“Stellar human qualities and even mental health are not requirements for producing great art, and Aretha Franklin was a great artist. In one instance, she insisted that Mavis Staples’s voice on a gospel duet be turned down so low that it was barely audible next to hers. The singer was competitive and hostile to other singers, including her sisters, who sang background for her. “The Aretha Franklin who emerges from ‘Respect’ is not someone you want to spend time with,” wrote our reviewer. Ritz relies on interviews with her cousin, niece and sister-in-law, as well as knowledge he’s gained from years of ghostwriting books about other major musicians there are quotes from Ray Charles, Billy Preston and Luther Vandross. Ritz worked with Franklin on her 1999 autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots” but was disappointed with its “enormous gaps and oversights,” he said, so he took a stab at a more nuanced view of the singer. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown, chronicles the University of Washington's nine-man crew-with-coxswain's. RESPECT The Life of Aretha Franklin By David Ritz 520 pp.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |