The Apollo Theater, Harlem, 1971.
(NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images)
The Apollo Theater, Harlem, 1971.
(NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images)
MUSICREDEF PICKS
All I'm Askin' Is For a Little Respect When You Get Home...
Marcus K. Dowling, guest curator August 17, 2018
QUOTABLES!
quote of the day
Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I'm happy with that.
Aretha Franklin
music
rant n' rave
rantnrave://

I was born an only child to a socially radicalized single black mother. Thus, JAMES BROWN wasn't the person responsible for teaching me about pride in my African-American heritage. No, that was the job of ARETHA FRANKLIN, whose 1972 album YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK occupied a frequent spot on the Saturday morning turntable rotation. Also key in the rotation were 1971's ARETHA LIVE AT FILLMORE WEST and 1967's I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVE YOU. Between the ages of 5 and 8, the seventh day of every week involved hearing songs like "Respect," "Dr. Feelgood," "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Day Dreaming." Plus, it included my introduction, via Ms. Franklin's astounding covers, to SAM COOKE's "A Change Is Gonna Come," SIMON AND GARFUNKEL's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," THE BEATLES' "Eleanor Rigby" and "The Long and Winding Road," and NINA SIMONE's "Young, Gifted, and Black." But there was no greater moment in those mornings than the super-funky three minutes and 15 seconds of YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK that are "Rock Steady." Described as "a dream come true" by producer ARIF MARDIN, the classic stands alongside TINA TURNER's "River Deep, Mountain High" as my absolute favorite song, ever. "Rock Steady" is where I learned how to catch a rhythm and move to a groove. BERNARD PURDIE's backbeats and breakdowns -- which also accompany the Godfather of Soul's 1969 single "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" -- are the heartbeat that guide the stomping riddim of Black Power. DONNY HATHAWAY's organ? The empathetic spirit breathing through black American souls torn asunder by the murders of MALCOLM X, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. and FRED HAMPTON. But it's Aretha, the daughter of REVEREND C.L. FRANKLIN from Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, the woman who once preached that respect was the key to solving our collective national racist, sexist and classist nightmare, who reigns supreme. Here, she's using coded language -- as if she's HARRIET TUBMAN guiding slaves on the Underground Railroad -- to tell Americans to move with the tides of change and hold firm to our social and human constitution in the midst of mania. Ultimately, she's saving the day... again. Hers was the music of perseverance. She was all about, as "Rock Steady" was, boldly and blatantly explaining what life is. Her legacy is ultimately about an unwavering idea that if you persevere by "[moving] your hips with a feeling from side to side," the "funky and lowdown feeling[s]" eventually dissipate. What emerges is a renewed self-pride that opens one to the idea that our greatest worth as people is as a collective, loving, moving, grooving and unified whole. MusicSET: "Aretha Franklin Was the Voice of America"... One more appreciation: MusicREDEF friend BILL FLANAGAN on the legacy of the Queen of Soul... It's FRIDAY, and that means new music from ANDREW BAYER, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, ARIANA GRANDE, BLUE OCTOBER, CANDI STATON, CULTS, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, DEE WHITE, LIL PUMP, MITSKI, OH SEES, STEFFLON DON, and YOUNG THUG's label compilation SLIME LANGUAGE.

Marcus K. Dowling, guest curator

August 17, 2018