The All New Music Tag Reboot!

Adele - Set Fire To The Rain (Live on 'Later with Jools Holland') May 2011

 

Phil Collins - I Wish It Would Rain Down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcY3FH208l8

 

Judy Garland- Somewhere over the Rainbow

 

Alison Krauss - Away Down the River

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCrEoWE3sHM

 

Creedence Clearwater Revival- Proud Mary



Rollin' on the River!

 

Aretha Franklin "Mary Don't You Weep"



The Queen Of Soul
Aretha Franklin



Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer, she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records--"Respect," "I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The House That Jack Built," and several others--earned her the title "Lady Soul," which she has worn uncontested ever since. Yet as much of an international institution as she's become, much of her work--outside of her recordings for Atlantic in the late '60s and early '70s--is erratic and only fitfully inspired, making discretion a necessity when collecting her records.

Franklin's roots in gospel ran extremely deep. With her sisters Carolyn and Erma (both of whom would also have recording careers), she sang at the Detroit church of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, while growing up in the 1950s. In fact, she made her first recordings as a gospel artist at the age of 14. It has also been reported that Motown was interested in signing Aretha back in the days when it was a tiny start-up. Ultimately, however, Franklin ended up with Columbia, to which she was signed by the renowned talent scout John Hammond.

Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout the first half of the '60s, notching occasional R&B hits (and one Top Forty single, "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody"), but never truly breaking out as a star. The Columbia period continues to generate considerable controversy among critics, many of whom feel that Aretha's true aspirations were being blunted by pop-oriented material and production. In fact there's a reasonable amount of fine items to be found on the Columbia sides, including the occasional song ("Lee Cross," "Soulville") where she belts out soul with real gusto. It's undeniably true, though, that her work at Columbia was considerably tamer than what was to follow, and suffered in general from a lack of direction and an apparent emphasis on trying to develop her as an all-around entertainer, rather than as an R&B/soul singer.

When Franklin left Columbia for Atlantic, producer Jerry Wexler was determined to bring out her most soulful, fiery traits. As part of that plan, he had her record her first single, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," at Muscle Shoals in Alabama with esteemed Southern R&B musicians. In fact, that was to be her only session actually at Muscle Shoals, but much of the remainder of her '60s work would be recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, although the sessions would actually take place in New York City. The combination was one of those magic instances of musical alchemy in pop: the backup musicians provided a much grittier, soulful, and R&B-based accompaniment for Aretha's voice, which soared with a passion and intensity suggesting a spirit that had been allowed to fly loose for the first time.

In the late '60s, Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop. Many also saw Franklin as a symbol of Black America itself, reflecting the increased confidence and pride of African-Americans in the decade of the civil rights movements and other triumphs for he Black community. The chart statistics are impressive in and of themselves: ten Top Ten hits in a roughly 18-month span between early 1967 and late 1968, for instance, and a steady stream of solid mid-to-large-size hits for the next five years after that. Her Atlantic albums were also huge sellers, and far more consistent artistically than those of most soul stars of the era. Franklin was able to maintain creative momentum, in part, because of her eclectic choice of material, which encompassed first-class originals and gospel, blues, pop, and rock covers, from the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to Sam Cooke and the Drifters. She was also a fine, forceful, and somewhat underrated keyboardist.

Franklin's commercial and artistic success was unabated in the early '70s, during which she landed more huge hits with "Spanish Harlem," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and "Day Dreaming." She also produced two of her most respected, and earthiest, album releases with Live at Fillmore West and Amazing Grace. The latter, a 1972 double LP, was a reinvestigation of her gospel roots, recorded with James Cleveland & the Southern California Community Choir. Remarkably, it made the Top Ten, counting as one of the greatest gospel-pop crossover smashes of all time.

Franklin had a few more hits over the next few years--"Angel" and the Stevie Wonder cover "Until You Come Back to Me"--being the most notable--but generally her artistic inspiration seemed to be tapering off, and her focus drifting toward more pop-oriented material. Her Atlantic contract ended at the end of the 1970s, and since then she's managed to get intermittent hits -- "Who's Zooming Who" and "Jump to It" are among the most famous -- without remaining anything like the superstar she was at her peak. Many of her successes were duets, or crafted with the assistance of newer, glossier-minded contemporaries such as Luther Vandross. There was also another return to gospel in 1987 with One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

Critically, as is the case with many '60s rock legends, there have been mixed responses to her later work. Some view it as little more than a magnificent voice wasted on mediocre material and production. Others seem to grasp for any excuse they can to praise her whenever there seems to be some kind of resurgence of her soul leanings. Most would agree that her post-mid-'70s recordings are fairly inconsequential when judged against her prime Atlantic era. The blame is often laid at the hands of unsuitable material, but it should also be remembered that -- like Elvis Presley and Ray Charles -- Franklin never thought of herself as confined to one genre. She always loved to sing straight pop songs, even if her early Atlantic records gave one the impression that her true home was earthy soul music. If for some reason she returned to straight soul shouting in the future, it's doubtful that the phase would last for more than an album or two. In the meantime, despite her lukewarm recent sales record, she's an institution, assured of the ability to draw live audiences and immense respect for the rest of her lifetime, regardless of whether there are any more triumphs on record in store. -- Richie Unterberger

Rolling Stone Biography

Aretha Franklin is not only the definitive female soul singer of the Sixties, she's also one of the most influential and important voices in pop history. Franklin fused the gospel music she grew up on with the sensuality of R&B, the innovation of jazz, and the precision of pop. After she hit her artistic and commercial stride in 1967, she made more than a dozen million-selling singles, and since then has recorded 20 Number One R&B hits. She moved toward the pop mainstream with fitful success in the Seventies, but in the late Eighties experienced a resurgence in popularity, and continues to record in a less ecstatic, more mannered style. Fittingly, after more than 40 years of helping to bridge the racial divide in her music, Franklin sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009.

Franklin was born March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin, became the pastor of the 4,500-member New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit in 1946 and was a nationally known gospel singer ("the Man with the Million-Dollar Voice"). Her mother, Barbara, also a gospel singer, deserted the family when Aretha was six and died four years later. Aretha and her sisters, Carolyn and Erma, sang regularly at their father's church, and Aretha's first recordings were made there when she was 14. The Franklins were among the most prominent black families in Detroit. Many future stars, including Smokey Robinson, knew the family, and in the Fifties Berry Gordy Jr. tried to sign Aretha to his fledgling Motown label. Reverend Franklin refused.

The teenaged Aretha toured the gospel circuit with her father, and she was befriended by Clara Ward (according to some sources, the Reverend Franklin's lover), Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland, and Sam Cooke. Cooke, who had only recently crossed over from recording gospel to pop, was an inspiration to the young singer, encouraging her to sign with the label he recorded for, RCA. In fact, Aretha nearly did, until she was signed by legendary talent scout John Hammond to Columbia. She moved to New York, and at first found acceptance in the R&B market with "Today I Sing the Blues" (Number Ten R&B, 1960), "Won't Be Long" (Number Seven R&B, 1961), and "Operation Heartbreak" (Number Six R&B, 1961), but in six years and ten albums, she had only one pop hit: "Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" (Number 37 pop, 1961). Reissues have focused new attention on the importance of Franklin's Columbia years: She recorded several original songs ("Without the One You Love," "I'll Keep On Smiling," "Land of Dreams," "I Still Can't Forget") and a critically lauded tribute to her late friend Dinah Washington, as well as a 1962 version of "Try a Little Tenderness" that is said to have inspired Otis Redding to record it.

In 1966 she signed with Atlantic, and with the help of producer Jerry Wexler, arranger Arif Mardin, and engineer Tom Dowd, began to make the records that would reshape soul music. Her first session (and the only one recorded at Muscle Shoals, in Alabama) yielded "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)" (Number Nine pop, Number One R&B, 1967) and heralded a phenomenal three years in which she sold in the millions with "Respect" (Number One pop and R&B, 1967), "Baby I Love You" (Number Four pop, Number One R&B, 1967), "Chain of Fools" (Number Two pop, Number One R&B, 1968), "Since You've Been Gone" (Number Five pop, Number One R&B, 1968) and nine other singles.

Franklin's material ranged from R&B numbers by Otis Redding ("Respect") to pop fare by Carole King and Gerry Goffin ("[You Make Me Feel Like] a Natural Woman") and Lennon and McCartney ("Eleanor Rigby"). She also recorded many of her own songs, cowritten with her first husband and then-manager Ted White ("Dr. Feelgood," "Since You've Been Gone [Sweet Sweet Baby]," "Think"), or her sister Carolyn ("Save Me" [with King Curtis]), who received solo songwriting credit for "Ain't No Way." Most of Franklin's Sixties sessions were recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, who, after the first session, were imported to New York City, or with a band led by saxophonist King Curtis. Franklin herself was responsible for the vocal arrangements, whose gospel-style call-and-response choruses often featured her sister Carolyn as well as the Sweet Inspirations.

By 1968 Franklin reigned throughout America and Europe as "Lady Soul" — a symbol of black pride. She was presented an award by Martin Luther King Jr. (to whose cause her father had been a major financial supporter), and appeared on the cover of Time, the accompanying profile of which would be her last major interview for many years. As Time reported (and other sources have since concurred), Franklin's personal life was quite turbulent. Throughout her career, Franklin has remained an enigmatic figure, alternately outspoken and reclusive, and much of her personal life has been shrouded in secrecy. She had married White in 1961. She already had two sons, Clarence and Edward, born before her 17th birthday. With White, she gave birth to Teddy Jr., a guitarist in her band since the Eighties. Her marriage to White ended in 1969, by which time he had struck her in public on one occasion and shot her new production manager on another. Franklin herself was arrested in 1968 for reckless driving and again in 1969 for disorderly conduct. Also in 1969 her father was arrested for possession of marijuana. He hosted a controversial conference for a black separatist group that ended in a violent confrontation with Detroit police that left one officer dead and several other people wounded. During this time his daughter Aretha was rumored to be drinking heavily.

The hits continued (giving her more million-sellers than any other woman in recording history) – including "Don't Play That Song" (Number 11 pop, Number One R&B, 1970), "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Number Six pop, Number One R&B, 1971), "Spanish Harlem" (Number Two pop, Number One R&B, 1971) and many more. In the early Seventies she gave birth to her fourth son, Kecalf, and in 1978 she married actor Glynn Turman. During this time Franklin seemed to be searching, sometimes aimlessly, for direction. But this period was not without its high points: Spirit in the Dark, Live at the Fillmore West, and Young, Gifted, and Black were all critically acclaimed. The pure gospel Amazing Gospel (recorded live in L.A. with her father officiating and the Reverend James Cleveland at the piano and conducting the choir) would be her final album with Wexler. During her last years with Atlantic she moved from producer to producer: Quincy Jones (Hey Now Hey), Curtis Mayfield (Sparkle, which included "Something He Can Feel," a 1992 Top Ten hit for En Vogue and Franklin's last Top 40 pop hit for nearly six years), Lamont Dozier (Sweet Passion), Van McCoy (La Diva). Her concerts became Las Vegas-style extravaganzas, and she soon established a reputation for her idiosyncratic (some would say ill-advised) costume choices. She also began showing signs of the unpredictability that would dog her career, particularly after a bad experience while flying resulted in a phobia that curtailed her touring.

In 1980 Franklin left Atlantic, signed with Arista, and positioned herself as the grande dame of pop. Her cameo appearance (she sang "Respect" and "Think") in The Blues Brothers movie that year has been cited as the beginning of a new phase. Her first two Arista albums were produced by Arif Mardin, and each included an old soul standard as well as glossier MOR material. "Love All the Hurt Away," a collaboration with George Benson, went to Number Six on the R&B chart in 1981. Her version of Sam and Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin'" earned a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female. With the Luther Vandross-produced Jump to It, she reestablished herself as a hitmaker when the title tune reached Number One R&B and Number 24 pop in 1982. Vandross was also behind the board for Get It Right.

But the momentum of her commercial comeback was halted by a series of personal tragedies, beginning with the 1979 attack on her father, in which he was shot by burglars in his Detroit home. He began to recover from his injuries but then lapsed into a coma state from which he did not emerge before his death in 1984. In 1982 Franklin moved back to the Detroit area, where she still lives. Two years later, she and Turman divorced. The year after her father's death, Franklin came fully back into the public eye with Who's Zoomin' Who (Number 13, 1985), a Narada Michael Walden-produced work that spun off three hit singles: the Grammy-winning "Freeway of Love" (Number Three pop, Number One R&B, 1985), the title track (Number Seven pop, Number Two R&B, 1985), and a Top 20 duet with the Eurythmics, "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves." The album, which included guest performances by Clarence Clemons, Dizzy Gillespie, Carlos Santana, Peter Wolf, and most of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, as well as backing vocals by sister Carolyn and Sylvester, among others, became her highest-charting album since 1972. The hits' accompanying videos were heavily played on MTV, and Franklin found the pop crossover success that had once eluded her. Its followup, Aretha, included the Top 30 "Jimmy Lee" (Number Two R&B, 1986) and a version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," produced by and featuring Keith Richards, as well as her Grammy-winning Number One duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)" (1987).

Subsequent albums were less popular. Her critically acclaimed One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism marked a return to gospel and featured Mavis Staples and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. It earned Franklin her 15th Grammy, for Best Female Soul Gospel Performance. Despite its hit title track (a duet with Elton John; Number 16 pop, Number 17 R&B, 1989), Through the Storm peaked at Number 55, and 1991's What You See Is What You Sweat made the lowest showing of any new album in her career. It contained a Number 13 R&B cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People."

In 1987 Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The following year Franklin's sister Carolyn died of cancer; around the same period her brother and manager, Cecil, also died. She appeared with Frank Sinatra on his Duets album and in 1993 starred in her own television special, Duets, which featured her singing with a number of current pop stars, including Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, Smokey Robinson, George Michael, and Rod Stewart. She appeared at the inaugural celebration for President Bill Clinton, where her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" (from Les Miserables) barely got more attention than her wearing a fur coat (for which she offered no apologies). "A Deeper Love" (Number 63 pop, Number 30 R&B, 1994), from the Sister Act 2 soundtrack, was written and produced by Robert Clivilles and David Cole of C + C Music Factory. "Willing to Forgive" was another Top 20 R&B hit that year. In 1994 Franklin received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In 1996 Franklin signed a three-album deal with Arista for a reported $10 million. The next year, she was accepted into the Juilliard School of Music to study classical piano, and she recorded a new version of "Respect" for the movie Blues Brothers 2000, in which she reprised her role as a restaurant owner. She also formed a record label, World Class Records, primarily to release gospel music. In 1998 she delivered her 49th album, A Rose Is Still a Rose, a career-revitalizing collaboration with current stars such as the Fugees' Lauryn Hill and producers Sean Combs and Jermaine Dupri.

Franklin's highly anticipated autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots (written with David Ritz), was released in 1999. She then entered the new century by selecting, with the White House Millennium Council, "Respect" to be included in a time capsule to preserve significant cultural achievements for future generations. Franklin has recorded sporadically in the 2000s, releasing 2003's So Damn Happy and then parting ways with Arista to start her own Aretha Records label.

Franklin's final Arista release was the 2007 duets collection Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, which put her back in the R&B Top Ten at Number Seven. It featured her performances with artists including Vandross, Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Gloria Estefan, Annie Lennox, George Michael, John Legend, American Idol star Fantasia, and Mary J. Blige. A Woman Falling Out of Love, Franklin's first album for her Aretha Records label, is slated for a 2010 release.

In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked Franklin ninth on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, behind acts such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown; four years later, she ranked number one on the magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2005 President George W. Bush awarded Franklin The Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2009 she sang at the Obama Inauguration wearing a much-talked-about gray wool hat with a giant ribbon that was later put on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

Portions of this biography appeared in The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001). Mark Kemp contributed to this article.

 

Hank Williams Jr & Sr - There's A Tear In My Beer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA67y3mqjMs

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the late great Roy Orbison!

Roy Orbison- Crying

 

Crying - Don McLean

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-listening-to.23727/page-11#post-433327

 

I see where you're going!

Don McLean- American Pie

 

My favorite Don McLean song with a surprise guest, another favorite, the Country Gentlemen or Mr. Guitar himself.
Chet Atkins & Don McLean - Vincent



Simply magnificent!

 

I have to agree, I know these songs because American Pie is my mother's favorite album. My Mom used to have a print of Starry Night, don't know what happened to it.

Chet Atkins- Mr. Bojangles

 

Let's try the master at Vincent solo.
Chet Atkins-Vincent



BTW, for those who did not know Chet always considered himself a jazz musician and won Grammys with his Jazz albums.
His biggest influence was Django Reinhardt.

 

The Moon is out on a starry night, right?

Blue Moon- Mel Torme

 

Earl Thomas Conley-Once In A Blue Moon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKQadGib1ZM&feature=related

 

Brooks and Dunn - "Neon Moon"

 

Now this is the REAL Kenny G. Not that sham named Kenny Gorelick!

Blue Moon / Kenny Garrett

 

Dean Martin - Ain't That A Kick In The Head