'I keep the hamburgers to a minimum': Aretha Franklin

[daddyacey]

I thought that Ms Franklin looked just as a 69 year old woman ,that has been through all that she has been through in her 69 years and survived to this point to talk about it ,would look like. This ain't the Columbia years Aretha or the early Atlantic years Aretha or the later Arista years Aretha. Everybody ages ,some better than others. Considering the fact that Aretha has lived her life as she has ,with the bad diet and the smoking over all those years and the horrific weight gain, she has still remained consistantly and defiantly Aretha ,like it or not. Through the weight gain ,the critical fashion choices and the unavoidable decline that will by nature happen in the voice of any singer with age ,she has maintained a certain stature that one who has been named and recognized worldwide as "The Queen of Soul". She never has taken no sh.. off Nobody! Not from artists that have admired her and became great in their own right ,[[such as her falling out with Luther over the way some things went with the way he was producing her) , it was like she said hold on boy!!! ,you getting a little too excited ,you must understand that I am Aretha Franklin ,hail son!! And even when there was that fall out in the 60's with Wexler and the fiasco that nearly wrecked the early Atlantic sessions down south. She has always stuck to her guns ,straight
up yet diplomatic ,as in when she choose not to fly any more. It was like ,"Don't matter what you want to offer to pay me ,honey I don't fly ,sorry."
I was also amused by how she reacted when Wendy asked her to sign that TIME magazine ,by pretending to take it and keep it for herself. If you do some research you will find that that article did not sit very well with Ms Franklin at the time. Yet she was very gracious and did sign it.
Did you check out Ms Franklins response to the "Who would you say is the next successor among the new singers to the throne?" , and Ms Franklin replied , "Aretha Franklin ,Aretha Franklin ,Aretha Franklin". For those that need translation into raw basic terms from the Queens diplomatic response and the look and reaction on Arethas face ,it translated at least to me, as,
what? , bitch please!!! ,you getting a litlle too excited , I am Aretha Franklin , and now you can pay the bill for the tea.
And you know what ,she has earned the right to feel that way ,and not get herself trapped into a sticky situation by dropping a name and creating a media stir ,while at the same time maintaing the admiration and respect of and for many other women that are her peers like Patti ,Gladys ,Stephanie, Chaka and a whole lot of other asses you would have to kiss before you could get even close to The Queen!!!
At this point in time I feel that Aretha is not concerned with "keeping up with" the new jacks or with the times. The woman has had the ultimate gift from GOD of her voice and has been singing for all of her life. She is one of many that has achieved a level of greatness that others before her have set. Even as the Queen Of Soul ,she has Ladies that influenced and came before her whos butts she's not too high and mighty to kiss but still earned the right to stand among them. Mahailia ,Clara Ward ,Dinah ,Ella,Billie. So much more to discover than just todays sensational media bull ,has to offer. If Aretha is mad about anything than it's the B.S. spread and stories other than the truth and things that have nothing to do with the music that she should be mad about. No matter what you say about her one way or another ,you can't deny that she was one of the greatest ever.
It's good to be the Queen! God Bless her!!!

[motown4ever]

I thought that Ms Franklin looked just as a 69 year old woman ,that has been through all that she has been through in her 69 years and survived to this point to talk about it ,would look like. This ain't the Columbia years Aretha or the early Atlantic years Aretha or the later Arista years Aretha. Everybody ages ,some better than others. Considering the fact that Aretha has lived her life as she has ,with the bad diet and the smoking over all those years and the horrific weight gain, she has still remained consistantly and defiantly Aretha ,like it or not. Through the weight gain ,the critical fashion choices and the unavoidable decline that will by nature happen in the voice of any singer with age ,she has maintained a certain stature that one who has been named and recognized worldwide as "The Queen of Soul". She never has taken no sh.. off Nobody! Not from artists that have admired her and became great in their own right ,[[such as her falling out with Luther over the way some things went with the way he was producing her) , it was like she said hold on boy!!! ,you getting a little too excited ,you must understand that I am Aretha Franklin ,hail son!! And even when there was that fall out in the 60's with Wexler and the fiasco that nearly wrecked the early Atlantic sessions down south. She has always stuck to her guns ,straight
up yet diplomatic ,as in when she choose not to fly any more. It was like ,"Don't matter what you want to offer to pay me ,honey I don't fly ,sorry."
I was also amused by how she reacted when Wendy asked her to sign that TIME magazine ,by pretending to take it and keep it for herself. If you do some research you will find that that article did not sit very well with Ms Franklin at the time. Yet she was very gracious and did sign it.
Did you check out Ms Franklins response to the "Who would you say is the next successor among the new singers to the throne?" , and Ms Franklin replied , "Aretha Franklin ,Aretha Franklin ,Aretha Franklin". For those that need translation into raw basic terms from the Queens diplomatic response and the look and reaction on Arethas face ,it translated at least to me, as,
what? , bitch please!!! ,you getting a litlle too excited , I am Aretha Franklin , and now you can pay the bill for the tea.
And you know what ,she has earned the right to feel that way ,and not get herself trapped into a sticky situation by dropping a name and creating a media stir ,while at the same time maintaing the admiration and respect of and for many other women that are her peers like Patti ,Gladys ,Stephanie, Chaka and a whole lot of other asses you would have to kiss before you could get even close to The Queen!!!
At this point in time I feel that Aretha is not concerned with "keeping up with" the new jacks or with the times. The woman has had the ultimate gift from GOD of her voice and has been singing for all of her life. She is one of many that has achieved a level of greatness that others before her have set. Even as the Queen Of Soul ,she has Ladies that influenced and came before her whos butts she's not too high and mighty to kiss but still earned the right to stand among them. Mahailia ,Clara Ward ,Dinah ,Ella,Billie. So much more to discover than just todays sensational media bull ,has to offer. If Aretha is mad about anything than it's the B.S. spread and stories other than the truth and things that have nothing to do with the music that she should be mad about. No matter what you say about her one way or another ,you can't deny that she was one of the greatest ever.
It's good to be the Queen! God Bless her!!!

Well said Daddyacey...Amen!!!
All Hail the Queen Of Soul, All Imitators Have to Go!!!

[abfan]

but when Aretha talked about being a prima ballerina, I flashed on this

jillfoster wow that's a bit low isnt it.im sure she meant growing up.. she was..Funny how just a few weeks backs most of these insults were tears and prayers for Aretha..Leave the lady alone and be thankful we still have her



Also That Whitney VS Wendy Interview was awful ..I couldnt even listen to it all.How dare she ask about her mother's allowance. I cut it off after that...Wendy is the devil n Prada 4 real

[jobeterob]

I listened to the Whitney interview too; yes it was awful; I can see why these singers feel a little bit of a kinship toward each other; and while Whitney fairly obviously was having drug issues then, I think she came off a lot better than Wendy Williams ~ she came off as a parasite preying on a woman in trouble.

[midnightman]

^ People get remorseful when legends get sick/ill but when they recover and carry on, the insults returned. She definitely meant when she was a kid. Aretha was a twig back then, very skinny. People often forget that. She wasn't always full figured anyway. And yeah the interview with Whitney was atrocious but I loved the moments Whitney put Wendy in her place.

[juicefree20]

Wendy chasing behind Whitney when she was in that state would be the equivalent of folks chasing behind Charlie Sheen so that he can continue to embarass himself & possibly bury his own career. Except that Charlie's willing to do the damage himself with those endless twitter blasts.

I don't believe that anyone should try to embarass someone who was as obviously troubled as Whitney was. That's kinda like a drug dealer lying in wait for a junkie to come around so that they could sell them more poison that ill continue to ruin their life.

I've noticed that some folks like to make mere men & women into gods & godesses, then take perverse pleasure in absolutely ripping them into shreds & that sucks.

I never cared much for people who liked to dog people just for the sake of dogging them & I was no fan of Wendy because of that tendency of hers. But with some gossips, there should be limits as to what's fair play. Constantly attacking a person who's in the throes of drug addiction to an audience of millions, just isn't fair. If she had done so out of genuine concern, I might be able to look past that. But to do it out of sheer viciousness & in order to pump up her ratings is something that I'll never forget. If she had truly been concerned about Whitney's welfare, she certainly wouldn't have dogged her as she did before an audience of millions.

The funny thing is that while I enjoyed much of her music, I wasn't a big Whitney Houston fan. Nevertheless, between the endless tabloid mockery of Whitney & Wendy, I felt that enough was enough.

I wouldn't cover Wendy if she were paying me.

Yes...I'm stupid that way. Some things trump money & for me, behavior like Wendy's is one of those few things.

[miss_lish]

Her spirits seemed forced - acted out - and I would not ever say she looked good.

Nor would I; however, she does seem to be high-spirited; I didn't detect any insincerity in that realm.