Obama Inauguration: Does Aretha Franklin Still Have It?
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Artist:
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Track:America (My Country 'Tis Of Thee)
Aretha Franklin showed up in D.C. today to sing "America (My Country 'Tis Of Thee)" at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. She brought her diva style via a bedazzled fantastic bow/hat. But did Lady Aretha bring her vocal chops? She definitely fell flat on some notes. Should Beyonce, Tina or somebody else have done it?
Comments (18)
IMO, it should have been Mavis Staples. She's a south side of Chicago legend (from Obama's Hyde Park, no less), and she can sing better now than Aretha. But even though she's been invited to several inaugurations in the past, she wasn't invited to this one. What gives?
I cant argue with Aretha... shes not a young lioness like she used to be.... but its Aretha....Shes earned her stripes.
agreed......with BOTH posts above. i think both Mavis and Aretha would have been proper.
it was a little awkward watching the HBO show the other night even though it was celebrating a beautiful occasion. by no means am i against younger talent, but at the same time i'm not sure how a bunch of those people got involved in that presentation. even though Aretha didn't give a command performance, i was glad to see her up there.
what about the soldier singing the "banner" on the HBO show? he flubbed his entrance on the word "brave" at the end and looked like he was gonna cry. i felt bad for that guy.
meanwhile, the quartet piece at the inauguration was pretty awesome.
frost... i get what you are saying. def. earned it and when i woudl first htink of who the honor should be extended to i'd think aretha...but you got to sound good too.
too be honest i didnt think of staples at all, but thats a suggestion. maybe for teh re-inauguration in 4 years if all goes well.
aretha's power was not quite there, but it was chilly
still she has those gospel roots that seemed appropriate
i was hoping for a black preacher too instead of that anti abortion minister from cali they brought in
the john williams piece with pearlman and yo yo ma was solid
good point. it did look really cold. and i totallly agree about pearlman, mcgill and yo yo -- that was beautiful
I loved her. She looked great. It seemed to me that she couldn't hear herself very well, but towards the middle of the song, found her footing and took off with it (at about the time the choir came in...)
I think she was an excellent choice...I mean come on, she's an absolute legend! I don't remember Elvis or Sinatra sounding anything like their former selves in their later years, but did it really matter once they took the stage? I saw Chuck Berry last summer, and he played and sung pretty sloopy, and I don't think one person one person cared. Mavis, Tina, or whoever (definitely NOT Beyonce!) might sound better at their ages, but sorry, I don't think that's why Aretha was chosen. She's Aretha Franklin! And she deserves a little R E S P E C T :-)
I appreciated Aretha, after all she IS Aretha! and I agree with Jameson, she ramped it up when the choir kicked in! I still wish Mavis could've been there and still can't understand why she wasn't. It's all SO thrilling, I've been grinning for like 5 hours.
She's Aretha, and looked fabulous in that hat.
Now that poet, uh, not sure what that was about. I was missing Maya Angelou.
The older civil rights preacher saved it all in the benediction though.
Still flying high here too, but everyone's gotta realize the election was the easy part. Governing is gonna be hard.
No. You are excused for even posing this question. Today only.
Aretha can still sing. It's her phrasing that needs work.
"My cunt----try 'tis of thee...."
Do ya think the occasion has its own nervousness built in? You look out as you launch into the song and all you can see is about 1 million people. That's gotta work some gremlins if you let it. There was that moment early on when her voice broke - maybe she started thinking about it. What the hell, it was still a moving performance. And definitely Hat Of The Day.
that hat needs to go into some rock and roll hall of fame exhibit or something. it was fantastically awesome!
Yeah, you said it with hat of the day. I thought it was probably due to cold. Also, she did seem to be battling with the band a bit, kind of wrestling with the pace. I assume it was a live band, maybe the military conductor was a bit cold and anxious too.
try singing at 10 below
yo yo ma's group was taped(old news) it was so cold. give her a break
well said avandguard. it's been a few weeks and we still cant decide on a bailout amount. Yikes!
She is still the queen of soul.... and prove it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!