Another giant of 60s (and later) music has gone.

Aretha Franklin was undoubtedly the best purveyor of the branch of music she excelled in. Not for nothing was she known as the Queen of Soul.

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman wasn’t a hit in Britain. I’m not sure if it was ever released as one in the UK but her expression in this recording is the epitome of soul.

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

Her biggest solo hit in the UK in terms of chart placing was actually I Say a Little Prayer, in 1968:-

Aretha Franklin: I Say a Little Prayer

But only one word suffices to describe her achievements.

Respect.

Aretha Louise Franklin: 25/3/1942 – 16/8/2018. So it goes.

Joe South whose Games People Play was no. 65 in my Friday on my Mind posts has died.

Joe was multi-talented. He played all the instruments on Games People Play as well as singing and writing the song. He contributed to Bob Dylan’s LP Blonde on Blonde as a bass player and to Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools.

I have also featured his song Hush with which Deep Purple had their first British hit. Joe’s version can be found on You Tube.

After Games People Play won a Grammy Award Joe felt under pressure to come up with great songs every time. Many other artists have covered his songs including Elvis Presley with Walk a Mile in my Shoes. Joe’s version of that song is below. He also had a Grammy nomination with (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden with which Lyn Anderson had a big hit.

Joe South: Walk a Mile in my Shoes

Joe South (Joseph Souter) 28/2/1940 – 5/9/2012. So it goes.

Hal David’s death was reported last weekend.
For sure he was not at the cutting edge of rock and roll but Hal David was simply one of the best lyricists of the 60s and 70s. In collaboration with Burt Bacharach he wrote so many memorable songs for so many performers. Many 60s artists might not have had a career without their songs and well after it was written their (They Long to Be) Close to You provided The Carpenters with a first hit in 1970.
With Bobbie Gentry’s 1969 no. 1 I’ll Never Fall in Love Again David’s inventive rhyming of pneumonia with phone ya, certainly stuck in the ear. I Say A Little Prayer made Aretha Franklin in the UK.

Bobbie Gentry: I’ll Never Fall in Love Again

Aretha Franklin: I Say A Little Prayer

Harold Lane “Hal” David, 25/4/1921 – 1/9/2012. So it goes.