Monday, September 20, 2021

Is R-E-S-P-E-C-T the Antidote to CRT? TuneSmith Series Z - The Doctor of Digital™ GMick Smith, PhD

In the new MGM feature film Respect, Aretha Franklin (portrayed by Jennifer Hudson) and her backup singers produce yet another soul hit with musicians and producers at FAME Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Photo: Quantrell D. Colbert

Respect detonates three core tenets of Critical Race Theory:

a) Whites are racist oppressors.

b) African-Americans are downtrodden victims of white bigotry.

c) Cultural appropriation is evil. Each race should horde its aesthetic and stylistic offerings among its own people. Whites, especially, must keep their greedy hands away from anything aesthetic that lacks European roots.

At some level, all culture involves appropriation.

The magic that Tuscan and Milanese chefs craft with pasta would not exist had Marco Polo not brought noodles from China to Italy in the late 13th Century.

John Coltrane, Maceo Parker, and Clarence Clemons are just a few of the black men who would have blown hard into their empty hands, had the saxophone not been invented in Belgium in 1846.

And black authors from the Harlem Renaissance’s Langston Hughes to Nobel laureate Toni Morrison would have attracted far fewer readers had they written in Yoruba rather than English — a language rooted in overwhelmingly white Great Britain.

Likewise, many of Respect’s musical numbers show blacks and whites using instruments, rhythms, and songs borrowed from each other’s backgrounds and then polished even further.

The gospel-music-tradition from which Aretha emerged had a major influence on rock music since its inception and on specific acts who dipped their buckets into that deep well.

The Doobie Brothers’ hit song “Jesus Is Just Alright” began as a 1966 gospel tune by Arthur Reid Reynolds of the Art Reynolds Singers.

The Byrds gave the tune a test flight in 1969. The Doobies’ 1972 cover added electric guitars and a Hammond B-3 to these two, lighter arrangements.

The result? A chart climber, an enduring classic-rock staple, and the source of lush royalty checks to “A. Reynolds,” whom the Doobie Brothers credited on the song’s label.

Similarly, Paul Simon himself wrote “Loves Me Like a Rock.” This 1973 song’s unmistakable gospel flavor sprang from the breathtaking, Sunday-choir vocals of the Dixie Hummingbirds, a black spiritual quartet launched in Greensville, South Carolina.

This song hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a certified gold record — great news for Rhymin’ Simon and the Hummingbirds, both recognized on the old 45 RPM single.

What CRT proponents condemn as “cultural appropriation” is what normal humans praise as inspiration. And these are just two among millions of artworks in which black culture weaves into white culture, white culture blends into black culture, and beauty happens.

Aretha Franklin earned four platinum records, 14 gold records, and scored 20 No. 1 R&B singles among the 75 million units she sold. She won 18 Grammy Awards and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1994, Aretha became the youngest person selected for the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2005, G.W. Bush bestowed upon Franklin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.


Aretha Franklin - Respect [1967] (Aretha's Original Version)

https://youtu.be/6FOUqQt3Kg0

Aretha Franklin - Respect Song written by Otis Redding Album: I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You [1967] _________________________ RESPECT (oo) What you want (oo) Baby, I got (oo) What you need (oo) Do you know I got it? (oo) All I'm askin' (oo) Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit) Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit) mister (just a little bit) I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone Ain't gonna do you wrong (oo) 'cause I don't wanna (oo) All I'm askin' (oo) Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit) Baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit) Yeah (just a little bit) I'm about to give you all of my money And all I'm askin' in return, honey Is to give me my propers When you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a) Yeah baby (just a, just a, just a, just a) When you get home (just a little bit) Yeah (just a little bit) ------ instrumental break ------ Ooo, your kisses (oo) Sweeter than honey (oo) And guess what? (oo) So is my money (oo) All I want you to do (oo) for me Is give it to me when you get home (re, re, re ,re) Yeah baby (re, re, re ,re) Whip it to me (respect, just a little bit) When you get home, now (just a little bit) R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me R-E-S-P-E-C-T Take care, TCB Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me) A little respect (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me) Whoa, babe (just a little bit) A little respect (just a little bit) I get tired (just a little bit) Keep on tryin' (just a little bit) You're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit) And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit) (re, re, re, re) 'spect When you come home (re, re, re ,re) Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit) And find out I'm gone (just a little bit) I got to have (just a little bit) A little respect (just a little bit)