Aretha Franklin edging into semi-retirement
Gail Mitchell

LOS ANGELES—Aretha Franklin’s storied career is the focus of two new retrospectives, “Rare & Unreleased Recordings From the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul” and “Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Franklin Live in Philly, 1972.”
Partnered with young gun Fantasia, Franklin is also back on the R&B charts with “Put You Up On Game,” one of 16 tracks featured on the compilation “Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen,” due in stores November 13. The J Records release includes guest turns by Annie Lennox, George Michael, Mary J. Blige and John Legend. Billboard recently caught up Franklin before a charity concert in New York.
1. WHAT ONE SPECIAL MEMORY SURFACED AFTER REVISITING THE “JEWELS” DUETS? The duet with Frank Sinatra, “What Now My Love,” is one of my favorites. It was 1969 and I went to Los Angeles to perform “Funny Girl” on the Academy Awards. Frank introduced me that night; to be introduced by the chairman of the board was a big moment for me. I had always wanted to duet with him. Frank always had the best arrangers, and his song selection and phrasing were impeccable. 2. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE ON YOUR DUET WISH LIST?
Absolutely. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan. And you never know, Natalie Cole and I may do something. We’ve touched on that.
3. IS A NEW STUDIO ALBUM ON THE WAY?
It’s called “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love” on Aretha’s Records. I think we’re going to go to the Internet with that album, probably in the spring. Two fine young writer/producers, Troy Taylor and Gordon Chambers, worked on the album, which is mostly R&B with some pop. I also did some of the writing and production chores with Mike Powell and my son Kecalf.
4. WHERE DO THINGS STAND WITH YOUR STAGE PLAY, “ARETHA: FROM THESE ROOTS?”
That’s coming along very well. Now we’re talking about it as a follow-up to a telefilm that I’m negotiating with one of the networks. I’m very disappointed, though, that I haven’t received the film proposals I would have loved to see from Hollywood. I did get a couple but they were very poor offers. They don’t seem to respond to female celebrities in some ways as they do in others. So negotiations for a film broke off.