I have a confession to make. For a good part of the Sixties, I was in love with Aretha Franklin. Now, I knew it was not to be. After all, I was this pasty white boy who had problems even getting a date, let alone a steady girl. And Aretha was this fantastic singer who sounded to me like the angels of heaven were singing every time I heard her. She lived in Michigan and I lived in Michigan, so I thought there just might be a chance.

Alas, it never happened. Actually, I’ve never even met Aretha Franklin, let alone dated her, but I have listened to her sing and have dreamed about what might have been if she had known I was even alive.

This is the first of a new series of tributes to the world of Soul Music. You might have come across my books called “Legends of Rock & Roll”. There are several about the greats of rock and roll. And there will be more. As long as Amazon lets me publish these little books, I will continue to do so.

Aretha could easily be put into the category of rock and roll. In fact, she has done it all. She sings rock, soul, R&B, gospel, jazz and blues and we’ll talk a little about these as we review her life. But, I really wanted to put her in a special category. I know there are others who sang soul music, and hopefully we will get to them but Aretha is truly “The Queen of Soul”.

Here’s a link to my latest Kindle book which outlines the life and music of Aretha Franklin.

Here is a video of Aretha singing her most famous song: