Treat for Aretha Franklin fans

Press, 20 February 1988, Page 21

Treat for Aretha Franklin fans

Fans of gospel and soul music are in for a special treat tonight (Saturday) with Network Two’s Summer Music Special: “Aretha,” screening at 10.55. The programme features the classic soul singer, Aretha Franklin, in a performance at the Music Hall Centre, Detroit, with the Primadonnas and Clarence Clemons, and a Hot Gospel session with the Saint James Baptist Church Choir. Numbers include her best known hits like “Freeway of Love,” “Respect,” “Look to the Rainbow,” and "Natural Women” — all delivered to the accompaniment of a first-class big band and a very enthusiastic audience.

Franklin’s singing life began in her father’s church at the age of eight, and her career has since become legendary in the world of soul and gospel. She became a featured performer in gospel tours by the age of 14, and at 16 recorded her first album for Columbia Records, “The Sound of Aretha Franklin.”

The next few years were steady rather than spectacular, but her

career took off in 1966, when she switched to Atlantic Records, under the production of Jerry Wexler. A string of hits followed, including “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You,” “Respect,” and “Chain of Fools.”

Her rise to fame continued with a triumphant European tour in 1968 which produced the album “Aretha in Paris,” but she suffered some, setbacks later that year when a series of marital and career-related problems began to take their toll.

Later, Franklin took to recording other people’s hits, such as “Eleanor Rigby,” “Bridge over Troubled Water,” and “Spanish Harlem.” The year 1972 saw a return to her gospel roots, with the “Amazing Grace” double album, recorded with the Southern California Community Choir. Her career went back on the rise, and she had a major success in 1976 with “Something He Can Feel,” from the film “Sparkle.” In 1980, Franklin again switched record companies — this time to Arista Records — and in the same year made her movie debut in “The Blues Brothers” with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. In recent years, she has made a comeback, topping the charts with regularity with such hits as “Who’s Zooming Who?” “Freeway of Love,” and “Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves” with the Eurythmics. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, Franklin has amassed 24 gold records and 14 Grammy Awards. Tonight’s performance features many of the songs which earned her those awards.