Aretha Franklin, who died last year, was not just a
superstar; she was a musical wonder. You probably already know that. During her career, she won eighteen Grammies,
had 20 number-one R&B singles, 17 top-ten pop singles and was the most charted
female artist in Billboard’s history.
She is recognized as one of the greatest
voices ever in popular music generally and without a doubt the greatest female singer of rhythm and blues, soul music and rock’n’roll
– don’t just take my word for it: Aretha
was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987) and was
named the #1 greatest singer of all time by the rock magazine Rolling Stone. This week, she became the first woman to receive a special Pulitzer Prize
award and citation for her “indelible contribution to American music and
culture.”
But Aretha Franklin started her career as a gospel singer. When she was just ten-years-old in 1952, she began singing solos in
her father Rev. C.L. Franklin’s New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit and within
a few years was travelling the gospel circuit with him. In 1960, at age
eighteen, following in the footsteps of family friend Sam Cooke, she switched
to secular music. After a modestly successful start, she switched to the
Atlantic record label in 1966 and her career took off like a 4th of
July rocket: I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You), Respect, (You Make Me Feel Like)
A Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think, and on and on. As many have
noted, one of the keys to Aretha’s popular music success, in addition to her
perfect pitch and great voice, was her melding of gospel style to secular
subjects.
In 1972, at the top of her game, Aretha decided to record a
gospel album again: a live album in a church with an audience – and not just an album but also a documentary film of the project. Sydney Pollack [They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), The Way We Were (1973), Tootsie
(1982)] was enlisted to direct the film. The project was recorded at the New Temple
Missionary Baptist Church in Watts (Los Angeles) over two days, backed by the
Southern California Community Choir of Rev, James Cleveland – himself a great
gospel singer, known as “The King of Gospel Music”. Released as a double album called Amazing Grace in June of 1972, the record
became the biggest seller of Aretha’s career, won her another Grammy, and to
this day is considered by many the greatest gospel album of all time.
The film was another story. First there were technical problems.
Pollack had not used a clapperboard at the start of each take, which was necessary
to synchronize the audio and picture – with the result that he could not
complete the film in time for its scheduled release, and it was shelved. Thirty-six
years later, shortly before his death in 2008, Pollack turned the film stock and
audio over to Alan Elliot, who, over the next two years, managed to link the
sound and images together and complete the movie. But then legal problems
intervened: Aretha sued to prevent the
showing of the picture. This dragged on until her death last year; after which
her estate finally gave the green light – forty-six years after the recording
was made.
The result of all this is a “new” documentary film, also
called Amazing Grace. If you’re an Aretha Franklin fan, a gospel music
fan, an R&B or soul music fan, someone who has enjoyed the Amazing Grace record, someone who loves
great singing, someone who’d like to feel spiritually moved by said great
singing, or just plain curious, you definitely should see this picture. But
here’s the thing: as cinema it’s interesting
and worthwhile but, as I’ll explain, not necessarily a "big-screen-required" experience. But you absolutely need good sound to appreciate this film. If you’ve
got a superior sound system connected up to your TV or home theater you might
want to wait until it’s out on home video. Otherwise, find out where it is
playing, and catch it in a theater.
Not being a religious person myself and acknowledging that
what spirituality I do possess is not rooted in Christianity, I have to say
that I quite liked Amazing Grace and felt moved and even uplifted at times by the passion
of the music and its performance. I’d
expect that those with more of an attachment to the Church might enjoy it even
more. At the same time, given the critical
acclaim heaped on this documentary by many other critics, I will confess to
feeling just a tad bit disappointed in the project as a whole – primarily because,
due to the circumstances of its production, the visuals are not as strong as
the music.
The picture quality itself is somewhat grainy, and
occasionally even out of focus. You know you are watching old footage. The editing is fairly straightforward, totally acceptable but far from innovative or exciting. Needless to say, there is no plot and there are no actors – just the performers and the audience (and a few cameramen and techies thrown in). Aretha herself, not quite 30-years-old at the time, is not particularly dramatic or showy – she just stands there and sings. But oh man, how
she sings. While much of the material is not particularly up-tempo, the
music, Aretha’s magnificent voice, her exquisite phrasing and the tremendous spirit
with which she, Cleveland, and the choir imbue this church music is beyond words.
Close your eyes and you’ll likely be
transported. I did and I was.
When you open them again, you can admire the lively,
energetic, engaging choir director, Alexander Hamilton (yep, that’s his name)
extracting every ounce of choral power from his group in their black attire and
silver vests. Then there is the audience, mostly black, but with a few white
faces (including 28-year-old Mick Jagger), everyone clearly happy to be there,
rocking in their seats, clapping when clapping feels right, sometimes getting up
and dancing, more often smiling broadly with the joy of it all. Among the happiest folks in the audience are
the great gospel singer Clara Ward, former leader of the popular Clara Ward Singers
and an important mentor to Aretha, and Aretha’s dad: old C.L. Franklin himself.
For fans of the Amazing
Grace album, the documentary captures twelve of the fifteen songs Aretha recorded
in these sessions, including a fabulous rendition of the title song. Even though I’ve said that Aretha’s singing and the overall
sound of the music is the main thing here, I suspect you’ll find an extra
measure of pleasure in seeing, rather than just listening to Amazing
Grace – the audience reaction; the often jubilant responses of the other
musicians to the performance they are both backing and witnessing; Aretha’s
intense focus, and her sublime blending
of ecstasy and subtlety as she exquisitely sings the praises of her lord and her faith.
90 minutes.
Grade: A- / B+
Now playing in select
theaters nationwide; expanding to additional cites over the next several weeks.
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