R-E-S-P-E-C-T: The inside story behind Aretha Franklin's chart-topping anthem (2024)

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Aretha Franklin's career as an R&B vocalist took off in 1967, when she topped the charts with her incendiary version of "Respect," written by Otis Redding. Franklin went on to score more than 40 other Top 40 singles, including classics such as "A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)" and "Chain of Fools." Find more of them on YouTube.

Franklin will get some major R-E-S-P-E-C-T Oct. 31-Nov. 5 in Cleveland. The Queen of Soul has been chosen as the honoree for the 16th annual American Music Masters series, presented by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western Reserve University.

The salute culminates with a tribute concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at PlayhouseSquare's State Theatre. Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill will join Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Dennis Edwards of the Temptations and Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers for the all-star concert. Franklin will attend to accept her American Music Masters award, although she is not scheduled to perform.

Respect from her hometown newspaper

Aretha Franklin's hometown newspaper paid homage to the Queen of Soul and her signature tune, "Respect," in the summer of 2007 on the 40th anniversary of its release.

• Detroit Free Press: 40 Years of Respect
• From civil rights theme song to karaoke favorite, Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit gets its propers

"Respect" often imitated: Detroiters show their love by singing the song: Detroit Free Press video

Rewind to Feb. 14, 1967. The Vietnam War raged anew in the aftermath of a fleeting truce. Back home, battles were being fought on other fronts, with the civil rights movement and women's movement fully mobilized.

Two days earlier, speaking at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the 158th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, President Lyndon Johnson called for an end to racism, which he condemned as "man's ancient curse and man's present shame." A few months later, Johnson would sign an executive order that expanded affirmative-action legislation to cover sex discrimination.

Valentine's Day fell on a Tuesday that year. In New York City, the weather was unseasonably mild. And inside the Broadway recording studios of Atlantic Records, an African-American woman in her youthful prime pounded a piano and began to sing:

What you want

Baby, I got it!

What you need

You know I got it!

All I'm asking

Is for a little respect when you come home

Hey, baby!

Her name was Aretha Franklin. Soon, she would be hailed as the Queen of Soul. And "Respect" would stand as her crowning achievement.

Franklin, 69, is the honoree for the 16th annual American Music Masters series, presented by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western Reserve University. It culminates Saturday evening with an all-star tribute concert at PlayhouseSquare's State Theatre, featuring Lauryn Hill, Dennis Edwards of the Temptations, Ronald Isley and others.

Franklin will attend the show, although she is not scheduled to perform. As part of the festivities, she'll receive an honorary doctorate from CWRU.

Also on the agenda in the coming week for "Lady Soul: The Life and Music of Aretha Franklin" are panel discussions, film screenings and educational programs.

Franklin was the first woman inducted into the Rock Hall, in 1987. She has sold more than 75 million records, won 18 Grammy Awards and scored more than 40 Top 40 singles, including classics such as "A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)" and "Chain of Fools."

Ushered in on a wave of luscious horns and funky electric guitar, "Respect" was Franklin's first No. 1 hit. She didn't write the song; Otis Redding did.

But Franklin made it hers for all time.

Keyboardist Spooner Oldham, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer himself, played organ on the track.

"It really blew my mind," Oldham said, reached by phone at home in Rogersville, Ala.

He'll perform here at the Franklin tribute concert. He'll also look back on his career during a Hall of Fame series appearance at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Rock Hall.

When Franklin cut "Respect," Oldham was only vaguely familiar with Redding's original version of the song.

"I'd heard it a time or two," Oldham said.

"It didn't have any influence at all on the outcome of her record. To me, it was totally different. We treated it like a new song.

"As I recall, it went pretty smoothly. It wasn't a labored thing at all. Two or three takes at most, I would say."

The end result was destined to become the opening track on Side 1 of "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You," Franklin's first album for Atlantic Records. It was produced by Jerry Wexler, the visionary record executive who also was instrumental in the careers of Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield and others.

"Aretha Franklin has the qualities of the superstar," Wexler wrote in his liner notes.

"When we recorded the sides in this album . . . there was one unvarying reaction: Every time Aretha began a song, the musicians would shake their heads in wonder. After each take was completed, they would rush from the studio into the control room to hear the playback. Producers, engineers and musicians alike were entranced by Aretha's purity of tone, her tremendous feeling for inspired variation and her unparalleled dynamics."

As if Franklin's force-of-nature vocals on "Respect" weren't impressive enough, she also simultaneously accompanied herself on piano.

"She was great every time she touched the piano," Oldham said.

"She had such a feel for it. . . . Typically, it was set up where she would play the piano and I would do electric piano or organ. It seemed like we played a little alike, in retrospect.

"Aretha had the world by the tail. She was strong, and she obviously liked the band because we were pumping up the songs with her. I think she was motivated to do her best, as were we. It was like, 'Bring me another song -- let's do it!'

"She was ready."

SCHEDULE | Lady Soul: The Life and Music of Aretha Franklin

Following is the complete schedule for the American Music Masters salute to Aretha Franklin. Unless otherwise noted, events are free and will be held in the Rock Hall's Foster Theater.

Monday, Oct. 31

• Rock and Roll Night School: A Spotlight on Aretha Franklin: Rock Hall staffers discuss Franklin's career and key songs. 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 1

• An Evening with the Blind Boys of Alabama: Gospel legends perform on the museum's main stage. Group co-founder Jimmy Carter will be interviewed. Tickets are $15 at the Rock Hall and at tickets.rockhall.com. 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 2

• Teachers Rock with Summer of Sisterhood: The Soul of Cleveland: A workshop for Northeast Ohio teachers, held in the museum's "Eat to the Beat" meeting room, focuses on empowering adolescent girls through songwriting, poetry and dance, with representatives from the West Side Community House's "Summer of Sisterhood" program. Reservation required; e-mail education@rockhall.org or call 216-515-8426. 4:30 p.m.

• Hall of Fame Series with Spooner Oldham: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who played keyboards on Franklin's early hits reflects on his career. Reservation required; e-mail education@rockhall.org or call 216-515-8426. The event will be streamed live at rockhall.com. 7 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 3

• "Rolling in the Deep": Aretha Franklin and the Makings of Modern Black Womanhood: Daphne Brooks, a professor of English and African-American studies at Princeton University, delivers a keynote lecture at Case Western Reserve University's Ford Auditorium, 10900 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 4

• Jump to It: DJ Mick Boogie, MC Lyte and DJ O-Dub spin Franklin's music at House of Blues, East Fourth Street and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. Tickets are $8 advance, $10 day of show at the box office and livenation.com, or call 1-800-745-3000. 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 5

• AMM Conference: Singer Cissy Houston, filmmaker Joe Lauro, drummer Bernard Purdie and others discuss Franklin in a daylong conference. Tickets are $25 (including museum admission) at the Rock Hall and at tickets.rockhall.com. Portions of the event will be streamed live at rockhall.com. 10:30 a.m.

• Tribute Concert: Lauryn Hill, Dennis Edwards of the Temptations, Ronald Isley, Jerry Butler, Chaka Khan, Cissy Houston, Spooner Oldham, Carla Cook, Melinda Doolittle, Mike Farris, Kris Bowers and Patti Austin salute Franklin at PlayhouseSquare's State Theatre in Cleveland. Franklin will attend, but is not scheduled to perform. Tickets are $30-$50 at the box office, or charge by phone, 216-241-6000. For VIP packages (starting at $250), call 216-515-1207. 7:30 p.m.

Magic in the studio

Born in Memphis, Tenn., and raised in Detroit, Franklin got her start singing gospel under the eye of her father, the Rev. C. L. Franklin, a famous preacher and renowned gospel vocalist in his own right.

Like her friend Sam Cooke, Franklin eventually took a leap of faith from gospel to pop music. Shortly after her 18th birthday, she signed a deal with Columbia Records. The seven albums that she recorded for that label (revisited in a lavish new boxed set, "Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia," complete with loads of rarities) attempted to position Franklin as a jazzy pop singer, with modest success.

During those early years, she notched only one Top 40 single: an update of the Al Jolson oldie "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody."

Franklin was eager to make a fresh start when she came to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., in January 1967 to record her Atlantic debut.

Oldham recalls seeing Franklin's name on the chalkboard schedule in the studio lobby. He'd never met her, although he knew of her Columbia material.

"co*cktail-lounge music," Oldham called it.

From the get-go, Franklin made a strong impression in person.

"She looked really good," Oldham said.

"Then she started singing. The floors rumbled and the walls shook. My brain shook. It was magic in the studio.

"We all felt we were onto something new, from the perspective that she was bridging a gap in a way that hadn't been done before, bringing rhythm and blues into pop and into the mainstream.

"It just crossed all boundaries, all genres. It was like, 'Wow! This is different. This is transcendent.' "

Franklin ended up cutting only two songs at Fame: "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Do Right Woman -- Do Right Man." The sessions there ended abruptly in the wake of an argument involving her then-husband, Ted White. He reportedly took offense when a backing musician became too friendly with Franklin, according to Wexler's memoir, "Rhythm and Blues: A Life in American Music."

A few weeks later, when Franklin and the band reconvened with Wexler, arranger Arif Mardin and recording engineer Tom Dowd in Manhattan, "Respect" was among the first songs they got on tape.

Redding's "Respect" appeared on his 1965 album "Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul." While his fiery version was certainly not the work of a shrinking violet, Franklin's interpretation made some brilliant modifications and upped the ante considerably.

Someone -- perhaps Wexler or Mardin -- suggested that the tune would benefit from a bridge, a mid-song instrumental interlude to give listeners a chance to catch their collective breath.

At the 1:11 mark, the key shifts and a horn section featuring sax players Charlie Chalmers, King Curtis and Willie Bridges cuts loose.

"We did a few takes before we nailed the one that really had the magic that ended up being the record," Chalmers recalled during a phone interview from his studio in Branson, Mo.

"When the horn solo came up, which I was ready to play because I'd been playing it on the other takes, Curtis jumped in there and took that solo, man. He was so good. Even though he pushed me out of the way . . . it was the right thing to do."

Franklin's supporting cast on "Respect" also included guitarist Jimmy Johnson, bassist Tommy Cogbill, drummer Roger Hawkins and cornet player Melvin Lastie.

Franklin's sisters, Carolyn and Erma, handled backing vocals. In an inspired twist at 1:40, they start chanting: "re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-respect." As Matt Dobkin noted in "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You," a penetrating book about Franklin's breakthrough album, it sounds as if her sisters are repeating Franklin's nickname: Ree.

"It's a kind of R&B quasi-syllogism: Aretha is respect is Aretha," Dobkin wrote.

Franklin brought out the best in the musicians around her, Chalmers said.

"Aretha was rocking, and she was making everybody groove," he said.

"Anything she would do would be great. I would say it came from her church background. She had that sanctified feel.

"Another thing that really was impressive to me was the way she could sing and play piano at the same time. It was so inspirational. It just made everybody cook. You couldn't do any wrong. It was unreal."

Popular lore has it that when Redding heard Franklin's rendition of "Respect," he was blown away enough to quip: "That little gal done took my song!"

"It was a compliment," Oldham said. "In other words: 'You got it, baby. It's yours now.' "

View full sizeAtlantic Records Archives"I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You," Aretha Franklin's first Atlantic Records album, was released in 1967. "Respect" went to No. 1 on Billboard's Top 40 chart, knocking "Groovin' " by the Young Rascals out of the top spot. In sharp contrast to the psychedelic sounds of the Summer of Love, Franklin kept it real with a singular blast of from-the-gut soul.

Song becomes voice of social movements

The song reaches critical mass at 1:48, when Franklin -- accompanied by a few strategic blasts from the band -- belts out perhaps the most famous spelling lesson of all time:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care of TCB

"TCB" is hip shorthand for "taking care of business," a popular motto at the time.

Cue more dazzling backing vocals, as Franklin's sisters breathlessly repeat "Sock it to me!" in a dizzying mantra of desire.

"From what I understand, they had worked up those parts at home," Oldham said.

"Listening to them put on their track, it was like: 'Wow!' That really got to me."

A mere 2 minutes and 23 seconds have elapsed when "Respect" fades out triumphantly, straight into history.

"I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" was released in March 1967. The title track of the album was a Top 10 hit.

"Respect," the follow-up single, fared even better. It went to No. 1 on Billboard's Top 40 chart in June 1967, knocking "Groovin' " by the Young Rascals out of the top spot. In sharp contrast to the psychedelic sounds of the Summer of Love, Franklin kept it real with a singular blast of from-the-gut soul.

Chalmers knew "Respect" was a smash as soon as they recorded it.

"There was no doubt about it," he said.

"When Jerry Wexler signed Aretha, he said it was one of his greatest accomplishments. . . . He knew he could do something with her that hadn't been done before. He just let her go. He let her do her thing.

"It was a natural gift. It wasn't anything that Aretha had to work for. It just happened."

"Respect," which won a pair of Grammys in R&B categories, struck a much deeper chord than many hits. It became a bona fide anthem.

"It has unbelievable power," said Lauren Onkey, executive producer of the American Music Masters series and the Rock Hall's vice president of education and public programs.

"The first wave of victories of the civil rights movement had happened. We were moving into different terrain, on the cusp of black power and a more Afrocentric way of thinking about African-American life. 'Respect' was leading the march.

"It also became a really important song for women, with the second wave of the women's movement emerging around that same time. Of course, Aretha Franklin singing about respect at home sounds different than Otis Redding singing about it.

"The song became the voice of both of those movements."

The Library of Congress added "Respect" to the National Recording Registry in 2002.

"So many people identified with and related to 'Respect'," Franklin wrote in her autobiography, "Aretha: From These Roots."

"It was the need of a nation, the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman, the mother, the fireman, the teacher -- everyone wanted respect. It was also one of the battle cries of the civil rights movement. The song took on monumental significance. It became the 'Respect' women expected from men and men expected from women, the inherent right of all human beings. . . . [D]ecades later I am unable to give a concert without my fans demanding the same 'Respect' from me. 'Respect' was -- and is -- an ongoing blessing in my life."

Like her signature tune, Franklin achieved national-treasure status long ago.

She performed "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009, resplendent in a big-bowed hat by designer Luke Song.

Franklin had surgery last year for an unspecified health problem. After canceling six months of public appearances, she resumed performing in May. That same month, she released her 38th studio album, "A Woman Falling Out of Love."

Take it from sideman to the stars Oldham, who also has played with everyone from Bob Dylan to Wilson Pickett to Neil Young: When it comes to the top musical talents of our time, nobody commands more respect than Aretha Franklin.

"To me, the work I did with her ranks with the best of my best," Oldham said.

"It was just a joy for me to be a part of it. You knew when the next song was coming up, it was going to be the best that she could do. We all felt the same need to be the best we could be.

"She was a fireball. Not in a negative way. In a great way."