We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.
Aretha FranklinRead
As a very small girl, I listened to Charlie Parker and loved him and Max Roach and people like that.
Interpretation
The speaker reminisces about her early love for influential musicians.
In this quote, Aretha Franklin reflects on her childhood experiences with music, specifically her admiration for jazz legends Charlie Parker and Max Roach. This highlights the formative influence of music on her life and career, showcasing how early inspirations can shape one's artistic journey.
In practice
During a music appreciation class, to emphasize the lasting impact of early musical influences.
We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.
Trying to grow up is hurting. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don't, it hurts even more.
My mentor was Clara Ward of the famous Ward gospel singers of Philadelphia. And my dad was my coach. He coached me. And just my natural love for music is what drove me.
It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I've done my job.
In terms of helping people understand and know each other a little better, music is universal - universal and transporting.
Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms.
Theres no way in the world I can feel the same blues the way I used to. When I play in Chicago, Im playing up-to-date, not the blues I was born with. People should hear the pure blues - the blues we used to have when we had no money.
I think that American music, for me, it's a synthesis of a lot of different things. But for me growing up in North Carolina, the stuff that I was listening to, the things that I was hearing, it was all about Black music, about soul music.
The Maestro says it's Mozart but it sounds like bubble gum when you're waiting for the miracle to come.
God gives us the ability, but rock 'n' roll was created by men.
It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.
If you've got a problem, take it out on a drum.
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