Author MARK BEGO
salutes the life of “Aretha Franklin:
The Queen of Soul”
Mark Bego has been writing and publishing books since he began his
career in the 1970s. Since that time he
has scored two “New York Times” best-sellers, and has over 10 million books in
print internationally. Earlier this year
he scored a huge hit with the first complete biography of the decade’s most
tragic star: “Whitney Houston! The Spectacular Rise and Tragic Fall of the
Woman Whose Voice Inspired a Generation” (Skyhorse Publishing). Only weeks later Bego released his
59th published book: the
third and most complete version of his highly acclaimed “Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul” (Skyhorse Publishing in
America / Edel Books in
Germany). It is a book he has been working on since the
1980s. We caught up with Mark to ask him
why Aretha Franklin is a singing legend, and how he worked to make this book one
which is the ultimate and definitive look at the soul diva’s
life.
He recently sat down for some quick Q&A for Forgotten Hits ...
He recently sat down for some quick Q&A for Forgotten Hits ...
QUESTION: Aretha Franklin started her singing career as a gospel singer. How did this come
about?
MARK BEGO: Since her father, Reverend C.L.
Franklin, was known as an effective orator, his sermons were often recorded and
released on Chess Records. It was
through this connection that the idea of recording Aretha’s singing came about
when she was only 14 years old. The
resulting album, Aretha Gospel is
more of a dynamic artifact that shows off the strength of her voice than it is a
masterful recording.
QUESTION: What made her dream that she could have a career as a popular recording
artist?
MARK BEGO: Several stars like Sam Cooke would
come to the Franklin house, since Aretha’s father was
something of a local celebrity. Cooke
was also a powerful gospel singer at the beginning of his career. Aretha had a huge crush on Sam, and he left a
lasting impression on her. He came to
the Franklin
home one day, and he proudly played his newly recorded single, ‘You Send Me,’
for Aretha. When the recording zoomed up
to the top of the charts, Aretha saw how that one recording turned him into a
huge singing star, and she dreamed of doing that same thing.
QUESTION: Aretha was signed to Columbia Records at the age
of 18, and she spent seven years there never scoring a major hit. In your mind, was this era of her career a
failure?
MARK BEGO: Absolutely not! I still maintain that some of her greatest
recordings were done at Columbia Records.
Their only short-comings were that they did not become commercial hits at
the time. I strongly encourage anyone
who loves music to go back and listen to Aretha Franklin’s Columbia recordings
of ‘Drinking Again,’ ‘Skylark,’ ‘What a Diff’rence a Day Makes,’ ‘If Ever I
Would Leave You,’ ‘People,’ and ‘My Coloring Book.’ These are absolutely fantastic recordings.
QUESTION: There is saying that for a singer to sing the
blues, they have to live it? Is this
true in Aretha’s case?
MARK BEGO: Absolutely! Look at Bessie Smith. Look at Billie Holiday. And then take a close look at Aretha Franklin
in the 1960s. Few people realize Aretha
had her first baby at the age of 14. She
had her second baby when she was 16. She
was forced to drop out of school. She
had a father who dominated her, and she married Ted White to feel more like an
adult woman and to get out of her father’s house. Reportedly, Ted proceeded to abuse her
mentally and physically. Clyde Otis told
me this in very graphic terms. Aretha
truly knew the blues—first hand!
QUESTION: What was holding her back at Columbia
Records?
MARK BEGO: Clyde Otis, one of her producers at
Columbia told me that the problem was that her first husband, Ted White, was
holding her back and not letting her let loose in the recording studio while he
was around. Since Ted White was making
money on the side by booking Aretha in jazz clubs, he wanted to keep her in that
realm on record.
QUESTION: When she moved to Atlantic Records and
recorded songs like ‘Respect,’ she seemed to become an overnight sensation. Why is this?
MARK BEGO: According to Jerry Wexler, once he sat her
down at the piano and let her play and accompany herself, she was able to show
off her true strengths as a musician.
Regardless of what she thinks, Aretha is not an accomplished
producer. She is always shown off to her
best advantage when she is given strong direction.
QUESTION: Is it Aretha who best knows what songs are
the best for her?
MARK BEGO: Absolutely not! At Atlantic she recorded such
all-over-the-map songs like Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way,’ The Beatles’ ‘Fool on the
Hill,’ The Rolling Stones’ ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,’ and ? & The
Mysterians’ ‘96 Tears.’ Some of her song
choices have been totally kooky. One of
my favorite stories that Jerry Wexler told me was how he begged her to record
the song ‘Son of a Preacher Man,’ only to have her refuse to do it. Finally he gave up and gave the song to Dusty
Springfield. When Dusty turned into one
of the biggest hits of her career, Aretha was absolutely green with envy. The next time Aretha went back to the
recording studio with Wexler, she insisted on recording her version of it.
QUESTION: What is your favorite of all of Aretha
Franklin’s albums?
MARK BEGO: In my mind, the greatest single album
she has ever recorded is Young, Gifted
and Black in 1972. That album is
sheer perfection, and it was so well received that it won Aretha her seventh
Grammy Award. Every song on that album
is a masterpiece.
QUESTION: What is your least favorite Aretha
album?
MARK BEGO: It would have to be her 2011 release
that was distributed by Walmart, A Woman
Falling Out of Love. That dreary
album really underscores the importance of outside producers on her
recordings. A reviewer in The Washington Post called that album ‘a
hot mess,’ and they were correct!
QUESTION: If Aretha Franklin is the ‘Queen of Soul,’
why is she also revered as rock star?
MARK BEGO: She totally proved that she was a rock
star with her Aretha Live at Fillmore
West album in 1971. Making her a
bonafide rock star was a dream of Jerry Wexler’s. He accomplished that feat with the help of
Bill Graham, who ran The Fillmore West in San Francisco.
They totally rearranged Aretha’s songs to bring out the rock elements,
and every track worked. That is my
second favorite Aretha Franklin album.
It still stands up brilliantly.
QUESTION: When she was at Arista Records in the 1980s,
how did Aretha end up produced by Luther Vandross?
MARK BEGO: It was Clive Davis’ idea. He told me that he is the one who introduced
Luther to Aretha. The two albums Aretha
did with Luther at the helm — Jump to
It and Get It Right — are amongst
my Top Ten favorite Aretha albums. They
are lively and exciting, and they both feature the incomparable background
vocals of Cissy Houston. Aretha and
Luther also notoriously turned their recording sessions into banquets of
eating. She fondly recalled her sessions
with Vandross, in the recording studio.
According what she told me at the time, “He’s a great guy, and on some of
those sessions, boy, we had us some fried chicken … wow!
QUESTION: What was the most shocking thing you
discovered about Aretha Franklin?
MARK BEGO: When I interviewed her in the 1980s, I
was shocked to find out that she chain-smoked Kool cigarettes, and she had done
so since she was a teenager. Thankfully,
she has given up that habit well over a decade ago. However, this was a habit which has affected
her overall health.
QUESTION: If Aretha Franklin is notoriously guarded, and
you interviewed her in person, how were you able to ‘fill in the
blanks?’
MARK
BEGO: When I was writing this
book, Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul, I turned to several of
the most important people in her life, and they revealed everything Aretha would
not tell me herself. The list of people
I did get to talk to me included: her
Columbia Records producer Clyde Otis, her Atlantic Records producer Jerry
Wexler, and her Arista Records executive producer Clive Davis. These men represent the three successful eras
of her recording career. I tracked down
and interviewed her controversial first husband, Ted White. I interviewed old neighbors of hers in
Detroit, TV
producers who worked with her, and several record industry insiders who have
worked with her. I also turned to her
singing contemporaries in the music business and I interviewed Mary Wilson of
The Supremes, Martha Reeves, Freda Payne, and Sarah Dash of LaBelle. Melded together with the personal interview I
had with Aretha herself, it presents a very real and truly rounded portrait of a
fascinating star.
Here's a shot
of Mark Bego (with L-R Engelbert Humperdinck Producer Joel Diamond and actress
Rebecca Holden) taken at a recent book signing held at Nic's Martini Lounge in
Beverly Hills.
