And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave

[Roberta Flack photographed by Anthony Barboza, 1971. Image ©: the National Museum of African American History and Culture.]

More sad news yesterday - one of the last of the great soul and blues divas Miss Roberta Flack has departed to Fabulon, to join the greatest choir in history no doubt.

Facts:

• In her early career Miss Flack accompanied opera singers at the piano, but was "discovered" a few years later in the early 1970s as a performer at a jazz cabaret club.
• Her big break came when Clint Eastwood chose the song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face for the soundtrack of his directing debut Play Misty For Me and it became the biggest hit of 1972.
• She was once the neighbour of John Lennon and Yoko Ono when they all lived in The Dakota apartment building in New York.
• She was the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year on consecutive occasions – in 1973 for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and the following year for Killing Me Softly (With His Song).
• Her Roberta Flack School of Music in the Bronx provides free music education to underprivileged students.

We loved her, and her beautiful mellow voice. Here are her two greatest numbers, by way of a tribute:

Roberta Flack - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song

And speaking of "heavenly choirs"...

Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack - Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues/Rocks In My Bed/I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)/In My Solitude/Mood Indigo/Azure (Tribute to Duke Ellington, 1973)

Utter perfection.

She's a huge loss.

RIP, Roberta Cleopatra Flack (10th February 1937 - 24th February 2025)

Chain, chain, chain

And so, we discover from her comment on Monday's post that Ms Scarlet eschews all things Northern Soul and is in fact a "rock chick"! Who would have guessed it? [So nothing like Ms First Nations portrays her at all.]

Maybe she'll like this one?!

Aretha Sabbath - Superfools [Bill McClintock mash-up]

More brilliant work by Bill McClintock!

I've got a deeper love inside

Yay! Our very own "Mistress of Filth and Smut" over at Infomaniac blog is celebrating sixteen years of blogging - and a little bird tells me it'a also her birthday next week!

Another much-needed weekend is looming, dear reader, and despite this having been only a short week, I am desperately looking forward to it!

We have The Mother arriving in London tomorrow for the day [it's Mothers' Day/Mothering Sunday here in the UK this weekend}, and we're taking her to the splendid Wilton's Music Hall for a matinee of an all-male production of Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. Then on Sunday the clocks go forward, which means despite losing an hour in bed Spring is truly in full swing!

To get us in the mood for a party, we have a special birthday to celebrate... Sharing the day with a whole raft of unusually associated names - such as Dorothy Squires, Dame Elton John [75 years old!], Simone Signoret, Paul Michael Glaser, Cathy Dennis, Béla Bartók, Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet, Sir Humphrey Burton, Richard O'Brien [80 years old], Patrick Troughton, Melanie Blatt of All Saints, Gloria Steinem, Sir David Lean, Arturo Toscanini, AJP Taylor, Sarah Jessica Parker, and - erm - [another 80-year-old] Kim Woodburn - the fantabulosa, sadly missed, Aretha Franklin would have been 80 years old today!

Let's hand over proceedings to the Queen of Soul - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Aretha Franklin - A Deeper Love

Sing it, girl!

Have a great weekend, folks!

You taunt me with memories

Here's a good one - how to combine birthday celebrations for a revered Diva with a sort-of-ongoing "meme" (#adecadeago - see here, here, here and here)...

It is the 82nd birthday today of the divine Roberta Flack [she shares the celebrations with that "national treasure", classic-era Blue Peter host Peter Purves (who blows out 80 candles!), with Leontyne Price (92) and with Robert Wagner (89); today would also have been the 109th of Joyce Grenfell].

Needless to say, ten years ago I also did a blog post to mark the occasion [there having been a long-standing "mystery" over her date of birth, at the time I had it as being her 70th...], and I did similar a month later for the birthday of Aretha.

It is from the latter rather than the former blog, however, that I have chosen to lift this classic "supergroup" performance [out of which line-up Miss Flack is sadly the only surviving member] - it's long overdue another airing, methinks...

Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack - Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues/Rocks In My Bed/I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)/In My Solitude/Mood Indigo/Azure (Tribute to Duke Ellington, 1973)

Utter perfection.

Flack Facts:

• In her early career Miss Flack accompanied opera singers at the piano, but was "discovered" a few years later in the early 1970s as a performer at a jazz cabaret club.
• Her big break came when Clint Eastwood chose the song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face for the soundtrack of his directing debut Play Misty For Me and it became the biggest hit of 1972.
• She was once the neighbour of John Lennon and Yoko Ono when they all lived in The Dakota apartment building in New York.
• She was the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year on consecutive occasions – in 1973 for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and the following year for Killing Me Softly (With His Song).
• Her Roberta Flack School of Music in the Bronx provides free music education to underprivileged students.

Many happy returns, Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born 10th February 1937)

Darlin', you hold the power

The world mourns her loss.

Ending this long, tiring first week back in work after my fortnight's break, the death of Aretha Franklin could well have put a damper on the party mood somewhat, were it not for the Queen of Soul's musical legacy - just a few moments listening to that voice, and the world's woes just slip away...

To welcome the weekend in our traditional manner, it is indeed to that voice I turn to get us in a bit of a party mood. In true Aretha style, just when everyone had written her off as a semi-retired diva, back she bounced in 1998 (with a little help from an artist I never rated previously, nor since, Lauren Hill) with a number that (although largely overlooked today) really pushed all the right buttons. I loved this...

Aretha Franklin - A Rose Is Still A Rose

Listen dear
I realize that you've been hurt
Deeply, because I've been there
But regardless to who, what, why, when, and where
We are all precious in his sight
And a rose still and always will be a rose

Doo doo doo doo doo doo mmm
Dooby dooby doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo mmm

There was a rose I knew, I met her once or twice before
She was a pretty sweet thing, not the least bit insecure
Then you came with your slick game and played with her youth
Ashamed of the way you lied, played with the truth, hey, hey

Mmm, she never knew what hit her
Steal her honey, then forget her
Now the rose is scorned
She wears her thorns tryin' to forget about you

'Cause a rose is still a rose
Baby, girl, you're still a flower
He can't leave you and then take you
Make you and then break you
Darlin', you hold the power

Now believe me when I tell you that I've been hurt myself
When he tells you that he loves you and sees nobody else
And now you're so tough tryin' to wear tight clothes and things
Tossin' and flossin', tryin' to fill the void heartbreak brings

Oh..oh..yeah
When she faces the mirror, yeah
She's cryin', you can't hear her
Now the rose is scorned
She wears her thorns tryin' to forget about you

'Cause a rose is still a rose
Baby, girl, you're still a flower
He can't lead you and then take you
Make you and then break you
Baby, girl, you hold the power

See a rose is still a rose
Baby, girl, you're still a flower
He can't lead you and then take you
Make you and then break you
Darlin', you hold the power

Let your life be in the sunshine
Not the darkness of your sorrow
You may see your all today
When you know it'll come tomorrow

Tough to be, but life ain't over
Just because your man is gone
Girl, love yourself enough to know
That without him your life goes on
Without him your life goes on
Without him your life goes on

'Cause a rose is still a rose
Baby, girl, you're still a flower
He can't lead you and then take you
Make you and then break you
Baby, girl, you hold the power

See a rose is still a rose
Baby, girl, you're still a flower
He can't lead you and then take you
Make you and then break you

Excellent - but, with the assistance of some very clever knob-twiddlers, it became a staple floor-filler in the clubs, too!

Aretha Franklin - A Rose Is Still A Rose (Love To Infinity Club Mix)

Have a good weekend, peeps - and Thank Disco Aretha It's Friday!

RIP Aretha Louise Franklin (25th March 1942 – 16th August 2018)

I've acted out my life in stages

Sharing a birthday as she does with an assorted bunch - including Dame Elton John, Paul Michael Glaser, Arturo Toscanini, A.J.P Taylor, David Lean, Béla Bartok, Gloria Steinem, Simone Signoret, John Laurie, Patrick Troughton, Richard O'Brien, Sarah Jessica Parker and Cathy Dennis - the magnificent Aretha Franklin blows out 76 candles on her cake today.

Finishing off a rather spring-like weekend (and a busy one: I hung Venetian blinds in our television room yesterday, and we went for our first visit of the year to the cavernous Gardening Club today), let's give it over to the Queen of Soul herself!

Aretha Franklin - A Song For You

Many happy returns, Aretha Louise Franklin (born 25th March 1942).

That's where it is

Groan. Monday again.

After a lovely sunny weekend, as we try and shake ourselves into consciousness to get back to work, at least we have the Queen of Soul - whose 75th birthday it was on the weekend - to lift our spirits... On this Tacky Music Monday, here she is, shimmying along with the faboo backing singers Darlene Love and The Blossoms, on It's In His Kiss:

Aretha Franklin - It's In His Kiss

Aretha Louise Franklin (born 25th March 1942)

Have a great week, peeps!

Respect, just a little bit

The enormous talent that is Miss Aretha Franklin - the Queen of Soul, the "Greatest Singer of All Time" (according to Rolling Stone magazine) - certainly one of the most successful black artists the world has ever seen, and deservedly lauded by just about every other wannabee who followed - is 70 years old today...

Without further ado, just for your delectation here are just some of the great lady's classics:

Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer

Aretha Franklin - Think

Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

Aretha Franklin - Respect

And finally, Aretha duets with none other than Dame Elton John - with whom she shares a birthday. For Reg Dwight himself celebrates his 65th birthday today!

Elton John/Aretha Franklin - Border Song

Sunday is Diva Day, it seems...

"The melody haunts my reverie, and I am once again with you..."

Here at Dolores Delargo Towers we adore and avidly collect a category of entertainment that comes under the heading of "Sunday Music". And today, on the 110th anniversary of his birth it is time to celebrate one of the great masters of that genre Mr Hoagy Carmichael!

In his eight-decade career as a songwriter Mr Carmichael collaborated with just about everyone who was anyone in the music industry, including his best friend Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Duke Ellington, Bing Crosby, George Gershwin, Fred Astaire, Yip Harburg, Frank Loesser and long-term musical partner Johnny Mercer.

Hoagy the actor appeared in a number of top Hollywood films, including Topper (with Cary Grant), To Have and Have Not (with Bogart and Bacall) and Young Man With A Horn, the bio-pic of his friend Bix.

By the time of his death in 1981, he was lauded by generations of fans as one of the greatest composers in American history. An incredible career indeed!

Facts about Hoagy Carmichael:

• He was christened with that peculiar first name because his mother was friendly with a circus troupe called "The Hoaglands".
• His 1943 song I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin' Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the song with the longest title.
• He composed a song for the original Flintstones cartoon - Yabba-Dabba-Dabba-Dabba-Doo.
• John Lennon cited Hoagy Carmichael as his favourite songwriter.

Here's the beautifully-crafted tonsils of Nat King Cole crooning Hoagy's classic Stardust:

Nat King Cole - Stardust

With another take on the tune, Glenn Miller adds his own inimitable panache with his big band version:

Glenn Miller - Stardust

Next we turn to another Carmichael standard Georgia On My Mind, and this lovely version by the incomparable Ray Charles, who made the song his own:

Ray Charles - Georgia on my Mind

And here Aretha Franklin gives us a brilliant version of Hoagy's torch song Skylark:

Aretha Franklin - Skylark

Back in 1991, Bette Midler paid tribute to his song Billy-a-Dick in the wonderful film For the Boys (here being used as a soundtrack for some amateur tap-dancers - the only video out there!):

Bette Midler - Billy-a-Dick

Most remarkably of all, in addition to his jazz/swing/blues standards Hoagy Carmichael also wrote this camp classic for the Marilyn Monroe movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Take it away, Miss Jane Russell!

Jane Russell - Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?

Hoagy Carmichael biography

Ooo, your kisses, sweeter than honey

Happy birthday today to one of the greatest singers of all time, Miss Aretha Franklin!

Rightly lauded throughout her five-decade career as "The Queen of Soul", Aretha has tried her hand at many genres of music, including gospel (her roots), jazz, pop, R&B, disco, and even opera. Always a fighter, she emerged from a lowly background with two teenage pregnancies already behind her, to become a hit recording artist at just 18. But it was to be a further few years before she released the ground-breaking Respect, and became an international sensation. She swiftly followed up this success with classics such as Think, I Say A Little Prayer and Spanish Harlem.

In early 1968 Franklin won her first two Grammies and went on to win eight "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" awards in a row (and eighteen in total), she has been awarded the Kennedy Centre Honour and The Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was the first woman to enter the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, selling millions of records along the way. She has collaborated with the greats of soul and pop, including Otis Redding, Luther Vandross, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, George Benson, Eurythmics, James Brown, George Michael and Lauryn Hill, yet remains very much her own woman, with famous "spats" with Roberta Flack, Beyonce and Tina Turner.

Always larger-than life, Aretha Franklin is a formidable force to be reckoned with, and there is no-one, vocally, these days who can touch her!

Only Aretha could stand in for the magnificent Luciano Pavarotti:

Here she is competing brilliantly with three other great vocalists, Miss Peggy Lee, Miss Sarah Vaughan and Miss Roberta Flack:

Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack

And here she beats Mr Tom Jones hands-down:

Aretha Franklin and Tom Jones

Aretha Franklin website

It's like a heatwave burning in my heart

We celebrate this week 50 years of Motown Records, the label that launched (predominately) black music into the mainstream - not just in America, but across the world.

Pioneered by no less than Dusty Springfield over here in the UK, the label spawned huge international success for artists such as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson... And the rest is history!

So here are just three of my own favourites from their huge and extensive back catalogue...

Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go?

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Heatwave

Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

Classic Motown website

Dusty Springfield and the Motown invasion