Franklin, was a Detroit institution who was close to Dinah Washington, and many a night passed where jazz legends gathered around the family piano: Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Nat King Cole, even Art Tatum. Dinah Washington - Topic 2.3K views 4 years ago Aretha Franklin - it only happens :1976 (original sound) R472 Funk Channel TV. Franklin received a visit from Washington in her dressing room after one of her shows at a club in Detroit. "), Nor did Franklin leave jazz behind during her celebrated run on Atlantic. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. Marching into the backstage dressing room, Washington in an embellished, avant-garde gold gown, and a fabulous, inordinate white fur coat finds the young, dispirited Franklin in tears. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Shortly before she died, Washington took appreciate notice of her acolyte as well. All rights reserved. "She's held onto the whole idea that nothing is outside her grasp, especially within the American tradition," he said. Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington is the fifth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. The new series Genius: Aretha, premiering March 21 on National Geographic (and with episodes airing the next day on .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Hulu), dives deep into the life and career of Aretha Franklin, one of the most celebrated singers in the world. The biographer David Ritz wrote of this distance in Respect, his second book on Franklin, saying, In spite of my determination to be a compassionate listener, someone whose gentle persistence would allow her to reveal all her sacred secrets, my technique ultimately did not work. The idea of recording a tribute to her grew out of the way I've always felt about her. (This happened in short order: Her 1965 album Yeah!!! Dinah Washington rose to fame in the 1950s and 60s. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. Donaldson Collection/Getty Images Franklin first met Washington at a young age,. Early on in "Respect," the latest onscreen retelling of Aretha Franklin's story, the aging jazz and R&B star Dinah Washington asks her protge, "Child, are you ever going . The other day a friend of . Here, he plays C.L. But earlier, at the top of the program, she'd sat at the piano to perform Leon Russell's "A Song For You," backed by Herbie Hancock on keyboards, Christian McBride on bass and Brian Blade on drums. Aretha's rendition as wel. Its a powerful portrait of The Queen of Soul coming into her own. (Youre having this transcendent musical moment and its interrupted by Grammy statistics and facts about the Kennedy Center Honors.) In the new Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, Dinah Washington is played by soul legend Mary J Blige. It turns out that this is the Franklin performance to remember from that evening. There are worse ways to spend two-and-a-half hours than listening to Jennifer Hudson sing Aretha Franklin songs. Thank you! That was another parameter that really helped to focus the storytelling as well. She's ostensibly there to promote her latest album, Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington, but she doesn't do any of that material. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Franklins imprint is all over the film Respect as well. She takes her time. "They were tremendous. That makes it a 'must-have' and a record that is once again 'current.' If a stars around, you dont ever sing the stars songs. Over a stretch of just 17 years, Dinah Washington recorded 447 songs. Aretha Franklins voice is inimitable, but Hudson manages a fine tribute, raising goosebumps with her climatic performance of Amazing Grace, which someone in the editing room thought it would be a good idea to slap informational text cards on top of. That performance was three years before her death. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. You wouldn't call it a jazz album, but you'd also be wrong to insist otherwise. The thing that kept coming to me was the idea of telling the story of a woman who has the greatest voice in the world but who still doesnt know what her voice is, Tommy says. Her musical trajectory, in a typical bit of showbiz reductionism, often gets framed in prodigal terms: She was forged by gospel fires, and lost her way in songbook razzle-dazzle until leaving Columbia for Atlantic Records, where a stripped-down, soul-forward style reconnected her with her sanctified roots. Washington had a feeling that Franklin was destined for success. More than a few jazz musicians of our time have shared a stage with Franklin, in settings as unfussy as Baker's Keyboard Lounge and as exalted as The Kennedy Center. Genius: Aretha (The Art Tatum/Dinah Washington Episode) Aretha Franklin's first charting hit was with Ray Bryant and his hard-driving left hand. (modern), Jennifer Hudson stars as Aretha Franklin in Respect. Washington allegedly began to criticize Franklin for the mess in the room, which rubbed Franklin the wrong way. This is perhaps why both Respect and Genius: Aretha felt compelled to include Pollacks shoot in their narratives. What she does is riveting, bordering on sublime. In the end, I didnt make a dent in her armor., Further reflecting on his first biography, Aretha: From These Roots, which he wrote based on interviews with Franklin, and which thus had her blessing, he said, She got the book she wanted. Backed by jazz musicians, she sang "Purple Rain" by which I mean she skipped right to the chorus, and made it feel like a sanctified refrain. Franklin first met Washington at a young age, when she . Part of what I remember is her tribute to Prince, who had died about a week earlier. But it wasn't just singers, and it wasn't just that generation. It's not known whether this incident actually happened or not. But even if the queen of soul hadn't left . Aretha's father, the Rev. Soul '69, released on Atlantic at the top of that year, features a stacked consortium of jazz musicians, working in an organic R&B mode. Ever.'. She shared a bill there with pianist and composer. Family is an essential part of Franklins story and that includes her grandmother Rachel, who was among the relatives who helped raise Aretha and her sisters. In that regard, Respect is probably about as good as a conventional musical biopic can be while still being a conventional musical biopic. Scott Wilson also said the ages of 10 to 30 were significant for Arethas growth. Director Liesl Tommy is television veteran making her feature debut, and she has some fun with film stocks especially during an amusingly stilted black-and-white television interview. And in that freedom, it was able to share itself as one of Franklins best kept secrets. The pair had a creatively fruitful union, co-writing songs like Think, but rocky personal relationship and divorced in 1969. So I gave it to Aretha instead.. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe National Geographic's Gen. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The singer Dinah Washington was not only a huge influence on Franklinwho, in 1964, recorded an album of her songs as a tributebut also a family friend. Two years ago I saw her perform at the White House, as part of the festivities around International Jazz Day. Footage shows the real Franklin singing (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman in front of a tearful Barack Obama at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. (Hudson belting out this track on stage is perhaps the films second musical highlight, next to a mind-blowing rendition of Amazing Grace at the end.). There was a bunch of other stuff, scenes with the sisters that we had to cut, Scott Wilson said. on Broadway. (I saw Franklin perform this tune a decade ago at Radio City Music Hall, along with "My Funny Valentine" and Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade."). As Cecil told Ritz, she also hunkered down alone with the hi-fi, for hours at a stretch. Without it we'd be remembering a different artist now, and celebrating a different body of work. The often sweaty and disturbing Reverend spins his little girl around like a show pony in the office of Columbia Records executive John Hammond (Tate Donovan), but his elaborate orchestral arrangements of jazz standards are a bad match for Franklins gifts. Just a few months after, in February 1964, Aretha Franklin released her fifth studio album Unforgettable - A Tribute to Dinah Washington. James Cleveland says to Aretha, There are no demons. While she was a successful singer and songwriter on her own, Carolyn Franklin might still be best known for her collaborationsas both a writer and a backup singerwith her sister Aretha. Theres a scene about 35 minutes into Liesl Tommys new, must-see Aretha Franklin biopic Respect in which an angry Dinah Washington (played by Mary J Blige) dramatically turns over a table in a New York jazz bar because her family friend, Aretha Franklin (played by Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson), dares to cover her hit This Bitter Earth on stage. The singer Dinah Washington was not only a huge influence on Franklinwho, in 1964, recorded an album of her songs as a tributebut also a family friend. The musical numbers alone make Respect worth watching, with Jennifer Hudson up to the formidable task of playing Aretha Franklin, belting her heart out in an otherwise boilerplate Hollywood product. Once you've watched this on-screen portrayal of the life of the musical legend, see what the cast of the series looks like in modern times. In other words, as good as the music sounds (and it sounds soooooo very, very good), the plot holes about her past, which seemed to inform much of her characters decision-making, kept nagging at me as I watched. Early on in Respect, the latest onscreen retelling of Aretha Franklins story, the aging jazz and R&B star Dinah Washington asks her protge, Child, are you ever going to tell us who the daddy is?. The series follows Franklin, played by Cynthia Erivo, from her early days in Detroit to global stardomand doesnt shy away from the obstacles she faced along the way. "I first heard Dinah when I was just a kid," said Aretha at the time, "back around the time she made 'Fat Daddy.'. Viewers get to see how Franklins hit Respect came to be, beginning with a shonky studio and a motley, albeit talented, group of musicians in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and how her stage performances were inspired by her abusive relationship with her husband. The sessions were recorded in New York. Scott Wilson said earlier drafts of the film included more of Franklins Civil Rights work, but they had to be cut for time. He mentored King. For jazz singers of the ensuing generation, like Dianne Reeves, Franklin loomed as a north star. There was a lot more stuff that we showed in her childhood initially, but we just had to cut. She said: Youre gonna win an Oscar for playing me, right?. After shed had nine gospel albums and no big hits, Hammond was at a loss as to what to offer her. (This tidy arc was reinforced for years by Atlantic's own Jerry Wexler, who had a vested interest in claiming the win. Its here that Respect starts to really sing, giving Franklin her propers as a perfectionist in the studio. The mini-series Genius: Aretha, written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, however, is more forthcoming. "And when my life is over / Remember when we were together / We were alone / And I was singing this song to you.".

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