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Jump To It: DJs Pay Tribute to Aretha Franklin
With a career that spans more than 50 years and a catalog of music that embraces gospel, rock, jazz, blues, funk, pop standards and more, Aretha Franklin earned the royal sobriquet the Queen of Soul with her passionate, expressive musicianship. Franklin's influence is expansive, her music resonating with generations, breaking down style barriers and fostering an eclectic appreciation of sonic possibilities. In celebration of Franklin's lasting impact, on Friday, November 4 at 8:30 pm, the House of Blues Cleveland will transform into a hotbed of soul, R&B and dance, as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum presents Jump To It, welcoming internationally recognized DJs MC Lyte, Mick Boogie and O-Dub to spin a lively mix of classic Aretha Franklin tracks and cuts by the soul and R&B purveyors who followed her lead.
"I can remember the first time I saw Aretha Franklin perform 'Respect' in the Blues Brothers film," says MC Lyte. "It was my favorite scene in the movie! She commanded attention with a no-nonsense attitude. I loved it!" For more than 20 years, the multi-talented MC Lyte has been a creative force in the world of hip-hop and beyond. Her ...
Today in Rock: Wanda Jackson is Born
The rockabilly field of the 1950s wasn’t exactly crowded with female performers, but Wanda Jackson didn’t let that stop her from making her mark. Born on October 20, 1937, she emerged from a small town in Oklahoma to become the first Queen of Rockabilly. With encouragement from Elvis Presley, whom she met while on a package tour in 1955, Jackson moved from country music to rock and roll. "I was just doing straight country, and that's all I had ever planned on doing. [Elvis] started talking to me about his kind of music – we didn't really have a name for it at that point," said Jackson during a 2009 Hall of Fame series interview with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Vice President of Education and Public Programs Lauren Onkey. "I said look, I love it of course, but you're a guy, you can sing it, and I just don't think I can do it. He just kept insisting that I could do it – he said, 'you got the voice.' He took me out to his home in Memphis, and we played records that afternoon.
"He made me promise that somewhere along ...
