Appreciate Aretha Franklin Now – Trust Me, Don’t Wait

Singer Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, it was revealed Wednesday, has pancreatic cancer. And though few details of Franklin’s disease are known at this time, the cure rate for this cancer isn’t good.

Two in 10 people with pancreatic cancer live at least one year after diagnosis, and fewer than 4% will be alive after five years, the American Cancer Society says.

Still, little is known about Franklin’s condition, with media reports saying she had undergone surgery and was recovering at home. The three main types of treatment for pancreatic cancer are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, according to the Cancer Society.

Actor Patrick Swayze died from pancreatic cancer last year. His public battle created awareness of the fatal disease that has no early warning signs. That’s not to say there’s no hope or that the prognosis is fated to be grim.

Researchers are working, some might say scrambling, to improve diagnoses, treatments — and outcomes. Here are the latest findings and research on potential treatments and a guide to the basics of this disease.

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.

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Some Of Her Awards & Accomplishments

• On June 28, 1968 she became the second African-American woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine
• In 1985, then-Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan declared her voice “a natural resource” during a ceremony that marked her 25 years in show business.
• Aretha Franklin is one of three musicians, along with Madonna & Marvin Gaye, to achieve each of the top 10 positions on the US Billboard Hot 100.
• On January 20, 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• On March 29, 1987, Franklin sang “America the Beautiful” at WrestleMania III.
• In 1987, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Musicology degree from the University of Detroit.
• In 1994 she became the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.
• In September, 1999, she was awarded The National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.
• In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked her No. 9 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
• In 2005, she was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
• In 2005, she became the second woman (Madonna being the first, a founding member) to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
• In 2005, Franklin was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
• On February 6, 2006, she performed, along with Aaron Neville, “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XL.
• On May 13, 2006, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Berklee College of Music.
• On April 1, 2007 Aretha sang “America the Beautiful” at WrestleMania 23.
• On May 14, 2007, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
• In 2007, Aretha Franklin’s recording of “Respect” was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.
• Is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
• On February 8, 2008, Franklin was honored as MusiCares “Person of the Year.”
• On February 14, 2008, Franklin was given the Vanguard award at the NAACP Image awards.
• On May 4, 2008, Franklin was given the Key to the City of Memphis at the 2008 “Memphis in May International Music Festival” by Mayor Dr. Willie Herenton during her performance onstage.
• On September 13, 2008, Franklin was ranked No .19 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists list by Billboard.
• November 2008, Franklin was named by Rolling Stone as the No. 1 all-time best singer of the rock era, according to the magazine’s survey of 179 musicians, producers, Rolling Stone editors, and other music industry insiders.
• On January 20, 2009, Franklin performed “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” during the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama. The distinctive hat she wore during that performance is displayed at the Smithsonian.
• On December 4, 2009, Aretha Franklin performed in EMPAC at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to celebrate RPI’s President Shirley Ann Jackson’s 10th year of being tenured.
• On May 23, 2010, Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University.

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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.

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 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.

If you were in front of her right now, what would you say to her?  Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Source: Aretha-Franklin.com, Wikipedia

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