tight person of the day: carolyn franklin

Kittens, I have been wanting to do this post for a while now. You see, I have been wanting this album for so long. I tried Waterloo Records because I really like to buy things with my hands. However, they did not have it. Or any Carolyn Franklin music for that matter. I tried a few other places and finally tried Amazon, which is the greatest invention ever. You can get a Cuisinart and some pearl thongs and some Bobby Brown all in the same place! Total genius.

Anyway, Carolyn Franklin is a soul sister that makes me want to cry my eyes out immediately. She is the baby sister of a lesser known joke of a singer named Aretha Franklin. KIDDING x 1000000000000. Everything about Carolyn is so beautiful and pure. Maybe it's because I love Aretha so much that I just automatically love Carolyn. It's like how much I love Cheez-its therefore I immediately love Hill Country Fare Cheese Bites. Same?

Carolyn (right) and Aretha kissing their daddy, Reverend CL Franklin.

Carolyn is the youngest of the three Franklin sisters. Erma is the other sistah. Carolyn grew up taking piano lessons which led to her amazing songwriting abilities. She wrote "Angel" for Aretha. When Aretha was signed to Columbia, Carolyn began singing back-up for her. However, she eventually was signed herself to the Double L Label out of NYC. Soon, she switched to RCA and she started recording soul singles in the late sixties as a solo artist. That's her debut album from 1969, Baby Dynamite, pictured at the top of the post. What a tight album title! During her recording career, she wrote many of her own songs.

Here's where it gets tragic. Get tissues ready. As Oprah would say, you might "cry your eyelashes off." Carolyn and Aretha got into somewhat of a tiff over recording the soundtrack for Curtis Mayfield's movie Sparkle. Aretha got the gig, and Carolyn made her last album instead. I should mention that she continued to record background vocals for Aretha, so I'm assuming they were fine during this period. In 1979, she moved to Detroit to care for her father, who was in a coma from a burglary! Damn. In 1987, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She worked for a BA in music from Marygrove College until she died. She was too sick to walk for her degree. She passed on in 1988. The end of her life was surely bananas!

Carolyn is another artist who could've continued to produce amazing music. She could be singing with Aretha and her magical bow hat today! But at least we have some superb soul recordings to remember her by. And at least we all know she's singing happily in the sky. Here's a vid of her song "I'd Rather Be Lonely" so you can get the tears going and get a drink out. It's 5 o'clock somewhere, my babies! Also, check the bass in the download!!

I hope Carolyn uplifts your day, even if it's just a little bit.

Carolyn Franklin - If You Want Me