This book was very informative and straightforward, but I am uncertain that I really found myself loving it. It did fill in a lot of things I did not know, and was very curious to end up researching a bit more of the background of. ( )

3.5/5*

Why not try a free Audible original about Aretha Franklin? That was my thought and I'm glad I did try it, though it wasn't exactly what I expected.

I was a Rolling Stone subscriber for decades, (until they put the Boston marathon bomber on the cover, but that's another story.) One of the things I miss about the magazine is the in-depth articles on musicians and singers, which is what I thought this would be.

It turned out to be like an article, yes, and a very well researched one at that. It's my fault for thinking that, since this is an audiobook, samples of her music or even full songs would be included. They're not. Also, this isn't as much of an in-depth look of her life so much as it is a look at her musical life. Which isn't a bad thing, I just expected more.

Side note: *I just discovered that Mikal Gilmore is actually the brother of Gary Gilmore, the subject of the book THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG. How did I not know that?*

Anyway, this was free and as such I can't complain. Thanks, Audible!

Listened to 12.2018. (Removed dates read so this doesn't count towards books read in 2018. ( )

Review of the Audible Audio edition narrated by Adenrele Ojo

This was part of the Audible Originals free giveaway program for October 2018. As a 4-hour audio biography of Gospel and Rhythm & Blues singer Aretha Franklin's life it is obviously a very condensed version of the story but it certainly covers all of the major highlights of her career and life. Of the recordings it is the tumultuous story behind her classic 1967 premiere on Atlantic Records "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" and her later top selling gospel album "Amazing Grace" (1972) which are rightly extensively featured.

As a quickie audio-only biography done so shortly after Franklin's passing in 2018 it is heavily reliant on both David Ritz's authorized "Aretha: From These Roots" (1999) and the later unauthorized "Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin" (2014) biographies. Secondary sources such as Peter Guralnick's "Sweet Soul Music" (1986) are also extensively quoted and fully credited. All in all this is a quite excellent Aretha 101.

The narration by Adenrele Ojo is very enthusiastically and passionately delivered. ( )

My opinion waffled all the way through this biography of Aretha Franklin. It was short for a biography, which made me wonder what was missing? Then, after some thought, I realized that what was missing was the sort of tangential material which is often frustrating to read when one is really interested in just the subject of a biography. This audio-only book seemed part literature review on Franklin and part homage to a true musical icon. Bottom line, I liked it a lot. It seemed fair, well-researched, and I finished up with a more rounded out sense of Aretha Franklin as a legend, a genius, a diva, and an oh so very human human. Good read! ( )

Audible book narrated by Adenrele Ojo. 3 hours and 48 min.

The audio was fine, but the book didn't reveal much about her private life. It was much more musically focused and I just didn't know any of the names of the producers and only some of the other artists. And it said over and over that she was gifted. I knew that. Meh. ( )