All Hail The Queen

To say that Aretha Franklin was one of the greatest American artists of all time is an understatement. Her multi-octave voice moved millions around the world during an unrivaled career that spanned six decades and garnered the singer-songwriter every achievement and honor imaginable. Her reign as the Queen of Soul was a most deserved title, and one only she holds. Say outloud to ANYONE (old enough to know) "the Queen of Soul" and most will smile and say; yes, she is, was, and always will be. I first heard Aretha sing when I was a poor 13 years child growing up on the hard side of town with an alcoholic mother. I found that I could escape my life through music, and I did every chance I got! Actually let me rephrase that, I had heard her before on the radio and knew a few of her songs but I first REALLY heard her sing when I was invited to the upstair apartment to listen to music with a very sweet woman and her husband, they were known back then as lowriders, and they were quite heavy into oldies like, Mary Wells, Etta James, Al Green, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Diana Ross, The Jackson Five, Nat King Cole, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, The Platters(I idolize them), and of course the amazing Aretha Franklin. This was just a small list of the hundreds of songs I listened to in that apartment. They asked me to come up and stay in the house with thier 3 year old baby while they ran over to a friends house for about an hour. Told me to eat whatever I wanted and listen to any music I wanted that the baby would be sleeping the whole time they would be gone, to just look in on her every half hour. They must have had 300 cassette tapes of every oldies artist ever recorded. I was thrilled to babysit. They had the double cassette player so that I could put two tapes in at a time and while one played I could cue the second tape to play right after, it was the latest in technology in 1980. I remember putting Aretha Franklin's, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You cassette in, and fell in love with her! I already loved music and I sang every song on the radio, I sang commercials, I sang anything and everything, but the Queen of Soul made me want to really sing! I started out singing Never Loved A Man, til I could sing every single note perfect! Then I asked the upstairs neighbor if I could get a copy of all of Aretha's music that she had and she said she would be happy to, I had six tapes three days later, two were Aretha and one was a mix tape of all of the songs I loved most. She would regularly invite me up to listen to music with her, and I didn't realize, until she told me one day "you know I love you like a sister, but I gotta be honest, I invite you up all the time because I love to hear you sing, your voice is badass for a kid"! I had no idea that anyone listened when I sang! I turned red in the face and smiled when she told me that. She also said she never heard a young white girl sing with so much soul. I love all of the oldies, and I am honored that when I sing Aretha Franklin in a karaoke bar, I channel my inner Aretha and I get people on thier feet. I have won several contests singing Chain of Fools, Respect, Never Loved A Man and Natural Woman, and I do them all in perfect Aretha form every single time because the Queen deserves that, and I have so much respect for my queen. I was honored in 1993 to see her at the MGM in Reno, NV with such artists as B.B. King, Elvin Bishop and Jimmy Vaughn and his fabulous Thunderbirds! Aretha was so amazing, and she was such a huge presence on stage, I felt like I had to be like her, so she taught me stage presence as well, which got me over my fear. I have continued to sing the music of some amazing black artists over the years from Etta James, Whitney Houston, Chaka Kahn, Tina Turner and many more. I am constantly being told that I am a black woman in a white woman's body. I take that as a compliment, my fans lovingly call me "Pipes" or "Lady Soul", and I am proud to say that I do have a bit of a following. I will also continue to respect the struggle black singers went through to get to the honorable place they hold in the industry today, it is so well deserved and I am proud to continue to give it a voice.