a book
RESPECT
David Ritz · 2014 · 528 pages
"A remarkably complex portrait of Aretha Franklin's music and her tumultuous life." --Rolling Stone
Aretha Franklin began life as the golden daughter of a progressive and promiscuous Baptist preacher. Raised without her mother, she was a gospel prodigy who gave birth to two sons in her teens and left them--and her native Detroit--for New York, where she struggled to find her true voice. After fame and fortune finally came via "Respect," and a rapid-fire string of hits, she has evolved ever since, amidst personal tragedy, surprise Grammy performances, and career reinventions.
Aretha's hold on her crown is tenacious, and in RESPECT David Ritz gives us the decisive and definitive study of one of the greatest American talents of the twentieth century.
Aretha Franklin began life as the golden daughter of a progressive and promiscuous Baptist preacher. Raised without her mother, she was a gospel prodigy who gave birth to two sons in her teens and left them--and her native Detroit--for New York, where she struggled to find her true voice. After fame and fortune finally came via "Respect," and a rapid-fire string of hits, she has evolved ever since, amidst personal tragedy, surprise Grammy performances, and career reinventions.
Aretha's hold on her crown is tenacious, and in RESPECT David Ritz gives us the decisive and definitive study of one of the greatest American talents of the twentieth century.
recommended by 2 people
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Andy Cohen
“"David Ritz wrote an incredible book about Aretha called RESPECT. I cannot recommend it more highly"”↗
RuPaul
““David Ritz did a book with Aretha Franklin 20 years ago, and then two years ago he decided he’d take all of those notes and write the real book. It’s called Respect. It’s so good and so juicy. When you read it, obviously it was written before she died, but you realize it’s true, it’s not made-up stuff…. One of my favorites in recent years.” -R”↗