Aretha mini-series begins tonight on national geographic channel

[PeaceNHarmony]

this is a family that can't agree on anything. Aretha knew she was dying and didn't put things in place and look at the chaos and pain that it has caused. Again, from what I read, this was more her way of dealing with things than not. Clive Davis must have very special qualities to have worked with her so long.
The other thing I noticed is the amount of smoking that happened, no wonder her voice deteriorated...same with Dionne Warwick...no denying the ravages the smoking does.

All agreed [[or, should I pun, Ah, greed...) and if one wishes to split hairs, with all due respect to the children/grand children, what would they necessarily know about events that happened before their births and/or that they did not witness themselves? Knowing the red-hot mess that my utterly beloved Aretha's professional affairs were, NatGeo would have indeed been smart to take a hard left turn away and on to the interstate before asking the Franklin survivors to get involved. [[And, truly, I'm sorry to say this, but I've followed Aretha since 1969 and you could fill volumes of textbooks with Franklin career mishaps, uncompleted plans, cancelled concerts, you name it) My guess is that the only thing the family is upset with is not being asked where to send their checks to.

[StuBass1]

All agreed [[or, should I pun, Ah, greed...) and if one wishes to split hairs, with all due respect to the children/grand children, what would they necessarily know about events that happened before their births and/or that they did not witness themselves? Knowing the red-hot mess that my utterly beloved Aretha's professional affairs were, NatGeo would have indeed been smart to take a hard left turn away and on to the interstate before asking the Franklin survivors to get involved. [[And, truly, I'm sorry to say this, but I've followed Aretha since 1969 and you could fill volumes of textbooks with Franklin career mishaps, uncompleted plans, cancelled concerts, you name it) My guess is that the only thing the family is upset with is not being asked where to send their checks to.

Largely agree... This reminds me of the controversy over the recent Green Book film. A guy from his own perspective told a story he participated in, a story that would likely never have been otherwise told, and when the industry decided to go ahead with the project, the family members all stuck their hands out for a piece of the action, instead of having told their own compelling story themselves that was saleable and co-participants who let the professionals do what they do to bring a product to the market... The film industry doesn't care who gets the money, so long as it sees a way to get theirs... The Franklin heirs can't even get their own act together regarding the estate so it's no surprise they had no time to put together a coherent story to sell to people who don't want to be around that type of drama. I imagine the producers tried to keep them as far away from the actual production as possible and in both cases, got away with a small of payout to them and as little input as possible... If you want to see how participants can do their best to destroy a project, Carol Kaye's involvement in the Wrecking Crew story is a prime example...

[pghmusiclover]

I'm curious, how did Carol Kaye destroy the Wrecking Crew story? I've never seen it, so I'd love to know more!

For what it's worth, I really enjoyed the mini-series, BUT I feel it could have used one additional hour. I feel like the deaths of Carolyn and Cecil were barely acknowledged and the later years of her career were hardly touched upon. I know most people cared about the "Atlantic years", but I really wanted to see the story come full-circle...

[StuBass1]

I'm curious, how did Carol Kaye destroy the Wrecking Crew story? I've never seen it, so I'd love to know more!

For what it's worth, I really enjoyed the mini-series, BUT I feel it could have used one additional hour. I feel like the deaths of Carolyn and Cecil were barely acknowledged and the later years of her career were hardly touched upon. I know most people cared about the "Atlantic years", but I really wanted to see the story come full-circle...

This has been posted before...legendary drummer Hal Blaine discussing Carol and how he asserts she tried to "wreck" the Wrecking Crew film... Interesting interview... He begins to discuss and rant on Kaye at about the 13:00 minute mark... https://youtu.be/us0nDMASZoM