From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

Atlantic Records Gold Strikes Authorized; 5 Singles, 2 LPs; Another Single Due

NEW YORK — The Atlantic Records’ family of labels made a run on gold disk market last week. The labels received authorization from the RIAA for five singles and two albums, and there’s still another single up for gold disk certification.

The Atlantic and Atco single records that earned the RIAA seal includes Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” on Atlantic; Mr. Acker Bilk’s “Stranger On The Shore” on Atco, and Booker T. and the MG’s “Green Onions” on Stax Records, a subsidiary of the Atlantic record group. The last two records were originally released about five years ago and have continued to sell steadily since they were first issued. The single record disk up for certification is Arthur Conley’s “Sweet Soul Music” on Atco records.

Aretha’s Atlantic album ‘I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)’ and Bilk’s ‘Stranger On The Shore’ on Atco were the two albums receiving the gold disk award. Miss Franklin’s LP record was one of the fastest selling albums of this year, and Bilk’s LP hit won the award five years after its original release in 1962.

Jerry Wexler, Atlantic’s executive vice-president, supervised all of Miss Franklin’s recordings. “Groovin'” marks the first RIAA award for the Young Rascals, as does “Green Onions” for Booker T. and the MG’s, and “Stranger On The Shore” for Mr. Acker Bilk.

The RIAA single record certification is for sales of one million copies; the RIAA LP certification is for sales of $1 million overall. END

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 (Information and news source: Billboard; June 24, 1967)

A MCRFB NEWS brief: 1968

Aretha Sets Concert Mark in the Motor City

DETROIT — Aretha Franklin’s “homecoming” concert at Cobo Hall here, Friday, February 16 set a record for a single concert event, a record set for the auditorium. The concert hit a $60,000 gross playing to an audience of 12,000.

February 16 was named “Aretha Franklin Day” by the mayor of Detroit, Jerome P. Cavanaugh, to mark the Atlantic record artist first concert in Detroit in over a year. Following the concert, Jay-Kay Distributors and Atlantic Records held a party for the singer at the Pontchartrain Hotel attended by  local disk jockeys, dealers and friends, family members were seen in attendance as well of Miss Franklin. END

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Information and news source: Billboard; March 3, 1968

 February 16, 1968: Detroit Declares “Aretha Franklin Day”

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By February 1968, Aretha Franklin had established herself as among the world’s premier recording artists, her genre-spanning recordings achieving commercial and critical acclaim, and appealing to mixed-race audiences around the world. The previous year had seen the release of “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You),” her triumphant Atlantic Records debut produced by Jerry Wexler and recorded with an ace backing band at Rick Hall’s Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The landmark soul recording included Franklin’s righteous re-working of Otis Redding‘s “Respect,” which rose to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100, and the inspired candor and groove of the album’s title track. That same year, Wexler and engineer Tom Dowd worked with Franklin on her sophomore effort for Atlantic, ‘Aretha Arrives,’ which included the hit single “Baby I Love You,” peaking at Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100. Less than a year later, in January 1968, ‘Lady Soul’ arrived, featuring “Chain of Fools” and “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like),” the latter written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Both singles charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. It was in 1968 that legendary deejay Pervis Spann, “The Blues Man,” ceremoniously placed a crown atop Franklin’s head during a performance at Chicago’s Regal Theater, announcing her as the “Queen of Soul” – a moniker that remains undisputed. Her success and the subsequent adoration of a growing legion of fans set the stage for a momentous homecoming performance.

On February 16, 1968, Franklin led a stellar performance at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. At the show, Detroit Mayor Jerome P. Cavanaugh declared the date as “Aretha Franklin Day,” while local disc jockey Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg – who helped host the event – proclaimed Franklin “everybody’s soul sister.” The evening also included the presentation of plaques and certificates from representatives of music-trade publications, to wit Billboard, Cash Box and Record World, who all recognized Franklin for her contributions and success in 1967. The packed crowd of more than 12,000 people loudly cheered for their Queen, and were treated to a lively 90-minute set from Franklin, who moved between her piano and charismatically owning the stage in a sleek, lime-green dress, her collar and hips wrapped in fanciful feather adornments, while sporting dangling globe earrings and a stylish hair up-do. The Sweet Inspirations, which included vocalist Cissy Houston, backed Franklin that evening, delighting the crowd with soaring versions of “Natural Woman,” “Respect” and many more from Franklin’s impressive catalog.

Among the evening’s many highlights was the appearance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had flown to Detroit to attend the concert and recognize Franklin with a special award from the Southern Christian Leadership Council. Franklin’s father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, was active in the SCLC, as well as a fiery, in-demand preacher famous for his impassioned sermons and singing voice. King and Franklin’s father were friends and shared a mutual admiration fostered during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, making King’s presentation to Aretha both personal and declarative, recognizing the female performer’s role in defining African-American identity. Although he had laryngitis and could not speak, King’s presence caused a stir. Rita Griffin of the Michigan Chronicle recalled of the moment Franklin and King shared on stage: “[King] never said a word, because he couldn’t. But you could just feel the impact his presence had – just him being there… All 12,000 people in that room cared for him – you could feel it.” Almost seven week later, Dr. King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.

In the immediate years that followed, Franklin would release a remarkable body of material. Between 1970 and 1972 alone, she released five albums – ‘Spirit In The Dark,’ ‘This Girl’s In Love With You,’ ‘Live At Filmore West,’ ‘Young, Gifted And Black,’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ –that provided illuminating, poignant commentary on American life and culture – past, present and future. (source: rockhall.com).

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(Information from web sources: Wikipedia, Bio, Rock Hall Fame, NPR, and All Music)

Addendum: Below: An actual video clip of Lady Soul from the “Aretha Franklin Day” event held at Cobo Hall, in Detroit, February 16, 1968.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L4Bonnw484

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1968

Miss Franklin Riding Big Wave In ’68 On New Found R&B Success

NEW YORK — Before soul music moved “downtown” into the money, Aretha spent her Sundays singing in her father’s Baptist church in Detroit. Then, eight years ago, Aretha jumped off the gospel train, arrived in New York and kicked off a career that so far has netted her riches, five gold records, including one for an album, and a Billboard citation as the top female vocalist in 1967. But it wasn’t until last year, when “Lady Soul” met Lady Luck dressed up at Atlantic Records did Aretha move into the real money.

“I wanted to have a gold record,” remembers Aretha. “I wanted one so bad — to sell a million of something.” Jerry Wexler, Atlantic’s dean of soul, brought Aretha from Columbia, where her talent sputtered in their “pop inclined” climate, and gave her complete freedom to further expand more of her abilities and talents. But along with her artistic freedom, Wexler also supplied the tools to form her own free expression into self-discovery; tuned-in musicians from Memphis, a full hopper of materials to pick from, and plenty of gold records lining the walls for inspiration. “Atlantic came up with the same sound that I was feeling at the same time,” said Aretha. What Wexler did was allow the singer to grow at her own pace, into her own style.

In 1968, Miss Franklin will earn more than $750,000. Atlantic Records will reap a portion of Aretha’s record harvest in return for a million-dollar contract payable over the next several years. On the strength of her soaring stock, Time magazine toasted Miss Franklin with a front cover and, with a five-page story in the June 28 issue, marking her official coronation as “Lady Soul.” Miss Franklin will only talk in public about the cover, but not about what’s inside. The length of the article, she says wryly, is “something to speak about.” Privately, she thinks Time “could have stayed a little closer to the fact” concerning her personal life.

Husband as Manager

In addition to her Atlantic contract, Aretha has signed up with her husband, Ted White, for personal manager. “We haven’t had any real trouble so far,” said Aretha about the boss-husband twist, “but it is difficult having your husband as manager. You never know what side he’s coming from — from the husband side or manager side.” But when the bookings are in and they can retreat to their 12-room colonial home in Detroit as a couple and not as partnership, Aretha’s business demons dissolve with the immediate pleasure of her family. “All I want to do,” Aretha muses, “is to be able to function as a simple, honest and true citizen as a human being.”

On stage, Aretha blends earthly humor with the dignity of a Sunday sermon. She will talk about her stiff piano stool back, the sting of new shoes pinching at her heels and, the next moment, belt out “Think” or “Baby, I Love You” with brilliant bursts of gospel power, back-porch blues or rhythm and blues. She toured Europe in the spring and plans to do it again. “It was the greatest,” she said. In Holland, the audience threw flowers — bouquets of flowers and roses — and in Stockholm, the Crown Prince and Princess sat in the audience.”

But despite the gold already won and new gold on the way for albums Aretha: Lady Soul and Aretha Now, she shuns the refinement of pop royalty. “I by about 20 pounds of chitlings every two weeks,” says the young soul singer. Ray Charles called her “one of the greatest I’ve heard any time.”

Miss Franklin will follow up her recent Madison Square Garden appearance for the Martin Luther King fund with a special solo concert at Newport in August. On August 20, she will be featured on an ABC-TV special and, later this summer, she will perform in Caracas, Venezuela. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; July 13, 1968)

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1968

WEXLER, ATLANTIC RECORDS SIGN ARETHA TO NEW LONG-TERM RECORD DEAL

NEW YORK — Aretha Franklin and Atlantic Records have negotiated a new contract, despite her original contract with the label had several years left open before it would have expired contractually. At a luncheon at the Hotel St. Regis last Thursday, April 25, the Atlantic organization were on hand to celebrate her new deal and her imminent departure on her first European concert tour.

Jerry Wexler, Atlantic’s executive vice-president, said that Miss Franklin will receive one of the largest guarantee ever given to any recording star but to reveal the sum would be in “gross taste.”

Miss Franklin signed with Atlantic Records in October, 1966, and her first single was issued in February, 1967. Since then she has had five singles releases that have sold more than 1 million copies, including an album that has garnered sales of over $1 million. Over the past year she has swept virtually every award in the record industry.

Miss Franklin’s European tour begins in Rotterdam, Sunday, May 5 and winds up in Stockholm on Thursday, May 9. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; May 4, 1968)