Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz is definitely atypical reading for me, though I have read Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings and Simon and Garfunkel: Old Friends : A Dual Biography
by Joseph Morella and Patricia Barey. What makes it atypical is that though I like her music, I did not own a single album of hers prior to my starting to read this book. I purchased Amazing Grace, described by the author as "probably the best gospel album ever."

Aretha Franklin came to my attention on AM "Top 40" radio with her 1970 fairly minor hit "Don't Play That Song For Me." Later I came to listen to airplay of "Respect", the song after which this book is named, and her brilliant though overplayed cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Her cover turned a folk ballad, essentially, into a gospel song. I barely heard her music until the late 1980's, I think 1988, with her hit "Freeway of Love."

The book is definitely not a hagiography, as many of this mold tend to be. Other Goodreads commentators consider the book to be harshly critical of her. I do not find this, at all, to be the case. I find it a candid and thorough biography, making clear that she is a giant in her genius and contribution to the world of music, while not always perfectly consistent. But who's is? Some people consider the coverage of her life virtual scandal-mongering. To my mind, she comes out quite a bit better than other popular musicians and show business types.

The author, David Ritz, was engaged as her collaborator for an autobiograpy. That autobiography came out in 1999, as Aretha: From These Roots by Aretha Franklin and David Ritz. David Ritz had, in fact, withdrawn as a collaborator when Aretha edited out the non-hagiographic personal materials. What remains is a frank portrait of her life that is, on balance, quite complimentary. The book is not the fairy-tale the subject would have preferred. But those who have a serious interest in an important historical figure and star should read the book, an easy "five stars." ( )

FROM AMAZON: Her soulful, soaring voice has earned her mythic status. Now, in her own moving words, the woman behind the myth is revealed. The result is a captivating self-portrait of one of this century's most fascinating artists, an Aretha Franklin as real as the songs she sings.

For the first time anywhere, Aretha tells her story--the glorious triumphs as well as the heartbreaking pain. With refreshing candor, Aretha tells it like it is, the way she sees it, the way she lived it.

A child prodigy of the golden age of gospel, the daughter of a world-famous preacher, Aretha was the anointed successor to Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward. But her father had a broader vision and helped Aretha enter the field of pop and jazz. By age eighteen, she was under contract to Columbia Records. Six years later, after only a few minor hits, she switched to Atlantic, where she shook the musical world to its roots. Her song "Respect" became the anthem of an epoch, a touchstone for African Americans, for women, for all people struggling to be free. Aretha became the Queen of Soul, the genre's finest interpreter since Ray Charles.

As a "SuperFan" I'm not at this moment sure how I feel about this book, while I did enjoy reading it, i'm conflicted on if I wanted to know all I now know about Aretha. This is chock full of information I wasn't aware of and I will never listen to her songs again without hearing them with a different ear after reading this. While reading this I found myself constantly going to listen to a record that was mentioned in the chapter I was reading ( that was fun). I was turned on to a few tracks I wasn't aware with was Awesome, but My image of her is now a bit Tarnished. I still and will always be a fan but now know too much to keep on rose colored glasses. This is well told and if all true is amazing and worth the read. She was an amazing artist with flaws like the rest of us and she had a very long lasting career while working with the Giants of music. I do wonder the reasoning behind her family & close working folks contributing the harsh way some of them did. A must read for any Aretha Franklin fan so you can come to your own conclusions. ( )

I ATE THIS UP!

Ritz has long immersed himself in the world of r+b, gospel and soul. He co-wrote a book with Aretha that he felt never quite got to the heart of who she was as a person or a performer and was moved to write another, with the full support of her siblings, managers, and producers, but not her.

It's respectful but it doesn't ignore the impact of the loss of her mother, her early pregnancies, and her father's womanizing. Nor does it make light of her genius-like abilities that were evident at an early age, suggesting that like Michael Jackson or Judy Garland her adult-sized skills made her vulnerable from the start.

I found this interesting, sometimes painful, a little provocative, but very honest. (less) ( )