ARETHA FRANKLIN - MY LITTLE BROWN BOOK

MY LITTLE BROWN BOOK

ARETHA FRANKLIN

SONGWRITER: BILLY STRAYHORN

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK

LABEL: CBS

GENRE: JAZZ

YEAR: 2011

 

         Aretha Louise Franklin(/əˈriːθə/ə-REE-thə; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the world's best-selling music artists.

         As a child, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she was signed as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success once she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. Hit songs such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Chain of Fools", "Think", and "I Say a Little Prayer", propelled Franklin past her musical peers.

          Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You(1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the Dark(1970), Young, Gifted and Black(1972), Amazing Grace(1972), and Sparkle(1976), before experiencing problems with the record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. The singer appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers before releasing the successful albums Jump to It(1982), Who's Zoomin' Who?(1985) and Aretha(1986) on the Arista label. In 1998, Franklin returned to the Top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced song "A Rose Is Still a Rose"; later, she released an album with the same name.

          Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on the US Billboard charts, including 73 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles. Besides the foregoing, the singer's well-known hits also include "Ain't No Way", "Call Me", "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", "Spanish Harlem", "Rock Steady", "Day Dreaming", "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", "Something He Can Feel", "Jump to It", "Freeway of Love", "Who's Zoomin' Who" and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (a duet with George Michael). Franklin won 18 Grammy Awards, including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance(1968–1975), a Grammy Awards Living Legend honor and Lifetime Achievement Award.

My little brown book

With the silver binding

How it keeps reminding me

Of a memory that's haunting me

 

In some quiet nook

I go through its pages

Use this ageless tale

Of the love that failed

To ever become true

 

On this page is the date

Of that fateful night at eight

When we found we were no longer in love

After that, there's nothing more

Just a dark and futile door

That shuts out the stars above

 

My little brown book

I inscribed your heart vows

But since we're apart

Now this and that last sweet kiss

Is all that's left of you

Is all that's left of you.