CL Franklin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (born January 22, 1915 in Sunflower County , Mississippi , † July 27, 1984 in Detroit , Michigan ) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist . He was the father of the "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin .

Life

Franklin was born Clarence LaVaughn Walker in Sunflower County, Mississippi to a tenant couple and grew up in Cleveland . His father left the family when Clarence was four years old. After his mother's second husband, he changed his last name to Franklin. At the age of 16 he became a preacher without a school leaving certificate, initially at the New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis , Tennessee . His sermons, which included both spiritual and political topics, were broadcast on the radio. In 1944 he moved to the Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo , New York . There his radio show became the first “black” radio program in the area. He then founded the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, and became its pastor.

He preached across the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s without leaving his Detroit post. He was also successful as a preacher because he had a good singing voice, which is important in the Baptist churches, in which the sermon turns into chanting and then singing during the service. Franklin was one of the first preachers to release his sermons on records (with Checker, a sub-label of Chess Records ). His sermons were half spoken, half sung and sold in the millions, especially his most famous sermon, The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest . The recordings are still in use today. This brought Franklin the nickname " The Million Dollar Voice " (Eng. "The Million Dollar Voice"). He also encouraged his daughter Aretha Franklin in her musical endeavors. Aretha Franklin herself described her father as the "greatest influence" on her voice.

Franklin also took part in the civil rights movement , for example campaigning against discrimination against black members of the United Auto Workers union . He was a close friend of Martin Luther King , of Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward . Clara Ward often toured with Reverend Franklin. The two musicians also encouraged Franklin's daughter Aretha in her musical career. In June 1963 he led a major peace march in Detroit.

Shortly after midnight on June 10, 1979, Reverend Franklin was shot twice while attempting to break into his Detroit apartment and spent the next five years in a coma. He died on July 27, 1984. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.

Discography

Albums

  • 1961: Two Fishes & Five Loaves of Bread (AIR Gospel)
  • 1964: The Prodigal Son ( Chess Records )
  • 1976: 23rd Psalm (Chess Records)
  • 1976: And He Went a Little Farther (Chess Records)
  • 1980: Pressing On (Atlanta International)
  • 1984: Hannah the Ideal Mother (Atlanta International)
  • 1986: Nothing Shall Separate Me from the Love of God (Atlanta International / AIR Gospel)
  • 1990: How Long Halt Between Two Opinions (Chess Records)
  • 1994: A Bigot Meets Jesus (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: Let Your Hair Down (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: The Greatest Love Story (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: The Lord's Prayer (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: Going Thru the Roof (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: Satan Goes to Prayer Meeting (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: You Can't Wash the Blood off Your Hands (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: The Devil Tempted Jesus (Paula Records)
  • 1994: The Suffering Servant - Messiah (Paula Records)
  • 1996: Only a Look (Jewel Records)
  • 1996: The Eagle Stirreth in Her Nest ( MCA Records )
  • 1997: Book of Ezekiel (Jewel Records)

Compilations

  • 1984: Never Grow Old (with Aretha Franklin , Creative Sounds)
  • 1994: The Golden Calf (Jewel Records)
  • 1994: I Saw a New Heaven and a New Earth (Jewel Records)
  • 1999: Legendary Sermons (Universal Special Products)
  • 1999: My Favorite Sermons (Universal Special Products / MCA Special Products)
  • 1999: Sermons and Hymns (Universal Distribution)

literature

  • CL Franklin and Jeff Todd Titon: Give Me This Mountain: Life History and Selected Sermons . University of Illinois Press 1989. ISBN 978-0-252-06087-8
  • Nick Salvatore: Singing in a Strange Land: CL Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America , Little Brown, 2005, hardcover ISBN 0-316-16037-7 .
  • Willa Ward-Royster: How I Got Over: Clara Ward and the World-Famous Ward Singers . Temple University Press 1997. Paperback ISBN 1-56639-490-2 .
  • Aretha Franklin and David Ritz: Aretha: From These Roots . Villard Books 1999, hardcover ISBN 0-375-50033-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Franklin, Clarence LaVaughn in the Encyclopedia of Detroit. Detroit Historical Society, accessed September 10, 2012 .
  2. ^ A b Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (1915-1984) . In: Richard Sisson and Andrew Robert Lee Cayton (Eds.): The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia . Indiana University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-253-34886-9 , pp. 777-778 .
  3. ↑ The Reverend Dr. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. MSU Museum: Lest We Forget: Legends of Detroit Gospel, accessed September 10, 2012 .
  4. ↑ a b Claus Lochbihler: RESPECT, soul diva Aretha Franklin! Die Welt , March 24, 2012, accessed September 10, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Franklin, CL
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Franklin, Clarence LaVaughn (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Baptist minister and civil rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Sunflower County , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1984
Place of death Detroit , Michigan