Aretha Franklin (43 page)

Lying on her deathbed in Aretha's house, Carolyn's last wish was granted, and she was presented her diploma. According to her sister Erma, “The president of Marygrove [College], the dean of students, and the head of the music department participated in a special bedside ceremony. It was that important to her.” That was on April 15, 1988, ten days before her death.”

“Her personality provided the fortitude that helped during the past year,” said Erma. “She didn't complain even when she was in excruciating pain. She said she was going to fight the disease until her last breath. And in the end, it appeared that her arms were raised in battle.”

Carolyn's funeral, at the New Bethel Baptist Church, was a three-hour service of song and eulogy. In addition to two thousand friends and family members, the ceremony was also attended by Detroit's mayor, Coleman Young, as well as Lawrence Payton and Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Ron White of The Miracles, and Cleo Staples. Flower arrangements were sent by Whitney and Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Mary Wilson, Jennifer Holiday, and Berry Gordy, Jr. Several telegrams were read to the congregation, including one from Lena Horne. Carolyn was buried at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.

While Carolyn was ill, Aretha had kept herself occupied with projects that she could do in Detroit. Recording her third duet with the Four Tops was a sheer pleasure and a creative distraction for her. The song, which was included on their 1988 Arista debut album,
Indestructible
, is titled “If Ever a Love There Was.” “I love the Four Tops,” says Aretha. “We're great friends, and they are some of my favorite people, as well as favorite artists. My brother and Levi are very close.” She explains that all three of their sessions together had been a blast in the studio, “We did ‘Make It Up to You,” and we recorded here a couple of summers ago. That was one of the best summers I've ever had, being in the studio with the Tops—I mean we had a good time. Whenever Levi would start doing his vocals, the ladies would start sliding down the walls, and we couldn't get any work done!” she laughs, “But we really had a good time.”

As a single, “If Ever a Love There Was” made it to Number Thirty-one on the R&B chart in America. And, it made it to Number Twenty-six on the Adult Contemporary chart in
Billboard
magazine.

On March 10, 1988, Aretha went before the television cameras to film a public-service announcement against driving under the influence of drugs and liquor. Taped before a live audience at Detroit's Music Hall, Aretha adapted her 1968 hit record “Think” for the campaign. New lyrics were written, and the video was entitled “Think … Don't Drive with Drugs or Drink!” The video was made into 30- and 60-second TV spots, as a public service, funded by the Chrysler Corporation. It debuted March 18 on MTV, and a radio version of the song was also produced.

The day of the videotaping, there was a luncheon in Washington, D.C., to kick off the anti-DWI campaign, which was attended by Carly Simon, Eddie Rabbit, Jermaine Jackson, and Juice Newton. Since Aretha still wouldn't leave Detroit, she appeared at the luncheon via satellite. Her image was telecast to appear on 36 TV monitors, stacked in a configuration that spelled out the word “Think.”

In July 1988, Clive Davis spoke of Aretha's contractual situation with Arista. “Her status is that she's agreed to do a certain amount of additional records for us,” he explained. “She recently signed to do that a few weeks ago. So at least for the time being, we're gonna be continue recording her. She just redid ‘Think' for us—she updated it when Arif [Mardin] went in to record ‘Think' for her commercial. He sent me the track, and I really liked it. So I asked her to do a new version of it. Plus, at some point we're going to do a greatest-hits album, and we want to do two or three new songs for that. We've got the Four Tops [duet]; that will go on their album, and it'll probably go on her album, too. She'll be working on those cuts.”

How did Clive Davis view Aretha's well-known fear of flying, and her inability to leave Detroit? “I've had no trouble,” he claimed. “It's not hampered our recording abilities. It's hampered touring, without a question, but it's not hampered recording.”

Because he had to bring camera crews and recording crews to work with Aretha in her hometown, Davis felt that her co-workers are all understanding, and are willing to work around Aretha's geographic
demands. “It's not pulling rank or anything. It's a real problem. She's not gone to any other state by plane, and she doesn't like traveling by train,” he explained.

How is Aretha viewed by the local Detroit media? According to Gary Graff, “There's still warm feelings about her, but I think she's starting to be viewed as kind of freakish, reclusive, just kind of ‘up there.' She just makes an appearance at the fights or the Pistons games. There's a lot of respect and a lot of warm feelings for her, but it's not the same thing that you get for [fellow Detroit native] Bob Segar—that's for sure. He's the one who's out there and active.”

The producer of one Detroit television show recalls that Aretha once canceled a live TV appearance, using the excuse that she had a conflicting fingernail appointment. This sort of thing has damaged her reputation with the local media. Says the producer, “Her commitment does not mean much, so we tend to want to stay away from booking her. I don't know if it's the people around her, or it it's Aretha. Whenever I even wanted to book her, it took me a long time to get through to someone. I met her several years ago, and she could not have been lovelier. But, as far as reputation goes, nobody in Detroit really counts on Aretha showing up, or Aretha's commitment. Everybody's a little apprehensive to ask Aretha, because we don't really know if she'll be there when she's supposed to be.”

Here is a perfect example of how Aretha still hurts her own career with her long-standing fear of the media.
The Detroit Free Press
and
The Detroit News
are both among the top ten most widely circulated newspapers in America, and the local TV stations reach millions of viewers. There should be no question as to Aretha's reliability as far as the media is concerned. If she is going to continue to remain in the public spotlight, she needs to focus herself a bit more. Her closest allies in the media—circa 1988—were Shirley Eder of
The Detroit Free Press
and Linda Solomon of
The Detroit News
, and she tended to stay in touch with these two columnists if she had something to announce. However, she needed to do something to dispel her reputation as an unreliable eccentric.

Every once in a while, Aretha warms up to the idea of attempting air travel again, but she has yet to take another flight. “She doesn't really
like leaving home,” says Tisha Fein. “It's common knowledge, and people know that she doesn't like to fly. She was just getting her courage up again, when there was that big crash at the Detroit airport.” Fein refers to the tragic August 16, 1987 crash that killed 156 people only seconds after the plane took off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. That crash made Aretha decide to stay clear of airplanes for several more years.

It is amazing how many people are willing to work around Aretha's fear of leaving Detroit.
Vogue
magazine flew in fashion photographers to capture Aretha on film for their March 1988 issue. In addition, Aretha confirmed that “the people from Madame Tussaud's are coming in to do my figure for the wax museum in London.” When you're the Queen of Soul, apparently, all of your loyal subjects come to you.

When Atlantic Records celebrated its fortieth anniversary with a huge, all-day concert in New York City's Madison Square Garden, it was hoped that Aretha might at least attempt a train trip. The producers of the May 14, 1988 event had hoped to open the festivities with a duet by two of Atlantic Records' biggest stars, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. As it turned out, neither of them were present.

In August 1988, as part of its
American Masters
television series, PBS aired an hour-long biographical tribute to Aretha. Originally the special was produced and broadcast by BBC in England. The details of Aretha's personal life were glossed over, and what remained was basically an overview of her career. Within that framework, the TV show's strong point was its use of film and video clips that brilliantly illustrated her evolution as a performer. In addition to her 1968 performance of “Chain of Fools” on
The Jonathan Winters Show
, her 1981 appearance on
Saturday Night Live
, and her exciting 1985 video of “Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves,” several rare film clips were also utilized. The archival footage included an early-sixties TV performance of the song “Won't Be Long,” Martin Luther King, Jr. joining Aretha on-stage at Cobo Hall in 1968, a black & white film of her at the Fillmore West concerts in 1971, and scenes from the recording of her
Amazing Grace
album.

The
American Masters
telecast also included videotaped comments from Aretha and several of her business associates. At one point during the program, she was seen pressed into one of her tight-fitting outfits,
talking about the men in her life. Sounding like a soul version of Mae West, Aretha deadpanned to the camera, “I have always maintained that a real man is not going to be intimidated by me. Some men can
rise
to the occasion, and others cannot.”

In September 1988, when George Michael was doing his highly successful American concert tour, Detroit was one of the cities he played. As a special surprise guest, Aretha showed up at the Palace and sang her duet with George. The Detroit crowd went berserk when Lady Soul hit the stage to make a one-night-only appearance.

Having been immortalized by Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and by Andy Warhol, Aretha was next the subject of another famous artist. In the autumn of 1988, Peter Max was asked by Luther Vandross to paint portraits of Luther's three favorite subjects: Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick. In February of 1989, Max was commissioned by Arista Records to paint the cover portrait of Aretha for her next album,
Through the Storm
.

One afternoon, that same month, Peter Max called me tell me that he had been invited to paint the cover of
Through the Storm
, and to ask me if I could help him with the project. He knew I was writing this book, so he asked if I would bring him some copies of Aretha Franklin photos to his studio, so that he could formulate some ideas for his portrait of her. I gladly agreed. I went to Peter's studio on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and while I was there, I asked him if he would return the favor, and do an exclusive portrait of Aretha for me that I could use in the book. He agreed. So, not only did I have a hand in the creation of the
Through the Storm
album cover, but Peter Max also contributed to the creation of this book!

How appropriate that Aretha, the most successful female singer of the 1960s, should be captured on canvas by the most successful graphic artist of that decade. According to Max, “Aretha was a fascinating subject to paint. She has a colorful voice which paints inspiring pictures with her songs. She is truly a great artist!”

When the fall television season began in October 1988, Aretha's voice was heard on two new projects: she recorded a jingle for Chevrolet, and sang the theme song for the NBC television series
A Different World
. The
theme song to
A Different World
was composed by the show's producer, Bill Cosby, and its musical director, Stu Gardner. The lyrics were written by one of the show's costars, Dawnn Lewis. Ironically, one of the show's cast members was Glynn Turman. In 1989 Aretha added Diet Coke to her growing list of TV jingles. Although there doesn't seem to be an underlying theme or focus to Aretha's career choices in the late 1980s, she did manage to keep her name and her voice actively on the airwaves.

True to her unpredictable form, in the last weeks of 1988, Aretha left Michigan for the first time in three years. Suddenly, and without much publicity, she was booked to appear at Trump's Castle in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on December 2–4. Her mode of transportation however was neither car, train, nor plane. Instead, she traveled in a custom-made bus. According to her, “We've got twenty-two people with us on the bus, plus all of the new exquisite, lavish gowns I'm wearing in the show.” Describing one of her new outfits, Aretha explained, “It's a gold bow coat designed for me by Jim Cape that goes with my Josephine Baker number. I take the final bows in it, and the encore song. It has four feet of white fox cuffs that drop all the way from my wrists to my knees! It's gold beaded, and has a huge stand-up white fox collar that frames the face. Cape made an all-rhinestone headdress to go with it. Before he made this gown and headdress, Jim Cape went to New York to speak to Josephine Baker's son Claude—he has a restaurant in New York City—who gave Jim some pictures of his mother's fabulous wardrobe to work from.”

Aretha and her full-figured version of Baker's gown were a big hit amid the slot machines in Atlantic City. She lost several pounds for her first out-of-town engagement in years, and sported a neatly coiffed and short-cropped reddish-blonde hairdo. In a tight-fitting white-beaded gown, slit up to the thigh, Aretha performed “Freeway of Love” with a troupe of dancers. In an automotive motif, the dancers wore assembly-line jumpsuits, and rolled car tires across the stage, while Aretha sang. When the three-day engagement was over, Aretha hopped aboard her luxury bus, and headed back on the freeway to Detroit.

As 1989 began, Aretha resolved to look back on her childhood and write a book about a particular segment of her life. According to her, “I want to write about gospel music history and about the years I sang gospel
and traveled with my dad from the age of fourteen to seventeen.” In early 1989 she began shopping for a publisher.