This is beautiful. Rev. C. L. Franklin is the father of Aretha. His spoken word recordings of sermons were first released to great acclaim in the 1950s by famed Chicago blues recording company, Chess Records. In this clip the Reverend is singing, and quite well, thank you.
Of the galaxy of stars at Chess Records, the grandmaster of them all was Rev. C.L. Franklin, pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (1915-84) was one of the greatest black ministers of the post-war era, a civil rights activist, and a friend of Martin Luther King. Many consider …