Song Of The Day: May 19, 2018

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on May 19, 2018

Let’s get back on track. No more appeasing the youngsters. What she’s asking for is not unreasonable in the least:

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  1. Alby says:

    This song, and a lot of others, lost their charm for me once I learned what a world-class asshole Ree is.

  2. Paul says:

    Perhaps one of the more interesting things about art is it’s ability to transcend many things, even the artist.. The song, the performance is the art not the performer. For that reason alone I can continue to love this song for the meaning that I bring to it and it brings to me. I hope you can somehow continue to find pleasure in this song as I do whatever it takes to forget about Reetha.

  3. @alby

    Please. If you have nothing nice to say…

    She’s in a class with Sinatra? John Lennon? James Brown?

    Stick to the art.

  4. bamboozer says:

    Great song, played it a hundred times in a band that shall go nameless, and I still like it which is rare for me.

  5. Alby says:

    “Please. If you have nothing nice to say…”

    You must be new around here. We seldom have anything nice to say. She’s an asshole. Deal with it.

    “She’s in a class with Sinatra? John Lennon? James Brown?”

    As an asshole, yes. As an artist, no, although I’d rank her with Sinatra since in both cases all they brought to the table was a voice. The other two wrote as well as performed.

    Whole genres of music were changed by, or wouldn’t exist without, those three. If Aretha had stayed out of the recording studio, soul would still be more or less the same.

    Or were those just rhetorical devices?

    “Stick to the art.”

    She could sing very well. So what?

  6. Alby says:

    “The song, the performance is the art not the performer. ”

    Nonsense, and you know it. If what you said were true, a counterfeit work would command the same price as the real thing. It doesn’t.

    If great art were being created by Nazis, you’d likely have no trouble condemning the art. This is the same thing, but with assholes.

    Granted, if I liked the art better I could better overlook the assholishness; that’s what I do with Lennon. I think that’s the equation most people use for cases like this.

    Everyone else is perfectly free to like Aretha Franklin despite her being an asshole, just as I’m free to point out that she’s a world-class asshole despite her talent.

  7. RE Vanella says:

    Chinatown is still a great film, no?

  8. Alby says:

    Yep. As I pointed out, if I liked Aretha’s work more I’d overlook her personality. Roman Polanski is a great filmmaker and horrendous human being.

    I didn’t say her work was shit. I said I enjoy it less — I was never a big fan, just respectful (no pun intended) of her talent — knowing she’s an asshole.

    I don’t go looking for evidence of that sort of thing. It crossed my awareness when I was reading an article about the making of “The Blues Brothers,” a mostly dreadful movie that at least performed the worthy function of bringing back to prominence a lot of ’60s soul artists whose careers were limping badly. The anecdote I read was about one of the Memphis band guys, who are obviously also quite talented, going up to Aretha between takes and telling her how much he had enjoyed her work over the years.

    From Vanity Fair:

    Marini, one of the horn players, spots Franklin taking a cigarette break. He approaches sheepishly, saying, “I just want to tell you how much I enjoy your work.” Franklin turns, glancing at the number on Marini’s football jersey. “Sixty-nine, huh?” she says, and turns away.

    Sorry, but treating people who are complimenting you that way tips the scales for me. I cannot abide people who treat their help badly. YMMV.

  9. Paul says:

    I guess you never heard of Wagner…

  10. RE Vanella says:

    Otis Redding wrote it and performed it better anyway.

    https://youtu.be/7BDw-H_hUzw