Beryl Cohen Porter Senior Vice President, Creative Development 550 Madison Avenue New York, NY Direct Line

213-673-1501 Boston Line 617-301-3686 berylporter@sonylegacy.us

The Queen in Waiting (Edited Liner Notes)

Detroit was socked in. Snow and sleet and ice and wind the city was a mess, the roads sheets of glass, the sky dark gray. I inched my way north, to the far suburbs, where, inside a gated community of imposing homes, Aretha Franklin lives. For almost a year I had been trying to arrange a conversation with her failing each time, but getting closer. Finally, after meeting with her son and getting his blessing, the meeting was arranged. My discussion was limited to the pivotal point in her life when, for the first time, she decided to interpret secular music. Arethas world and, for that matter, American musical culture would never be the same. Wearing a regal robe of gold, yellow, and green, Aretha greeted me at the door. The central heat was humming and, for extra comfort, space heaters were placed next to the matching couches where we sat across from one another. Her state-of-the-art sound systems controls were at arms length. A soundless soap opera flickered across the huge television monitor. We sipped hot tea. The moment I slipped in the CD and played the first song, Aretha turned off the TV. She closed her eyes and they remained closed, the sound of her young voice filling the enormous living room/office. That song - Nobody Like You though clearly a love song, was written by her gospel mentor, the Reverend James Cleveland. It serves as a symbol, a sturdy bridge between Arethas past, present, and future. Her style, steeped in church phrasing and church feeling, is the ideal instrument for Clevelands blues-based melody. The fact that she plays brilliant piano, in much the same broad-chords manner of Cleveland, personalizes it even more. The thing that many people dont understand about this change in my career, she said, reflecting back over five decades, is that I never left the church. The church stays with me wherever I go and whatever I sing. Most importantly my father supported me. I began singing popular music with his encouragement and his blessing. James Cleveland actually lived with us for awhile and became Minister of Music at New Bethel, the church where daddy presided for over 30 years. James gave me this song as a way to say, Go on, girl. Gods spirit will be present in every song you sing. The spirit in the dark is the light that illuminates the art of Aretha and its remarkable consistency. The set of her debut secular work makes clear the ease with which she walked form the Baptist church to the pop marketplace. Recorded from 1960-1965, the years when the gospel prodigy was signed to Columbia, then the largest and most prestigious record company in the world. The Queen in Waiting is a remarkable portrait. We see a teenager turn into a woman, and a woman blossom into an artist of astounding emotional depth.

PAPA JOHN
Aretha was changing: changing styles and changing cities. At the start of the Sixties, at 18, she left Detroit for New York. She was ready to be launched. Her grandmother cared for her two small sons back in Detroit. Aretha frequently came home for visits, but for the first time in her life she would live outside the city of her childhood, switching locations from the YMCA, the Bryant Hotel, the Chelsea Hotel and an apartment in Greenwich Village. Her father arranged for a chaperone, a former secretary to Mahalia Jackson, just as her father, through Detroit bassist Major Holley, facilitated the recording of his daughters first demo. When the demo was heard by John Hammond, the Columbia A&R man who had produced and promoted the music of Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie, the deal was done. Hammond signed Aretha. John Hammond went on to sign a very young Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Hammond would be the first and most famous of the four major producers to supervise Aretha at Columbia. I later learned, she said, that Sam Cooke was looking to sign me to RCA. I never new that. If I had, I probably with have gone with Sam. No one could resist Sam. But Columbia was the first and best label to make an offer. Columbia had international connections, which is just what my father wanted for me. Coincidentally, Berry Gordy was starting Motown. It was just a fledgling little label, she recalled. They wanted to sign me, but Daddy and I were concentrating on established companies. Little did we know that in a few years Motown would become one of the great labels of all time. Turned out that when I was with Columbia I had no real hits while Motown was hitting every which way. But I wanted to be with a fabulous worldwide label, and Im not in the least sorry. Hammond was more interested in making art than making hits. His domain was jazz, he had a feeling for blues and appreciated gospel, and at Columbia, a company whose success in the fifties came from the super-slick, super-commercial production of Mitch Miller, Hammond was seen as a purist. Hammond called Aretha the most dynamic jazz voice Id encountered since Billie Holiday. In On Record his 1977 autobiography her wrote, I new exactly how I wanted to record her, keeping as much as of the gospel feeling in her voice as possible, while using material which could attract jazz fins. Although Arethas great popularity came in the rhythm & blues field, I was not particularly interested in that field, nor, at that time, was Columbia. Columbia dominated the market for Broadway musical cast albums; Columbia sold millions of records by Percy Faith, Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis. During Arethas stay at the label, Columbia would turn Barbara Streisand into a major star. Columbia was also the home of Mahalia Jackson, whose gospel albums were aimed at a crossover market. Columbia saw Aretha the same way as a crossover artist. The company was convinced, given the right material, that Aretha would reach a broad audience. Because of her astonishing flexibility, she could handle any material; because of her inherent musicality, she could transform any song. Billie had done it. So had Ella. And Dinah. Aretha would do it too. Today I Sing the Blues, the tune on the demo that caught Hammonds attention, also had a deeper memory; he had previously produced a version by jazz singer Helen Humes (who, along with Curtis Lewis, wrote Today) in 1947. Aretha liked it so much that she would rerecord it in 1969 on her Atlantic big band label. You must understand, Aretha said, that I look on my entire Columbia experience in a positive light. On that first session, Hammond put me with New Yorks best jazzmen Osie Johnson on drums, Keeter Best and Lord Westbrook on guitar, Milt Hinton and Bill Lee on bass, Tyree Green on trombone, Al Sears on sax. Ray Bryant was the pianist, and I loved everything that Ray did. He had a church background which made me musically perfectly compatible.

Hammond also flattered me by having me play piano on several cuts. Thats me on Maybe, Im a Fool. We gave it a little Ray Charles groove. Rays always been one of my favorites, ever since I had heard him back in the Fifties with his Come Back, Baby and Drown In My Own Tears. Ray supplied gospel feeling to whatever he was singing, and I certainly related to his piano style. Its that style that resonated throughout Hard Times, a previously unreleased gem. Aretha explained: I first heard the song off of the album Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David Newman. Hard Times was one of those blues melodies that just felt right. Hammond served the singer well, but his reign was short-lived. In On Record, that while he and his wife returned from a vacation in 1961, Aretha had been turned over to another producer, to make popular singlesIt had been decided while I was away to record Aretha with large, commercial backgrounds. I watched her go from one producer to another. By 1962, Aretha was married to Detroit promoter Ted White, who began managing her career. I didnt think Arethas full commercial potential was being fulfilled, said White. We wanted the same thing that the label wanted hits. Hammond was fine, but we were more interested in more than just the jazz audience. We wanted crossover.

MERCY MERSEY
Backed by superb accompanists like Ray Bryant, Teddy Harris, and Ellis Larkins, Aretha became a hot item on the jazz circuit, sharing bills at New Yorks Village Vanguard with John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Horace Silver. In the studio though, when the decision was made to go mainstream, Columbias main mainstream man was Robert Mersey, whose orchestrations for Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis were wildly popular. I remember Mersey as a man of musical sensitivity, said Aretha. He was a highly professional arranger who surrounded me with the finest musicians in the city. His charts were extremely lush, and I liked that. We listened to Without the One You Love, a soaring ballad. Thats the one! she exclaimed. That was Merseys arrangement of my song. Thats when I knew Mersey really understood what I was going for. I remember walking into the studio and, for the first time, hearing a full orchestration of one of my compositions. I was blown away by how good it sounded. I became emotional. When I sang the song surrounded by all the musicians, the level of inspirations couldnt have been higher. Just as arrangers Sid Feller and Gerald Wilson orchestrated large string sections for Ray Charles and Nancy Wilson, Mersey wrote similarly for Aretha, aiming for an adult audience who appreciated ballads and show tunes. The models were Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole and the songbook sessions of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. In Arethas case, the effort did not succeed commercially; artistically, however, the results were invariably spectacular. I appreciate that people noticed me more after I left Columbia, she said. But this material was close to my heart. These were songs with depth. And please remember, until then I was singing gospel, so this was my first time out with so-called standards. I was excited, and pleased, that it was coming off so well. Arethas reading of Skylark in 1962 is one of the great jewels of her career. She sang it again, in 1965, with pianist Teddy Harris, James Richardson on bass, drummer Hindel Butts, and the superb Kenny Burrell on guitar. The newer, sparer rendition, slightly accented by Harris and Burrell, resonates on an altogether spiritual level. Arethas behind-the-beat timing suspends reality, redefines time. Like the deepest of balladeers Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Little Jimmy Scott she allows the lyric to live; she allows the story to breathe, her own breath now a whisper,

now a caress, now an unexpected and glorious gospel shout. Skylark is transformed from muse to dove to divine messenger. In the end, Skylark becomes her Precious Lord.

DEAR DINAH
Merseys mettle was tested on sessions for the Dinah Washington tribute album he produced and arranged for Aretha in 1963. Dinahs career, begun in gospel and later broadened to include jazz, rhythm & blues and pop, served as a paradigm of commercial success, and left an indelible mark on the young Aretha. Of the jazz/blues singers who performed on the same remarkably high level Billie, Ella, and Sarah only Dinah was able to transform herself into a steady Top 10 hit-maker. Vocally, Clara Ward was clearly the young Arethas mentor and role model, but for stylistic range, Aretha looked to Dinah for inspiration. Arethas memories of Dinah are vivid. My dad loved giving parties, she said. The great jazz, soul and gospel artists of the day performed in our living room. On this occasion, Dinah was there. I was too young to go downstairs, so Id sit at the top of the staircase and sneak a peak. Thats when I first spotted Dinah. She had one too many that night and the man who carried her out was Ted White, who I wound up marrying. Last time I saw he was in Chicago. She was walking across a parking lot on her way to the Roberts Hotel. I admired her outfit she had this hip short jacket and noticed how her stylish hat broke so beautifully. That was the image of Dinah I like to keep. Two months after Washington died from an overdose of pills in 1963 at age 39, Aretha was pouring her heart into Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington. Unforgettables ballads are breathtaking. It took tremendous confidence, an Aretha hallmark, to tackle The Bitter Earth and What A Diffrence A Day Makes, songs born out of Dinahs soul. Yet Arethas versions lack any modicum of self-consciousness. Relaxed and intense at the same time, she handles the material with exquisite delicacy. The productions on Johnny Mercers Drinking Again and Leonard Feathers Evil Gal Blues, dispel all notions that Bob Mersey was insensitive to blues and jazz. He sets the mood with pitch-perfect precision; piano and organ, funky as the devil that offers Aretha deep rapport with not only Dinah, but Dinahs royal predecessors Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Bessie Smith. If Mersey helps transport Aretha to the blues past, he also has her looking to the blues future. Soulville, she said, was my first experience with overdubbing, and I might have been one of the first singers to implement it. All those years with James Cleveland gave me the confidence to create my own harmonies and backgrounds.

THE BIG O
In 1962, Aretha made her first TV appearance on American Bandstand, although the songs she sang, Try A Little Tenderness and Dont Cry Baby were hardly teen fare. Ironically, Motown, the little label rejected by Aretha and her father, had struck gold with teens. Hometown friends like Mary Wells were selling millions of singles and in seeking that market, Columbia sought the help of a hot-selling producer, Clyde Otis. What impressed Aretha most about Otis, who lived down the street from Bob Mersey in Englewood, New Jersey, was his work with Dinah Washington. Otis had produced the Grammywinning What A Diffrence A Day Makes as well as Dinahs hit duets with Brook Benton. By the time Aretha and Otis joined forces in 1964, the youth market had exploded, the Beatles vying with the Supremes for sales supremacy. Aretha and Clyde would make five albums together and dozens of singles Walk On By, Youll Lose A Good Thing, and Mockingbird the most artistically satisfying all arranged by Otiss longtime associate Belford (Sinky) Hendricks.

When Streisand came to Columbia, " Otis told me, Mersey turned his interest from Aretha to Barbra. But I new Aretha was capable of singing anything, Even Barbras stuff, like My Coloring Book and People. While Otis productions tilted one way toward adult contemporary and another towards R&B, they also included straight-ahead jazz. Listening to Muddy Water, from the Yeah! Sessions in 1965, Aretha laughed as she called out pianist Teddy Harris name, Teddy never got his propers like Ray Bryant or Ellis Larkins, but Teddy was bad! He understood how to make a vocalist fly. The highlight of the Franklin/Otis collaboration is Otis own Take A Look, more powerful evidence of Arethas enduring Columbia work. its a message song, she says, thats survived the test of time.

GREAT SCOTT
The truth, said Bobby Scott, the most idiosyncratic of her Columbia producers, is that Arethas musicality knew no boundaries. Genres fell before her. The only other singer I worked with who had her feeling was Marvin Gaye. They each sculpted and improved any song they sang. They each came out of that holy place in black music that breeds genius. Scott himself possessed genius. He gained national fame as a pop composer was a Taste Of Honey and He Aint Heavy, Hes My Brother; his string arrangements for Marvin Gayes Vulnerable resulted in the soul singers finest ballad work. As a young pianist, Scott toured with Jazz immortal Lester Young. He became Bobby Darrins musical director. Scott was also a superb vocalist in the Sinatra mode and, towards the end of his life, composed beautiful concertos for the harp. Quincy Jones considered him a stellar musician. When Scott was interviewed by Downbeat Magazine critic Leonard Feather in the late Eighties, he gave the writer his unpublished memoirs in which he wrote, A voice like Arethas reminds me that it is shaped and honed, by faith, whether it sings of faith or not. Losing herself in Tiny Sparrow and Looking Through a Tear, issued recently for the first time, Aretha said, I knew Mr. Scott was a good writer, but not this good. Im a gospel piano player when I want to be, Scott said. But in Arethas case, I also suggested numbers that others considered out of her domain. Billy Strayhorns Little Brown Book, for instance, required sensitivity to lyric that Aretha had not trouble handling. If you try to pigeonhole and artist of her caliber, as many did, youll miss the whole point. Arethas majesty is in her spirituality. Its her spirit that enters and enlarges any song she sings. And while she was at Columbia, we all realized me, Hammond, Bob Mersey and Clyde Otis that this woman was beyond category. The Detroit winter was merciless. Aretha and I had been listening to her Columbia material for several hours when an ice storm knocked out the electricity. Oddly enough, the last song to play was Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning, a knock-down, drag-out blues form Dinahs day. The only light in the living room was a gray afternoon hue. I wouldnt change anything, she said. This was a beautiful introduction to the world of popular music. I came into that world. I received good attention, wonderful reviews and found myself smack in the middle of show business. I was blessed.

Beryl C. Porter/ SVP Legacy/Columbia Records, Div. Sony Music January 17, 2009