The Set List

Aretha Gets Some Respect From The Grammys, Her Gospel Peers And The Youngsters

Aretha Franklin and gospel great Shirley Caesar sang about joy and raised the roof of the Los Angeles Convention Center Friday night at a gala and dinner that raised a record $4.5 million for MusiCares.
The Grammy Foundation's annual fete veered away from the singer-songwriters who have been honored in the past and wound up with an ebullient affair fueled by the gospel spirit of the performers. It was a rare night - Al Sharpton was more inspirational than Bill Cosby was funny, the gospel trio Trin-i-Tee 5:7 strode into the secular world with conviction, and daytime TV host Judge Mathis got some primetime love with a shout-out from the Queen of Soul. (To be fair, Cosby improvised marvelously at Tuesday's Grammy jazz event, riffing on John Coltrane, the weight of Blue Note LPs and jazz arcana. Mathis was among the many Detroiters sitting up front around Franklin).
When it came to performances, it was one inspired performance after another, starting  with BeBe and CeCe Winans and their reading of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend," a song the Winans recorded with Franklin a dozen years ago.
Best new artist nominee - and longtime Bay Area soul thrush - Ledici  lowered herself into the groove of "Rock Steady"; Fantasia beamed on "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"; and newcomer Lil Mama did an impressive rap version of "Respect."
Patti Austin pushed Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "I Say a Little Prayer for You" into a revival meeting sing-along, but to get there had to wade through serious-minded solos from pianist Herbie Hancock and Roy Hargrove on the flugelhorn. Despite being about four versions of one song in a single take, it worked even if a  transition or two was a bit rough-edged.
Jamia Simone Nash, the tyke from "August Rush," delivered an adult-bodied reading of "Call Me"; Corinne Bailey Rae rendered the evening's gentlest moment, playing "Angel" on her acoustic guitar; the Trin-I-Tee gals delighted with a medley of "Spanish Harlem" and "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)." Carmen Carter, Dave Koz, Anthony Hamilton and John Legend also performed, Dan "four pieces of dry white toast" Aykroyd and Jim Belushi danced as the Blues Brothers, and classical pianist Lang Lang  provided some flash that was out of place.
Caesar was the evening's fireball, getting the tuxedo-and-gown crowd to rise out of their seats while singing "Sweepin' Through the City" with a full choir.
Franklin, who performed two songs, joked about the six-day drive to get to L.A. and the difficulty of moving around in her tight jewel-encrusted gown. She belted out "Chain of Fools" and took her place at the piano for "One Night With the King" before backing her son Eddie.

Aretha Franklin On Her History

In My Room: Drawing meaning from my record collection ... with artist commentary. (An occasional series)

ARETHA FRANKLIN
Albums released: 43, give or take a couple (plus dozens of compilations)
Latest: "Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen of Soul" (Arista) and "Rare and Unreleased Recordings” (Rhino)

Act’s CDs in my collection: 9 (includes one boxed set)
Vinyl: 7
Digital Only: 3
Overlap: 1
45s: 3
Favorites:"I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"; "Live at Fillmore West"

There is not an interview with a legend that does not produce some worthwhile quotes that do not end up in the story that makes it to the web or into print.
Aretha Franklin, the greatest female singer of the last 50 years, talked about a variety of subjects this week during our visit, from the awards she will receive from the Recording Academy and NAACP in the next week to her concerts, new projects and then vs. now in gospel and R&B.
While she does not live in the past, it's hard to ingore the fact that if one lines up her first eight albums for Atlantic, released between May 1967 ("I Never Loved a Man") and late 1970 ("Spirit in the Dark"), you won't hear a clunker in the bunch. She takes pride in her history and fully supports the continued opening of the vaults that has led to the release of recordings that were put in the vaults 30-plus years ago.
One album was Rhino Handmade's four-CD version of her famous 1971 concerts at the Fillmore West. She reflected on the impact of those shows, last year’s “Rare and Unreleased Recordings” and "Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings":
“It wasn’t a complete (Aretha) show because we didn't do any gospel. Jerry Wexler got the idea. He wanted to see how the flower children would respond. He figured they would appreciate me. That was unlike any other time. It was a first - no other soul artist had played the Fillmore West. It certainly increased my sales and broadened my scope.
"I loved hearing it again and I think it’s stood the test of time. Jerry, when we used to record and everybody was fired up and spirits were really high, would always say ‘let’s see tomorrow.’ He wanted everyone to go home, get a good night’s sleep and come back before saying something (was great). That the music is standing years later, and not just overnight, I really love that.”
Franklin, who says she will get over her fear of flying soon, said she was making her last visit to L.A. in a car this week. She has a Feb. 14 concert at L.A.'s Nokia Theater.
“I want to be consistent. Try to get in (all the hits). It’s best when you have two nights because I can do it then. I try to keep in the ones people want to hear, introduce new songs. I find new ways to to keep (the songs) fresh, changing them without varying them  too far from what people want.”
She also offered a take on R&B vs. gospel: “Gospel stays constant. Coming from the boomer generation we know R&B in a certain way and a certain time. R&B is alive and well because of hip-hop but (modern) R&B is not nearly as good.”

Queen Of Soul Christens Empire With Two New Albums

Aretha Franklin will go the indie route with her next two albums, one of which is nearly finished and the other is on the books for an April recording session.
Having severed ties with Sony BMG’s Arista Records and created Aretha’s Records, she is looking for three songs to replace two or three that are already in the can. She has been in contact with Jermaine Dupri, the Underdogs and Harvey Mason to have them pen tunes for the album, specifically, she says, “something very contemporary.”
In April, she will record the first Christmas album of her nearly 50-year recording career, expecting to finish the recording by May 15 and have in stores before Thanksgiving. Franklin get a bit cagey talking about how it will be released, willing to only say “it’s a noted group that works with boomers once they hit 65 — and it’s not Social Security.” (The guess is AARP.)
For her other album, Franklin has been working with Michael Powell on the songwriting and producing. She is plans to release it online herself and is looking at the possibility of releasing the CD through Time-Life.
“I did not re-sign with Arista but I wanted to,” she says, seated in her Beverly Hills hotel suite while taking in televised reports from the presidential campaign trail. “We could not meet in the middle. I respect Mr. (Clive) Davis, but we could not meet.
“I’m very happy (with the new album). I met with a number of people (who wanted to release it) but they were playing games and I have no time for playing games. We’ll go online and we’ll go on TV with 1-800 ads.”
Franklin was in L.A. to be honored Friday as the MusiCares person of the year and next week byte NAACP before she takes the stage at the Nokia Theater in downtown L.A. She performed over the weekend in Temecula, Calif.
That was the only show she performed during her six-day 2,600 mile roadtrip that took her from Detroit to Nashville to Baton Rouge, La., to San Antonio, Phoenix and L.A. Her previous, infrequent trips to L.A. saw her heading through St. Louis and Oklahoma before heading west; she says the Feb. 14 show is her last in L.A. until she resumes flying.
“It’s just a matter of when” she says of getting on an airplane. “I want to go back to Europe,” where she has not performed since 1983.
Franklin said she owed L.A. a concert after she was not 100% at a 2004 show at the Greek Theater. “I had forgotten how cold it gets after 7 p.m. I was saved by hot tea and some heaters placed by the microphone. I can’t tell you how disappointed it was to travel 2,600 miles and to be outdone by Mother Nature. This time we’re more fully prepared.”

Aretha Goes the Duets Route

A little more than three years ago, a publicist called to say Aretha Franklin wanted to be interviewed by me (I think they meant Variety but were trying to make me feel good about it) before her first L.A. show in 21 years.
It didn't matter that Variety didn't do profiles or concert previews or that Aretha's biographer David Ritz had told me that she is not very forthcoming. I figured, how often do I get a chance to speak with Aretha Franklin, the single greatest female voice of the rock 'n' roll era?
Now, of course, since this is Aretha and she obviously plans her life out months in advance - the reason for not playing L.A. for so long was because of the drive - there was only one 20 minute slot that she would have available. That day, however, was not a good one: I would be in New York on a trip to a half-dozen baseball stadiums with my daughter (her brilliant idea, not mine) and who knew if I would be in a position to do the interview.
A week or two passes and no confirmation call or email arrives. Nothing. Far as I'm concerned it isn't happening, which meant time for quick nap before that evening's Mets-Astros game.
Phone rings. At the appointed time. It's Miss Franklin. She's an absolute delight and as long as the conversation stays on upbeat and positive topics, she willingly talks up a storm. Just don't try to talk about anything that might force her into having a cross word about someone.
Interview produced two news tidbits: She was forming her own label and she was doing a duets album. When she said "next" album, I thought she meant Christmas. As in 2004.
Well, lo and behold, the album exists, it has a title and a release date.
"Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen" will be released Nov. 13 on Arista Records.
The lead single is “Put You Up On Game” with Fantasia, which is being released to radio on Oct. 1.
Franklin duets with Whitney Houston (“It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be”), John Legend (“What Y’All Came To Do”), Luther Vandross (“Doctor’s Orders”), Annie Lennox (“Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves”), Keith Richards (“Jumping Jack Flash”), Elton John (“Through The Storm”) Frank Sinatra (“What Now My Love”), George Michael (“I Knew You Were Waiting”), Michael McDonald (“Ever Changing Times”), George Benson (“Love All The Hurt Away”), Mary J. Blige (“Don’t Waste My Time,”“Never Gonna Break My Faith”), Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan (“A Natural Woman") and Mariah Carey (“Chain Of Fools”). 
Album also features her performance of Puccini's “Nessum Dorma.”