The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Aretha Franklin was ‘intense,’ in a good way, for those who worked with her
The many producers, songwriters, musicians, engineers and others who worked with Aretha Franklin over the years all agree on one thing
“It was intense,” Narada Michael Walden recalled on Thursday, Aug. 14, after Franklin’s death at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer.
But he, and others, mean that in a good way.
“She had a fire burning insider that that wants greatness, expects greatness and brings greatness and does greatness,” recalled Walden, a Michigan native who produced four of Franklin’s albums — including the platinum “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” and the gold “Aretha” during the mid-80s — co-wrote hits such as “Freeway of Love” and played drums in her bands. “She loved to have fun but it was always intense. She was a real force, a joy to work with.”
While the world remembered Franklin for her music, those behind the scenes remembered the process of getting there, whether in the studio or on stage. They described Franklin as focused and fun-loving, and never losing sight of her creative mission.
“She’d really push and go for it on both sides of the fence,” recalled Walden. “But I loved that she really wanted you to do what you do, for all good musicians to play and inspire her to be at her best.”
Kenny Robinson, a local trumpeter who played with Franklin for many years, said her music directors, including longtime conductors HB Barnum and Fred Nelson, always told the musicians to be ready to vamp and follow Franklin’s improvisations on stage. “There were all these different cues and pieces and they’d say, ‘Be ready to play these at any time,” Robinson says. Franklin, meanwhile, never came to sound checks but had them recorded for her to listen to in order to decide what she wanted to play on a given night.
Walden added that when he drummed for her he’d “watch her like a hawk, her every move. I’d memorize everything I’d do with her and never read the charts. If she wanted to break it down in a second, you had to be ready for it.
“The whole idea is it’s spontaneous, like church, like gospel music where she comes from — rise up quick and break it down quick. If you didn’t watch her, you’d be in trouble.”
Walden said Franklin could be equally spontaneous when he recorded her vocals at United Sound Studios in Detroit and seldom like to belabor the recording of any one song. She would always be prepared, however. “She’d always sing the song through three or four times down the octave, really low, then she’d be ready to make a record,” he said. “He played drums in her band at her final show, last Nov. 7 at an Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit in New York and noted that “Even though she was really thin she sang fantastic. She played piano fantastic.
Franklin was still asking him for songs to record up until recently, Walden said, estimating he had about 20 from him at the time of her passing.
Ann Arbor-based sound engineer Jay Barth, who mixed Franklin’s concerts for three years during the 90s — including at President Bill Clinton’s 50th birthday party and a Democratic National Convention — called working with Franklin “the pinnacle” of a career that’s included tenures with Bob Seger, Rod Stewart and Cheap Trick, among others. Franklin also mentioned him by name in her 1999 memoir.
“She’s just the best, a real blessing to have been able to work with,” Barth said. “It wasn’t just your normal gigs. You always knew you were doing something special. To be able to say I worked with Aretha is an honor by itself. And a pleasure.”
No matter how long their tenures with Franklin, all concerned expressed a profound sense of loss with her passing — as well as a firm belief we will never see anyone like her again.
“It’s is very kind of hurried and I’m not ready for it,” Walden said. “On the other hand God’s taking her home because she’s been suffering. She’s done everything that the good lord wanted her to do, and she’s been dedicating her whole life to God, and now he’s brought her home.”