Las Vegans in music industry recall life of Aretha Franklin

In 1969, Aretha Franklin made her Las Vegas debut at the original Caesars Palace showroom, even though it wasn’t her preferred style of venue back then.

“During that time I was doing a lot of one-nighters and was not necessarily a showroom-type artist,” she told the Review-Journal in 2012. “My presentation was not geared to that.”

Nevertheless, Franklin would perform here numerous times over the ensuing decades and had a strong local following.

Here’s what a few Las Vegans in and around the music industry had to say about her passing Thursday:

■ Earl Turner, singer/songwriter/actor

“She was considered the Queen of Soul, but she was simply the Queen of Music. She was one of those voices we’ll never hear the likes of again. She was a regal presence in the entertainment industry — for America — not just R&B music or soul music. She epitomized America, through her music, through her voice, through her very presence. She was larger than her songs or her records. She was one of those people who’s just above and beyond it all. She was important. She is important.”

■ Sonny Charles, singer/frontman for The Checkmates

“I knew her when she was about 21. She was still doing gospel stuff in Detroit. We were fresh out of the service, The Checkmates, and we got a job at a club called the Gay Haven in Detroit. It was a two-week gig and we were there working, and all of a sudden this girl came in, Aretha Franklin. She came three nights in a row. Nice lady. I wish we’d hired her!

“She transcended gospel to secular music, and she did it so well, while at the same time keeping in touch with her gospel roots. Her voice was so powerful, the way that she phrased stuff. A tremendous artist. A once-in-a-lifetime artist. She was that special.”

David Tatlock, lead singer of The Soul Juice Band

“Many people don’t realize Aretha wasn’t just an amazing and iconic singer, but she also was a great piano player and songwriter. Her roots were planted firmly in gospel as she traveled with her father as a singer/musician and learned most of her early piano work from James Cleveland, the great gospel icon. I started in gospel and have always loved her gospel albums. Her unique vocal expressiveness made any song worth listening to. She helped create a great American soundtrack to our lives and will be sorely missed in the music world. She had the amazing soulfulness that is only found once in a lifetime.”

■ Bubba Knight, singer/songwriter in Gladys Knight & the Pips

“She had a level of achievement in the entertainment business that we all aspired to because her records and her songs would reach such heights and reach so many people. That was one of the things that we wanted to achieve as Gladys Knight & the Pips as well. We wanted our music to reach people like Aretha’s and have somewhat of an impact on them where we would have longevity like she did. She was like a mark for us to reach for.

“We did work on a lot of a festivals and things like that together so I would have a chance to pop by her dressing room, give her a hug and say hello. I enjoyed being in Aretha’s presence. She will always be the ‘Queen of Soul,’ forever, because of the mark she left. You could feel Aretha when she sang. You could feel her, feel her spirit.”

■ Shanda Cisneros, singer for Shanda & The Howlers

“She was an amazing woman. Strong and powerful, like her voice. And what a voice! That voice will never be replicated. She was an inspiration to me. It almost seems fitting that she passed on the anniversary of Elvis passing: The Queen and the King.”

■ Rich Rosen, owner of Wax Trax Records

“Wax Trax remembers Aretha Franklin all the way back from when she was on the Chess label, back when her father was a minister and also sang. I’ve been selling her records since the start of her career — and my career — on 45s and LPs. She was a legend since the beginning.”