Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin - Don't Play That Song
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Carole King
Carole King, along with her song writing partner Gerry Goffin, has penned a seemingly endless string of hits for other artists. She is also a successful singer in her own right and claims a total of four Grammy awards and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
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In the 60s, Goffin and King started working for Aldon Music and had their first successful hit with Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? This song would go on to be recorded by Dusty Springfield, Roberta Flack and Bryan Ferry.
Others soon followed with Take Good Care of My Baby, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Locomotion, Go Away Little Girl, One Fine Day, Don’t Bring Me Down and (You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman just to name a few. The artists that have benefited from this era of King’s prose and song range from household 60s acts like The Monkees, Aretha Franklin and The Drifters to more modern acts like Tom Petty, Billy Joel, Celine Dion, Grand Funk Railroad and Shania Twain.
Throughout this time, King dabbled with her own singing career, lending her vocals and releasing her own material. Chart toppers eluded her until 1971’s iconic album Tapestry topped the US album charts for 15 weeks and remained in the charts for 6 years.
The album featured folky revisions of her earlier hits she had written for others as well as tracks like It’s Too Late and You’ve Got a Friend. Tapestry held the position as top-selling solo album ever until Michael Jackson’s Thriller knocked it off the podium.
The 80s saw King take a back seat to the music industry and her activities were primarily charitable live performances.
King continues to collaborate and more recently touring with James Taylor who had a number 1 hit with King’s You’ve Got a Friend.
Juanita Appleby
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BEN E. KING
Ben E. King started his singing career as a member of American doo-wap group the Five Crowns which eventually became The Drifters. With King as its lead singer, they had hits with There Goes My Baby, Save the Last Dance for Me, and This Magic Moment.
King went solo and in 1961 he had his first hit with Spanish Harlem. Shortly after, he recorded and released the song that is synonymous with his career, Stand By Me.
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Throughout the 60s, King had a string of Top 40 Hits including Amor, Don’t Play That Song, and I (Who Have Nothing). The fact that he wrote or co-wrote many of his songs has often been overlooked in the music history books. He also has been covered by such household names as John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, U2 and even bizarrely Siouxsie and the Banshees.
In 1986, Stand By Me was re-released to support a movie by the same name and almost instantly hit number one. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the strength of his Drifters work but as yet has not been awarded the accolade as a solo artist.
In the 21st century, King is sporadically active in the recording studio and touring circuit as well as his charitable work for the Stand By Me foundation.
For The Record:
Born Benjamin Earl Soloman, September 28, 1938, in Henderson, N.C.
Formed first singing group, the Four B's, while in junior high school; began singing professionally with quintet the Crowns, 1956-59; member of the Drifters, 1959-61; solo performer, 1961—; produced several Top Ten singles, 1960s; collaborated with the Average White Band on Benny and Us, 1977; 1961 hit single "Stand by Me" featured on soundtrack of film Stand by Me, Columbia, 1986.
Addresses: Home—Teaneck, N.J. Record Company—Atlantic Records, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019.
Discography:
Spanish Harlem, Atlantic, 1961.
Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers, Atlantic, 1962.
Don't Play That Song, Atlantic, 1962.
Greatest Hits, Atlantic, 1964.
Seven Letters, Atlantic, 1965.
Beginning of It All, Mandala, 1971.
Supernatural Thing, Atlantic, 1975.
Ben E. King Story, Atlantic, 1975.
I Had a Love, Atlantic, 1976.
(With the Average White Band) Benny and Us, Atlantic, 1977.
Let Me Live in Your Life, Atlantic, 1978.
Music Trance, Atlantic, 1980.
Street Tough, Atlantic, 1980.
Rough Edges, Maxwell.
Sources: Juanita Appleby, eNotes.
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ARETHA FRANKLIN
Discography:
Aretha, Columbia, 1961.
Electrifying, Columbia, 1962.
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Aretha Franklin has truly earned her place as the Queen of Soul. She has performed songs in different genres as well, such as blues, R&B, jazz and rock.
Aretha Franklin was born in March 1942. Her father was a preacher and her mother was a pianist. Franklin developed an exceptional talent for singing and playing piano. Through recordings made during her father’s sermons, she appeared on a gospel album at the age of 14.
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It wasn’t until 1960 that Franklin signed a contract with Columbia Records. Her early releases reflected her jazz influence, most notably "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody". Seven years later, she moved from Columbia to Atlantic Records and began to craft her own distinctive sound. Her second single for the new label was "Respect" which was originally recorded and written by Otis Redding. Not only was "Respect" a worldwide chart-topper, she won two Grammies for it.
Franklin had huge hits in the late 60s and early 70s with memorable songs like "Chain of Fools", "I Say A Little Prayer" and "Think". She rose to prominence again in the 1980 film ‘The Blues Brothers’ where she made a cameo as Mrs Matt Murphy. She signed to Arista Records and began recording material with Luther Vandross, who was a huge fan.
Her biggest hits in the 80s came from collaborations with not only Vandross but the Eurythmics and George Michael. "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" became a rallying cry for women campaigning for equality, while "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" introduced her to fans from the Wham! generation.
After a brief period of returning to her gospel roots, Franklin’s next big commercial success came in 1993, lending her vocals to the soundtrack of Sister Act II: Back In The Habit.
1998 was a landmark year for the Queen of Soul. She released the album "A Rose Is Still A Rose" - a departure in style from her previous material - with contributions from the The Fugees’ Lauryn Hill. Later that year, she gave a memorable rendition of Puccini’s "Nessun Dorma" at the Grammys when Luciano Pavarotti was too ill to attend.
An album of duets was released in 2007, featuring Franklin sharing vocals with the likes of Gloria Estefan, Frank Sinatra, John Legend and Mary J Blige. She was also given the honour of singing at the inauguration of President Obama in 2009. She has won 18 Grammys in total, she is the second woman to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame and the first black woman to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. An incredible feat for an astonishing talent.
For The Record:
Born March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tenn.; daughter of Clarence L. (a minister and gospel singer) and Barbara (Siggers) Franklin; married Ted White (a businessman), 1961 (divorced); married Glynn Turman, April 11,1978 (divorced, 1984); children: (first marriage) Clarence, Edward, Teddy. Education: Attended schools in Detroit, Michigan. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Baptist.
Gospel singer, 1952-61, performing as member of her father's traveling Baptist ministry; recorded first album of gospel music in 1956. Rhythm and blues/soul vocalist, 1960—; signed first with Columbia Records, 1961, transferred to Atlantic Records, 1967, transferred to Arista Records, 1980. Has given numerous live performances in America and Europe, including a special command performance for the birthday of England's Queen Mother. Appeared in film "The Blues Brothers," 1980, and in Showtime television special, "Aretha," 1986.
Awards: Grammy awards for best female rhythm and blues vocal performance, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1985, 1987, Grammy awards for best rhythm and blues recording, 1967, for best soul gospel performance, 1972, and for best rhythm and blues duo vocal (with George Michael), 1987, for "I Knew You Were Waiting"; American Music Award, 1984.
Addresses: Home—8450 Linwood St, Detroit, Mich. 48206.
The mid- to late-1970s were a difficult time for soul music in general, as the rigid beat of disco held sway. Franklin was one of many singers who suffered a declining audience during the period. Her professional woes were compounded by a series of personal problems—her father was rendered comatose by a shooting during a burglary in his home, and her first marriage failed. Then, just as her career was beginning to rebound under the Arista label, Franklin was involved in an incident aboard a small airplane that caused her to fear flying. Some observers feel that only the need to pay her father's expensive hospital bills kept Franklin recording during the early 1980s. The Reverend Franklin died in 1984, never having recovered consciousness after the shooting. The following year Aretha recorded the album that can legitimately be called her "comeback" project—Who's Zoomin' Who, a snappy work reminiscent of her early material. Though well into her forties, Franklin cavorted elegantly through several "Who's Zoomin' Who" videos that became immensely popular on MTV and helped two singles, "Freeway of Love" and the title tune, top the pop charts. "I wanted something that kids would enjoy," Franklin told Newsweek, "something that would span the age gap, but not leave older fans behind. The soul is still there."
Franklin is still bothered by her fear of flying, so much of her work is accomplished in or near Detroit, her home base since 1982. Her recent hit single, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," paired her with George Michael, a pop singer seemingly from another generation altogether. In the wake of that success, Franklin has returned to her first and lasting love—gospel, with the release of a dramatic double album, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. As Franklin once remarked in Time, "My heart is still there in gospel music. It never left." Franklin does not intend to leave pop music's ranks permanently, however. She told Newsweek that she sees singing—any kind of singing—as a means of escape. "It does get me out of myself," she said. "I guess you could say I do a lot of traveling with my voice." Mark Moses pays homage to the Queen of Soul in his New Yorker essay, calling Aretha Franklin "both the statesman shouldering history and the woman wishing herself back to childhood .. . as if there were no extremes that her wide, rippling voice could not reconcile."
Source: Anne Janette Johnson
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Eurythmics
Eurythmics are a seminal British synth pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and David A.Stewart. Stewart (formerly of a folk-rock group Longdancer) and Lennox (a student at the Royal Academy of Music) quickly became lovers after meeting in the late 1970s, and formed a group called The Catch, with Pete Coombes, Stewart's guitarist and songwriting collaborator.
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Lennox and Stewart discontinued their romantic liaison in 1980 and they began performing in duo form as Eurythmics. Their debut album, ‘In the Garden’, released in 1981, was critically well-received but sold poorly. In this album, Lennox's trademark powerhouse and soul-filled voice had not come to the fore.
The follow-up, ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This’), released in 1983, became a huge British hit due to the title track, which quickly topped the American charts. Stewart later admitted that the famous synth bass line in the song was discovered by accident when he inadvertently played a track backwards.
‘Touch’, the follow-up to 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)', was released later in 1983 and spawned three major UK hits., including ‘Here Comes The Rain Again', which charted highly in the US.
Their fourth album, ‘Be Yourself Tonight’, featured a duet with Aretha Franklin and continued the duo's transatlantic chart domination in 1985. 'Would I Lie To You?' was a U.S. Billboard top 5 hit, while 'There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)' reached number one in the U.K. This was their first and only U.K. number one hit single.
‘Revenge’ was released in 1986, though sales somewhat signalled the end of Eurythmics' mainstream success in America. Sales continued to be strong in the U.K. The Eurythmics went on a massive worldwide tour in support of this album. ‘Revenge’ remains Eurythmics' best selling album to date.
Stewart began producing, for Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, among others, while Lennox did some acting. They reunited in 1987 for the critically acclaimed album, ‘Savage’. Although much less commercial than the two previous albums, Savage remains the duo's masterpiece.
In 1989, Eurythmics released the solid ‘We Too Are One’, a UK number 1 hit. After strenuous years of touring and recording, Lennox needed a break, and eventually released a solo album, ‘Diva’ in 1992.
Eurythmics reunited in 1999 and released ‘Peace’, their latest studio recording to date.
Carly Page
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