http://www.youtube.com/wa...j2qeO6oWH0

Thats from the shelved gospel movie she did in the early 70's

This may sound crazy, but i really don`t enjoy Aretha Franklin`s version (from the "amazing grace" album)
I love the album, but not her rendition of Amazing grace....

I think Diana Ross did a much better job. Now that`s just MY opinion....

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Lh7gCgf2-E


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[Edited 12/1/06 8:51am]

Icicle said:

Diana Ross never should have attempted this song.

Icicle said:

I love you Icicle Thats as FAR as I'm gonna say and will stop @ that

Harlepolis said:

Harlepolis said:

I didn`t know there was a movie...

I remember seeing her in "The blues brothers" when i was a kid

Harlepolis said:

Ditto

I didn`t think anyone else would agree with me on this one....

Icicle said:

Oh no no no no, mm mm I am not agreeing with you here just stressing the fact that I love ya, but thats about it

Icicle said:

Now imagine Di doing this in the early 70's


Almost like a female version of Marvin Gaye's "Wholy Holy"

Harlepolis said:

So that means i`m the only one who prefers Diana Ross` gospel renditions over Aretha`s?

WELL!!!

Icicle said:

You love Miss Ross (or that's Miss-Ross-To-You, as her assistants called her) so much

I love reading about her. She was a monster bitch, that's for sure. When Gordy sent his first wife Raynmona to coordinate her shows, "Miss Ross" said some hilarious things!

funkpill said:

Ross has proven that she`s very versatile, so i think she could have done very good

Of course, her vocals aren`t as strong as Aretha Franklin`s, but she`s not a soulsinger...

VoicesCarry said:

Get into it, why don'tcha and in details, my dear.

Harlepolis said:

Ray's first show with Ross was at Coconut Grove. After the performance, Ray went to the dressing room to congratulate Ross. Before she got a word out, Ross spoke.
"Look," she said softly as she lifted her eyes off her own reflection in the mirror. "I know that tonight was your first. But I do expect that from here on in you will perform to the best of your ability. Also, from now on, I would prefer that you refer to me as 'Miss Ross.' I know that you have known me for some time, but in my position I need to be treated with more respect."
"My reaction was a strong mixture of nausea and pity for her," Ray recalled. "In molding Diana into a superstar, Berry was shaping a Monster."

VoicesCarry said:

I just finished "Call her miss Ross"... Not the nicest woman, i`ll say....

There were some great stories in there, i can just imagine her trying to hit the papparazzi`s head with her stilleto heel.

And when she`s fired a chef for eating leftovers...
She hired a chef to bake for her and her daughters every morning, serve them, and then throw away what was left. One morning she walked in and found the chef eating the leftovers. The woman was fired....

Icicle said:

Eh, she was a bitch to Flo and Mary and I'll NEVER forgive her for that.

Thing people forget about Diana is, no one gave a shit when she first came out solo. Her first show in Vegas they sold about 30 of 600 (!) tickets, so Berry Gordy went up and down the Strip handing out torn twenty dollar bills and promising people that if they showed up at the venue and listened to Diana sing they'd get the other half of the bill. However when everyone showed up, Berry realized he couldn't match up 600 serial numbers so he went out and withdrew the money and handed out fresh bills. Later he had the motown A&R dept. spend a week matching the serial numbers on the torn bills and taping them together

I loved how everyone bood the bitch at Flo's funeral
[Edited 12/1/06 9:25am]

anon said:

Tight!

VoicesCarry said:

She was very mean too the other girls, but i think she was just too determined, egoistical, too caught up in herself to think about them.

I think in a way she felt, and still feel a little guilty about Florence Ballard.
I read that she was leaving a restaurant or something with her husband Arne Naess in the late 80s, when someone outside yelled after her, "You`re responsible for Florence Ballard`s death". Appearently she looked like someone just had died, she just froze...

VoicesCarry said:

Wait, she showed up in Flo's funeral? The nerve

She would've done the Dominique role from Dynasty justice,,,even though Diahann Carroll sunk her teeth into the role. I think those writers @ Dynasty wrote the role with Diane in mind.

As for Berry, he really turned Motown around for the sake of Diane, even when he moved the label to LA in the early 70's, it was ALL becoz of her. He wanted to focus on her music thing with Hollywood being in the near block.

But to give her the credit, she has a class of her own when it comes to black showwomanship. As much of hard work Berry invested in Diane, it wouldn't have ment shit if it wasn't for Diane's hard work, the bitch ((literally)) scartched and fussed her ass ALL up to the top.

You guys need give me some book recommendation,,,something juicy ya'll

Harlepolis said:

Berry Gordy has been quoted as saying that she`s a product. In a way, i think that`s true, BUT like you say, she`s worked hard all of her life,
and if she didn`t have the talent or the drive, it wouldn`t have mattered how much time of money Gordy spent on her.

My sister got her name courtesy of this album. Mhmm her name is Aretha Nicole. My mother was just so in love with this allbum when she was pregnant.

Aretha! Aretha! Aretha! Aretha!
I love this performance. I remeber reading that she was very about going back to gospel and especially performing in churches. Some church folks didn't particularly like the fact that she went into secular music.


Right now I'm listening to Sprit in the Dark - a great song and a superb album. Mhh Mhh

Oh and by the way - Diana Ross my asss!

you know Oprah asked Aretha to sing this a couple years ago, and even though Aretha's voice isn't what it used to be (to my ears) she really worked this song. Oprah was crying at the end...it was pretty moving.

cheyenne said:

I remember that, it was in 2003(I think).

That was after Aretha showed up to promote her gossipy-oriented book "Aretha From These Roots".

Oprah was asking Aunt ReRe aaaaall kinds of touchy-touchy ?uestion and being the sensitive person she is(Ree), as the segment ended, Oprah approached Aretha to hug her just to get snubbed by the queen.

Aretha was like "don't touch me, don't touch me".

Harlepolis said:

I guess that wasn`t included on the 20th anniversary dvd...

btw, i recently heard a duet she did with Mary J. Blige, called "Never gonna break my faith"
Franklin actually sounded good....

http://www.youtube.com/wa...V5XPWdWvZo