cooke. She reveals her sorrows (the 1980s were a terrible time) and candidly acknowledges her mistakes both in business and in love, but her ebullience and strength of character rule her narrative. Now 57, Franklin has added opera to her repertoire, enrolled at Juilliard, and written a soon-to-be-released cookbook. ((Reviewed September 1, 1999)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews
