post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America is at the Cincinnati, Ohio Museum of Art through September 3rd.
In Cincinnati to September 3BITTERSWEET CONGRATULATIONS to one of four journalists (named by the Committee to Protect Journalists) – and the only African – to be awarded its 2017 International Press Freedom Award, arising from his radio coverage of Boko Haram extremists. Unfortunately, Ahmed Abba from Cameroon is serving a 10-year prison sentence for doing that job.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named The Great Catsby— who rules-the-roost at a bookstore in Davie, Florida.
The Great Catsby of FloridaYOU’RE TRAVELING THROUGH ANOTHER DIMENSION if you visit London this coming December-January …. when a short-run theatrical production of The Twilight Zone makes its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre.
WHAT DIGBY SAYS — as she analyzes a New Yorker magazine report from western Colorado, where residents “are still mourning the loss of Exxon jobs that left in 1982 --- 35 years ago”.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Robbie the Hero Cat— who dutifully stayed by the side of an English man, helping him recuperate from a stroke … yet whose family are worried that Robbie has now gone missing.
Robbie the Hero CatBRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
HAIL and FAREWELL to the Australian songwriter Geoff Mack— whose song I’ve Been Everywhere contained Australian places, then (after it was adapted it to North America) was made popular by the Canadian country singer Hank Snow and was later made even more famous by Johnny Cash — who has died at the age of 94.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… regular readers know that I usually avoid profiling superstars (unless I have something different to say about them) …. often, they are stars you know more about than I do. I would, though, like to focus on the early 60’s jazz recording career of Aretha Franklin— then under contract to Columbia Records (and who did not achieve fame until she left for Atlantic Records in 1966). Still, she had the makings of a fine jazz singer … and it’s worth a look at what might-have-been ... before she became a superstar.
She made her first recording in 1956 (as a fourteen year-old) with Gospel standards in her father’s Detroit church. The Rev. C. L. Franklin — who forbade her to sign with Berry Gordy’s Motown before age 18 — was on speaking terms with many famous singers and celebrities, and it was Sam Cooke who convinced her that she had a future in popular music. In 1960 (at age 18) she was signed by John Hammond of Columbia Records and moved to New York.
The next six years of her career are the subject of many an opinion. The prevailing one (expressed succinctly by music historian Ed Ward) is that Columbia “didn’t know what to do with her”. The All-Music Guide’s William Ruhlmann is gentler, with “You can’t say they didn’t try”. The early 1960’s were an uncertain time in music (which changed after the 1964 British Invasion) and Motown did not begin to come into-its-own until 1961. John Hammond had made his name in jazz (with Billie Holiday as his great find) and so it was unsurprising that he saw Aretha Franklin as following in the jazz tradition.
Her 1961 debut album has her backed-up by the Ray Bryant Trio, who were augmented by by guitar and saxophone players on the uptempo songs. She did take-on some jazz standards (“Over the Rainbow”), one (“Who Needs You”) was a song written by Billie Holiday that she never had the chance to record and “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” even had some chart success.
Columbia allowed her to delve into R&B readily, and Ed Ward notes that she had a setback (of sorts) on her second album with “Rough Lover”— during an era (1962) in which a woman seeking one openly ... was delicate — noting that Phil Spector had to yank The Crystals’ song “He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss)” at the same time due to strong push-back. “Rough Lover” barely broke the Top 100.
Over the next few years, she recorded other albums for Columbia, with renditions of jazz standards such as “Love for Sale”, “Misty” and “For All We Know”. At the same time, she also delved into pop/soul tunes, such as a 1964 cover version of “The Shoop-Shoop Song” (It’s in His Kiss) — which had been a hit for Betty Everett, and might have charted again had it been released as a single … but it was not.
One of the problems with Columbia was its practice of using its own producers, engineers and studios — Clive Davis, who became the label’s president after Franklin left, noted in his 1975 memoirs how big a problem that had become by the late 60’s (when artistic freedom became a major issue). In the early 60’s, it simply meant that no single individual had a vested interest in Aretha’s success.
Even after losing an aggregate $90k on her, Columbia was still offering to re-sign her in 1966 — but she decided to take a better artistic offer from Atlantic Records, whose first release had her paired-up with the famed Muscle Shoals house band in January, 1967 … and the rest is R&B (and soul music) history.
Except that … Aretha Franklin never truly abandoned jazz. Two years later at Atlantic, she recorded Soul ‘69— which was more of an album of soul/pop cover songs in a jazz styling where she was backed-up by veteran jazz musicians (Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Grady Tate, David "Fathead” Newman and Joe Zawinul).
Columbia has released compilation albums of some of her works (such as Aretha’s Jazz and the double album Jazz to Soul in 1992). In fact, Mojo magazine’s Geoff Brown believes that her early 1960’s jazz material was ill-suited for the time … yet also believes it would have been excellent for her to record during the late 70’s-mid 1980’s (at a career lull for Aretha Franklin).
Regardless, she has been a patron of the art ever since. She has funded public school jazz education workshops and provided college scholarship financing to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz— from whom she received (in addition to her numerous other awards) a Founders Award in 2011 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. And it’s not beyond possibility that (at age 75) she might yet again tackle the Great American Songbook … at just the right time.
A young Aretha FranklinPossibly the most representative of her recordings for Columbia was the song published in 1941, Skylark— by the tag-team of music composer Hoagy Carmichael and lyricist Johnny Mercer (who apparently had a tough time finishing the lyrics after he was given the sheet music).
This was recorded on Aretha’s fifth album for Columbia, Laughing on the Outside (released in 1963) that had several other ballads and standards. And below you can hear what John Hammond saw her career as, before she found her path.
Skylark — have you anything to say to me Won't you tell me where my love can be Is there a meadow in the mist Where someone's waiting to be kissed
Skylark — have you seen a valley green with spring Where my heart can go a-journeying Over the shadows and the rain To a blossom covered lane
And in your lonely flight Haven't you heard music in the night Wonderful music, faint as a will-o’-the-wisp Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy, serenading the moon
Skylark — I don't know if you can find these things But my heart is riding on your wings So if you see them anywhere Won't you lead me there?
x xYouTube Video