In recent days, WRCB-TV 3 and perhaps other media have been pointing out that noted singer Aretha Franklin, who died on Aug. 16, had come to Chattanooga at least once – in 1960.
The basis of that is an old promotional poster pointing out that Ms. Franklin performed at “Howard Hi” – short for the currently named Howard School of Academics in Technology -- in Chattanooga on Monday, April 4.
It does not say which year, but perhaps someone has assumed that must be about the time period she would have been touring with her father, the noted pastor C.L.
Franklin of Detroit, and with the Staple Singers and Sammie Bryant.
Other years during that general time period when April 4 also fell on Monday were 1949, 1955 and 1966.
April 4, of course, was also the day of the year when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. (And Ms. Franklin died on the same day of the year as Elvis Presley).
In April 1960, Ms. Franklin – the queen of soul – was 18, about the same age as the Howard seniors.
As it turns out, that small promotional poster is also on display at none other than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. A segment on Ms. Franklin on NBC’s Sunday “Today” show featuring Willie Geist showed the poster on display in the background at the Hall of Fame.
If it was 1960 when she came, a check of the Chattanooga Times, Chattanooga News-Free Press and the Chattanooga Observer – the paper designed for black readers – showed no reference to it, unless it was buried inconspicuously.
The Chattanooga Times and News-Free Press would probably not have highlighted the mostly black-oriented event that greatly at that time, unless it was at somewhere like Memorial Auditorium or featured someone then really famous.
And the Chattanooga Observer at that time only appeared to publish a paper about every few weeks, and most of the copy focused on church activities or wire news related to the black struggle at the time, which included the sit-in movement.
Mentioned in the two major Chattanooga newspapers, though, were the opening of Holiday Bowl on Brainerd Road and that British-born journalist and broadcaster Alistair Cooke was to speak at an Arts and Education Council event here.
Just six weeks before Ms. Franklin’s apparent appearance, the Howard students had taken part in the nationally inspired sit-ins at the local dime stores to encourage integration of such facilities.
Howard High in 1954 moved to its current location on South Market Street, so the Franklin event would have been held there.
Among those also listed as appearing, Mr. Franklin was a very prominent minister and civil rights advocate whose connections no doubt opened doors for Aretha, although her talent obviously did as well. Described as the man with the million-dollar voice, he first served at New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis in the 1940s, where Aretha was born in 1942.
Like Ms. Franklin, the Staple Singers, which were initially more of a gospel-singing group, also were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the 1970s, they had such rhythm and blues-style hits as “Respect Yourself,” I’ll Take You There,” “If You’re Ready” and “Let’s Do It Again.”
They were from Chicago, but like Rev. Franklin, patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples was originally from Mississippi.
Ms. Bryant, who was said to be only three feet tall but had a powerful voice, was from Detroit. She evidently produced a 1966 album of earlier recordings titled “Rev. C.L. Franklin Presents Sammie Bryant.”
The Chattanooga event that the poster promoted started at 8 p.m., and tickets at the door were $1.25.
If Ms. Franklin came and performed in Chattanooga at any other times, no information on it could be found in the local history and genealogy section of the downtown Chattanooga Public Library.
Although the library in recent decades has tried to document when articles were written on noted musical acts performing here, she could have come at another time, such as the late 1960s, when perhaps only a Memorial Auditorium ad ran.
She came to nearby Nashville several times since 2010, and also performed in Memphis in recent years.
But her soulful sound has appeared here for decades over the radio and television through such hits as “Respect,” “A Natural Woman,” “Freeway of Love,” “Chain of Fools,” and my personal favorite, “I Say a Little Prayer.”
Jcshearer2@comcast.net