 The fate of gospel music
was forever altered in 1956 when a 14-year-old choir girl
named Aretha first belted out "Precious Lord" for a congregation
of 4,500 at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church. What followed this
conception of the legendary "Lady Soul" is nothing short of amazing
grace -- more than a dozen million-selling singles, 20 No. 1 R&B
hits, a cover story in Time, a civil rights award from Martin
Luther King Jr., a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 15 Grammys
(including a lifetime achievement award in 1995) and a role alongside
John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in the cinematic jewel,The Blues
Brothers.
1.choir: n. 唱诗班, 唱诗班的席位
Aretha Franklin's lifetime devotion to song, though often interrupted
by personal turmoil and tragedy, created a soul standard that remains
unchallenged and unbroken today. A dynamic diva since childhood,
Franklin was born to a respected gospel singer and powerful orator
who encouraged young Aretha, Carolyn and Erma to hone their voices
and free their spirits. The three sisters sang in the church choir
every Sunday, listening to the sermons of their father, Rev. C.L.
Franklin, and rubbing elbows with future stars like Smokey Robinson
and Sam Cooke.
1.orator: n. 演说者, 演讲者, 雄辩家, [律]原告, 请愿人
An untouchable force behind the microphone, Franklin hit a stumbling
block when she became a 15-year-old unwed mother. By age 17 she
had two sons in Detroit and a future waiting in New York, so in
1960, Franklin's grandmother took the children and loaded their
young mother on a bus to Manhattan, where she began recording demonstration
tapes and attracting national attention. After declining offers
from Motown and RCA, Franklin was finally snatched up by Columbia
Records' renowned talent scout John Hammond.
1.stumbling: v. 绊倒, 使困惑, 蹒跚, 结结巴巴地说话, 踌躇
The Columbia years proved controversial and confusing for Franklin,
who was shepherded into unfamiliar pop music territory rather
than her native R&B. Criticized as a white company that did
not appreciate Franklin's talent, Columbia produced 10 respectable
albums, but only one bonafide pop hit in six years: "Rock-a-bye
Your Baby with a Dixie Melody." When her contract expired in 1966,
producer Jerry Wexler pounced on the raw talent, signing her to
Atlantic and immediately digging into her R&B roots.
1.shepherd: v. 牧羊, 看管, 带领
2.bonafide: adv. adj. 真诚地(的), 真实地(的)
Wexler pushed Franklin into a cauldron of red hot blues
when he brought her to the Florence Alabama Music Emporium studios
in Muscle Shoals. There Franklin was to record with a crew of versatile
and talented musicians like Cissy Houston, Duane Allman and Eric
Clapton, but a drunken brawl between then-husband/manager Ted White
and one of the musicians put those plans on hold. The singular
completed work from Muscle Shoals, "I Never Loved a Man (the Way
I Love You)," was a gospel-charged sensation that convinced Franklin
to finish the album in New York. 1967's I Never Loved a Man
was the first in a long line of LPs that brought America to its
knees.
1.cauldron: n. (=caldron)大锅炉
2.versatile:adj. 通用的, 万能的, 多才多艺的, 多面手的
3.singular: adj. 单一的, 非凡的, 异常的, 持异议的
During the next three years, Franklin burned with passion and intensity,
selling millions of albums with Top 20 gospel-crossover hits like
"Respect," "Baby I Love You," "Chain of Fools," "Since You've Been
Gone," "Think" and "The House That Jack Built." These radio staples
contrasted with her Columbia recordings in their raw R&B foundation,
upon which Franklin built an eclectic structure of gospel, blues,
pop and rock. Perhaps the most stimulating song of its time, "Respect,"
took on several empowering translations during the era of black
activism, feminism and sexual liberation. A rallying cry
for social progress, "Respect," won Franklin two Grammy awards and
an honorary award from Martin Luther King Jr. -- a man she would
later eulogize with an uplifting rendition of "Precious Lord."
1.feminism: n. 女权运动
2.rendition: n. 表演, 演唱, 翻译
While fame tumbled down upon her, Franklin led a personal life
of hardship hidden from the world. Her troubled eight-year marriage
to White ended in 1969, after they had a son, Teddy Jr. That same
year her father was arrested for possession of marijuana and she
was rumored to be drinking heavily, but Franklin did not allow her
personal strife to shut down the hit factory."Bridge Over Troubled
Water," "Don't Play That Song," "Spanish Harlem" and "Rock Steady"
were just a few of the hits Franklin scored in the early '70s, during
which time she also gave birth to a fourth son, Kecalf, out of wedlock.
1.wedlock: n. 结婚生活, 婚姻
Franklin won Grammy awards every year between 1969 and 1975,
and even sang at President Jimmy Carter's inauguration, but
by the end of the '70s her record sales were beginning to dwindle.
Franklin gave her career a kick start in 1980 with a cameo appearance
in The Blues Brothers, a movie that introduced Franklin to
a younger audience. That same year she left Atlantic for Arista,
which produced sleek new hits like "Freeway of Love" and "Who's
Zoomin' Who." Franklin's first Arista album, released one year after
her father died of gunshot wounds suffered during a robbery attempt
at his home, became her highest charting album since 1972.
1.inauguration: n. 就职典礼, 开幕式 2.dwindle:
v. 缩小
The pop follow-up, Aretha, included the Grammy-winning
No. 1 duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)."
A return to gospel came in 1987 with One Lord, One Faith, One
Baptism, which earned her a Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Performance
in the same year she became the first woman inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.
Franklin backed out of the spotlight in 1988, the year that her
sister Carolyn, her brother and her manager all died.
What followed was a long line of accolades, a performance
at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration and countless peripheral
projects such as a biography and television special.
1.accolade: n. 赞美, 骑士爵位的授予, 连谱号 2.peripheral:
adj. 外围的 n. 外围设备
In 1998 Franklin released the critically acclaimed, A Rose Is
Still a Rose. The album featured production work by the Fugees'
Lauryn Hill and Sean "Puffy" Combs.
Anni Layne
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