Aretha Franklin Plays Radio City Music Hall

The Queen of Soul did two dates at New York's finest space (sorry, Carnegie Hall) over the week-end, and she proved that 66 years (as of today, happy birthday, Aretha) degrades one's stamina but no one's talent. She managed a 90-minute show that was part concert, part Sunday afternoon at a Baptist Church.

Truth be told, she isn't the Aretha Franklin of 40 years ago. Her higher register has weakened, and there was a time when she could have sung at Radio City without a microphone. Her voice is about 85% of what it was. By the same token, Aretha Franklin at 85% still is superior to almost anyone else at 110%.

Her musicians seem to feel privileged to be on the same stage with her. Anyone of them could get a recording contract in his or her own name tomorrow if that is what he or she wanted. When the back-up singers include Sissy Houston (Whitney's mom), well . . . .

Ms. Franklin's stamina is not what it once was, and she took a break of about 10 minutes half way through the show. Nothing wrong with that, but having her son, Kecalf, rap his way through two rather dull numbers was the worst form of nepotism. Her other son, Teddy, plays guitar with mom on stage, and he truly deserves the spot. It might have been better to let him do a Hendrix-style solo to give this mother a rest. No one paid to listen to a second rate rapper.

That said, to have heard Ms. Franklin sing “Respect” in 2008 was almost as glorious as hearing it in 1968. To have heard it at Radio City merely improves upon genius. As two Brits (who were enjoying New York on the $2 pound) said coming out of the show, “well, she's a musical legend, isn't she?” And there's still enough left after decades in the business for her to give.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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