Thursday, May 10, 1968, Gatwick Airport, Sussex
The day has arrived. My sister Sylvia and I are headed towards Gatwick Airport, much smaller than London’s main Heathrow Airport. I’ve been given information about the flight arrival time for Aretha Franklin on her first ever visit to Britain by Janet Martin, who runs the official fan club for Atlantic & Stax known as ‘Uptight an’Outasight’ (for which I have written an appreciation piece on Aretha Franklin in 1967 which earns me a letter of thanks from Jerry Wexler in the summer of that year). I am surprised that Aretha is arriving at Gatwick until Janet explains that Atlantic’s best-selling artist of the day is flying in from Stockholm, Sweden, her European tour having begun at the end of April On May 7th, the day before her show in Sweden, Aretha was wowing Parisian audiences at the famed Olympia Theatre for what would be her first live recording, “Aretha In Paris” so it’s been a non-stop round of shows, airports and hotels since she left Detroit just a week or so earlier…
Finally, I am going to be meeting Aretha, whose music has been a part of my life for just over two years when Nina Simone, for whom I’ve started a UK appreciation society mentions her name at another airport meeting, June 1965, when she asks me if I’ve heard of Aretha, noting her own irritation that one of our British singers (a certain Dusty Springfield!) has ‘copied’ Aretha on one of her early recordings, “Won’t Be Long.” I first hear Aretha myself at a beach party in Littlehampton hosted by the Dionne Warwick & The Shirelles’ fan club in the autumn of 1965 when someone plays her emotive version of “Walk On By” from Aretha’s 6th Columbia album, “Runnin’ Out Of Fools.” Although I don’t know it then, it’s a life-changing moment….
In between that time and this very special day in May 1968, I have written to Aretha in 1966 c/o her father’s church and her husband/manager Ted and received a reply! My first article on Aretha is published in September 1966 in ‘Rhythm & Soul USA,’ the magazine started by my then-future Soul City Records’ partner, Dave Godin for the ‘Friends Of Rhythm & Blues Society’ – even though we’ve mistakenly used a pic of her older sister Erma for the feature! In December 1966, I’ve called on the phone (through the international operator) to wish her a Merry Christmas, earning myself the distinction of being the first person in Britain she’s ever spoken with! As 1967 rolls around, Aretha’s music provides me with comfort and solace, the musical tapestry for my first adult relationships as her debut Atlantic LP, “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” and “Aretha Arrives” establish her as an international ‘overnight-but-it-took-seven-years’ sensation…
My sister Sylvia is working with me at Soul City Records in Monmouth Street and Dave Godin and third partner in Soul City, Robert Blackmore, know we are taking the day off to go to Gatwick to meet Aretha. Sylvia has flowers in hand and I’m nervous standing in the arrivals area, awaiting the flight from Stockholm. With us is Frank Fenter, the South African-born head of the Atlantic Records’ UK operations, based in London….
Much smaller in stature than I imagined, Aretha arrives. Accompanying her are Ted White, her six-foot-tall husband/manager, Aretha’s younger sister Carolyn, who is there along with Wyline Ivey and Charnessa Jones, the trio of Aretha’s background singers for the tour. Frank Fenter walks up to the entourage and Sylvia and I follow suit. I’m blushing and gushing! “Welcome to Britain, Miss Franklin,” I stutter, as Frank introduces me and Sylvia gives her flowers. I shake Ted White’s hand and say hello to Carolyn, Wyline and Charnessa and with a whole schedule of rehearsals and soundchecks to prepare for ahead of her first shows in London on May 10 & 11, there is little time for ‘chit-chat’ even if there are lots of smiles… I do let Aretha know that I am looking forward to seeing her onstage and in an instant, the entourage has headed to the limousines whisking them into one of London’s five-star hotels… I bathe in the glow of being the first British fan to meet ‘Lady Soul’ in person as Sylvia and I head back home to tell our mother Frances that we’ve met Aretha…and that I’ve tickets for us to go see her a few days later…
