I'm sure it will go well and there will be no divisiveness among the survivors whatsoever ...
This is what I found revealing: Aretha actually owned a portion of royalties from songs she covered:
In some cases, Franklin negotiated a portion of the copyright to songs written by others, he said.
"In exchange for her recording it, she got a piece of the copyright," Wilson said.
Meaning she owned a portion of "Respect"!!!
I was wondering which songs they might be. I don't think RESPECT is one of them, as that was already a hit when she covered it. And it doesn't carry the credit of her publishing companies, Pundit and Springtime. I was thinking it might be some more recent recordings of new material. In the Ritz book, Keyshia Cole mentioned that Aretha asked her to write a song and Keyshia was glad to do so. Keyshia wanted to talk to Aretha and find out things about her life. At this point, Aretha said that she would do that if Keyshia gave her a piece of the publishing. Keyshia had no problem with that but Aretha dropped the matter.
BTW: I think she should have gotten a piece of RESPECT, especially since she added the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. lines. Most people who have covered it since have used those lines. When Martha and the Vandellas recorded it, Aretha's lines were the only ones they used, right down to her closing adlibs.
That's what I'm saying, Reese!
When Aretha "covers", it's not a cover at all. She turns it around. She arranged and co-produced [[though not credited but I heard Jerry Wexler said she was practically a producer or co-producer of every session she had at Atlantic) every track she covered.
She definitely EARNED something from "Respect". I didn't even know it was a COVER until I was in high school! But again, you can't call it a cover. She totally radicalize it. Made it funkier, more gospel, more in your face, than the juke joint original version lol
I think she DID get a piece of Respect actually!
Why would I or anyone else care what happens to her estate??
Yep. Don't care? Don't comment. Anyhoo - of course I want the sons to get the lion's share of Aretha's estate but I was also so impressed by her nieces and nephews who spoke at the funeral. It's really too bad Aretha did not formalize her will. Way too much $ will go to lawyers instead of her loved ones.
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