Aretha Franklin Lady Soul
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I recently saw this book categorised as "Young Adult" on an Internet site, which, in the absence of anything better, is probably the closest classification it can get. In order to woo his young audience the author offers them a diet of difficult concepts supported by simplistic explanations but far too often misjudges their sophistication. Take for example the sentence, "Her songs that ranked in both the Pop and R&B charts were known as crossover hits." (P66). Surely most 'young adults' understand what is meant by a 'crossover hit' and therefore the term needs no further definition. Although I'm sure it is unintentional such phrases come across as patronising and leave the reader feeling like they're being treated like idiots. Leslie Gorse compounds the problem by quoting some quite sophisticated passages from other books and magazines. It is a strategy akin to teaching GCSE mathematics with a diet of 'A' level texts and children's numeracy books. Gorse might hope that the concepts will average out, but common sense tells us that they won't. In order to fully appreciate the style adopted by Gorse we need to consider a more extended passage. The following is typical of the book, "Normally life went smoothly there. However, one day, Wilson Picket and Percy Sledge, Atlantic recording stars, got into a fight in the studio. When Wexler tried to break it up, Picket threw him against a wall. At that moment the phone rang. A woman named Louise Bishop, a disc jockey specialising in Gospel Music, was calling Wexler from Philadelphia. Louise was a friend of Aretha Franklin. Despite the variety of music Aretha had been singing, Jerry still thought of her as someone who "ran with the gospel crowd". Her father remained a bulwark of support for her. (He told her she would sing for "Kings and Queens" one day, she would confide in an audience much later.) Wexler knew her contract with Columbia had ended. He wanted to sign Aretha to Atlantic. He had already signed such stars as Wilson Picket and a soul group called Sam and Dave. Ray Charles and Ruth Brown had recorded on Atlantic too. Louise Bishop told Jerry that Aretha wanted to talk to him. He called her right away, and they set a meeting date. Her husband would come with her to Jerry's office in New York" (P.57) Not only does this passage give us another example of redundant explanations, ie that Picket and Sledge were recording stars, but it also contains about half a dozen deviations. The most ludicrous is the one that Picket and Sledge were having a fight which they presumably stopped to let Wexler answer the phone then re-commenced once his conversation had ended. I also fail to see what relevance Aretha's father thinking she would sing for Kings and Queens has in the context of this passage. What is the point of listing all the other acts who had sung with Atlantic? It is as though the Author wanted to include these titbits of information, but not being sure how to do so just slung them together into a meaningless mush. Although this book is informative it is badly put together and reminded me of the crib notes I used to buy at WH Smiths to help me understand Shakespeare. These publications might have helped me to grasp the basic plot, but did nothing to enhance my appreciation of a genius. I can now truly say that I have grasped the bare bones of Aretha's life, but the book has done nothing to help me comprehend what she was like as a person or how she felt about the events which affected her. I still want to know who won the fight between Wilson Picket and Percy Sledge. |
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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