Comparing Elton John And Aretha Franklin's 'I Say A Little Prayer'

Joan Baez was a white singer that sang “oh freedom”. She ended up singing it at Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech. In the meaningful slow song Joan Baez expressed her wanting for equality and freedom.

Combining with the motif of protest was the issues of women rights. Women celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 19th amendment, and liberal abortion laws in the year of 1970. No longer merely entertainment, popular music became a powerful means of protest and an effective force for social change. The whole feeling of fighting for what is right was often found in lyrics and music of the time. Although women had been in the music industry for centuries the song of the seventies that backed the idea of woman’s push for power was “I Am Women,” by Helen Reddy. The first line simply stats the mood of the whole song by stating, “I am women, hear me roar.”

This is one of Aaliyah’s contributions that will forever go down in history. Due to the fact that when Aaliyah first started singing she was a very known person to the public especially since she was young herself. Aaliyah absence then and now will forever be apart of the music history she will forever be remembered as someone who contributed to the golden era of R&B. Aaliyah also was a dancer and she had a certain style to the clothes she wore. She also had a voice like no other and that's another reason as to why she contributed to the golden era of R&B. Aaliyah contributed a lot of things to her genres of music and that's what makes her a all time favorite in

hope through God, if we trust His plan for us. Ms. Scott was a seven-time Grammy award

Aaliyah was my best friend, we told eachother everything, I was there with her when she first recorded her first song, we sang together, we even wrote a song together, i thought of her like a little sister, little did I know of the short time I had with her. I remember when I first heard of her, she was performing in Las Vegas with the famous singer Gladys Knight. You should have seen my face full of shock and awe as I heard this eleven year old’s voice, the way she hit all the right notes, and how her voice blended perfectly with Gladys was amazing. From that point on I knew she was going to be a superstar, and that I wanted her, no needed to have her in one of my albums. Three years later, yet again she surprises me by her debut album with

Aretha Louise Franklin also known as the Queen of Soul was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis Tennessee. She is known for being a solo singer, and also a very talented pianist. Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Gospel are genres that she sings. Throughout her career she signed with Colombia Records and has released many popular singles that would now be considered classical. Aretha became the first female artist to be introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. Up until this day Aretha is still alive living at age seventy two and has won many Grammy awards and considered one of the most honored artist.

She began singing solo’s at New Bethel Church. At the age of fourteen Aretha’s talent for singing was recognized by her father, and he started managing her shortly after, so he could get her a recording deal. She started off by going on the road with her father and singing at various churches while he preached. This resulted in Aretha Franklin getting signed to her first record deal with J.V.B. Records Label. Her first studio album was titled “Songs Of Faith”. Although this did not put her on the map as the Queen of Soul. Aretha decided at the age of 18 that she wanted to go in the direction of Sam Cooke and sing Pop music. It was not until she signed with the Columbia Records in 1960, that she had her first single chart the Billboard on the Hot 100 with her song “Won’t Be Long” off her first pop studio album Aretha: With the Ray Bryant Combo. With her talent Franklin was able to record in diverse genres such as vocal jazz, blues, standards, rhythm and blues and doo-wop. In 1962, she released two more studio albums: ‘The Electrifying Aretha Franklin’ and ‘The Tender,The Moving,Swinging Aretha Franklin’. Her number-one R&B singles are “Respect” in 1967, “Chain Of Fools” in 1967, “Think” in 1967, and “Share Your Love With Me” also in 1967. In 1968 Aretha performed at Dr. Martin Luther King’s Funeral. She also performed at the presidential inauguration of Jimmy Carter. Doing her music is the reason why Franklin is where she is now and why she is known as the queen of

Even the great Whitney Houston covered her song “I Will Always Love You.” Dolly Parton had many awards. She has Grammy awards for many of her songs; such as ‘9 to 5’, ‘Here You Come again’, and her album ‘Trio’, she has received 25 gold, platinum, and multi- platinum, has 153 awards and 413 nominations, she’s won 6 times female vocalist of the year, has won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, won 9 grammy awards and was nominated for 47, won 11 Country Music Awards and was nominated for 46, won 12 CMT Music Awards and was nominated 48 times, and much more (“Who is Dolly Parton?...”) (List of awards and nominations received by Dolly

Her mother was a gospel singer in church and many other entertainment centers allowing Whitney to grow up singing with her mom. In 1985 her first album was released with her single “You Give Good Love.” It became the first female album on the charts. A year after her first album was released she won a grammy award in 1986 over the song ‘ I Will Always Love You.” Within that same year she was rewarded with 2 more grammys for best female pop artist.

Crowned as "The Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin is one of the most honored female vocal artists of the last 50 years. She is an American soul singer, songwriter as well as a pianist. Her soulful, soaring voice has earned her mythic status over the years. It has been said that Aretha was a child prodigy of the golden age of gospel and was the anointed successor to gospel singers Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson. Many idolize her and her musical intelligence to this day. She is said to be one of the most quintessential sounds of America alongside The Beetles, The Stones, and Louis Armstrong.

Ella earned many awards throughout the many years she was a singer. She received her first Grammy in 1958, for best female vocal performance. Not only at that Grammys shows was she awarded her first grammy she also became the first African American female to win a award. Along with the many Grammy she won, she also sold over 40 millions copies. Over her lifetime she recorded over 200 albums and about 2,000 songs. She was also awarded the image award for lifetime achievement and the presidential medal of freedom and The Kennedy Center for performing arts medal of honor. One of the highest honors she received was from president Ronald Reagan, The National Medal of art and the first Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award which was later named after Ella. Most people do not know that Ella did not always want to

Born in New Orleans, in 1911, Mahalia Jackson, Gospel’s leading ambassador and advocate, grew up in a conservatively religious family, with church music playing a prominent role in her early years. At age sixteen, Jackson met the Gospel composer and arranger, Thomas A. Dorsey, who co-wrote her first hit, “Move up on a Little Higher”, sold over eighteen million copies. Heavily involved in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ‘60s, Jackson was renowned for her energetic passionate vocal ability and style, singing with deep conviction. Close friend and passionate civil-rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King, described Jackson’s contra-alto sound as, “A voice like this one comes not once in a century, but once in a millennium” (New Encyclopaedia, 2017). One of her famous adaptations, was the originally Negro spiritual, “How I Got Over”, which was sung before Martin Luther King’s famous Washington Speech, “I Had A Dream”, displaying the close connection in which Gospel music and the supporters

The artist I have chosen for this project is John Roger Stephens, also known as John Legend. Born on December 28, 1978 in Springfield Ohio, John showed musical potential at an early age. His grandmother taught him to play his first instrument, which was the piano. He grew up playing and singing in his church’s choir. His talent at that age was amazing, labelling him a child prodigy. Growing up, he listened to music from Michael Jackson, LL Cool J, Boyz II Men, and MC Hammer, very influential African American artists. They were able to change the way people viewed African Americans with their music, and make the world a more accepting place. John knew that he wanted to become a vocalist, and was determined to make his dream

She is fairly recognized for singing her share of controversial lyrics that described the trials of the black community, e.g. her single “Mississippi Goddam” (Pruter 27 and Scaruffi). Aretha Franklin, also known as “the Queen of Soul”, was a “gospel singer from Detroit who converted into a soul music singer when she began to utilize her former gospel training with aggressive vocals and romanticized lyrics (Bielawski 25). These singers, as well as other singers like the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield, Sam Cooke, and the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, created a genre through the 1960s and 1970s that influenced musical generations to come (Handyside 13 and Scaruffi).

This song written and originally released artist Otis Redding in 1965. It wasn’t until 1967 that this song became a hit when R&B Aretha Franklin sang it. The song itself has the perfect features of a pop song and more importantly is was a song that was perfect for a political movement theme. One of the most important messages that is being delivered is that a black and strong woman was seeking respect: “All I'm askin' Is for a little respect when you get home (just a little bit)”. Additionally, Aretha Franklin was showing her power towards men: “What you want, Baby, I got it”.