Aretha: From These Roots

by Aretha Franklin, David Ritz, Ann Duquesnay (Narrator)

An inspiring, intimate, and exciting autobiography of the "Queen of Soul, " from her music-filled childhood in Detroit through her early days of struggle as a singer to her unprecedented breakthrough success.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir, History, Womens

Audio Cassette

Published September 28, 1999

About the author

People often refer to known American singer Aretha Franklin, who recorded gospel music, as the “queen of soul,” and her popular songs include “Respect” (1967), “Natural Woman” (1967), and “I Say a Little Prayer” (1968).

Aretha Louise Franklin, a pianist, wrote. The world knows her, and her fans affectionately call her "sister Ree," renowned and adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, and even opera. A massive and powerful vocal range aids her widely acclaimed passionate style.

After Alison Krauss, Franklin ranks as the second most honored female in history of Grammy.
She won the living legend and the lifetime achievement, and 18 other Grammy awards. Aretha won eight consecutive awards between 1968 and 1975; during this time, people nicknamed the category of best female rhythm and blues vocal performance as "the Aretha award."

No other female act surpassed a total of twenty number-one rhythm and blues of Franklin with 17 top-ten on the billboard hot 100. She scored well two number-one hits in the 1960s and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," her 1980s duet with George Michael.

From advanced pancreatic cancer, she passed away at her home in Detroit.

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This autobiography started out promising. I learned about Aretha’s early life, her father’s sermons, and the incredible musicianship that was a part of her daily life. She writes warmly of James Cleveland and the influence he had on her, not just teaching and inspiring her, but also encouraging her to find her own style on the piano. Aretha loves music and she loves food. She can write about seeing Dinah Washington (to whom she later cut a tribute album) at her family’s Detroit home, and then she will tell us about her great discovery of Russian Dressing. She will write about the honor of singing for Queen Elizabeth II, but imply that the real highlight of London was tea time, including “scones with the best Devonshire cream and strawberry jam.” I had heard that this book is not quite satisfactory because Aretha remains a very private person and shies away from discussing her personal life too deeply. This is somewhat true, although I was satisfied with what she decided to share. I had heard that she focuses on her music, but I feel that the liner notes of her CD reissues contain more info. In the middle of the book I felt like I was merely coasting along and no longer had any investment in the story. Then in the last fifth things turn ugly. Time to settle some old scores. She does this throughout the book with some journalist or a singer or somebody. But when she takes on her two sisters and a few lovers, I can’t see what kind of point she is trying to make. Aretha takes great umbrage at Erma’s comment that Aretha is introverted and comes most alive when singing. Aretha apparently thinks introversion is a huge insult, discusses the parties and dinners she has hosted and other accomplishments, and then brings up the fact that Erma gave up on her career and took a day job. Dang! She also goes after her cousin and deceased baby sis Carolyn for things they said (respectively) about pay or grieving for their father. It makes Aretha seem petty, narcissistic and hypersensitive. Throughout the book she pays herself high compliments and elides any chance for self-criticism. I kind of wish I hadn’t read this book because I lost a lot of the mystique and didn’t get enough insight in return.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start off with one thing. I absolutely love Aretha. This book on the other hand, I did not love. I will will even go as far as to admit that I didnt finish the book which is very rare for me. I made it halfway through when I finally gave in. The book is fairly short and reads as a 5th grade autobiography. I felt like it jumped around from one memory to another with no connecting parts. The writing itself was too simplistic. The book had no substance and that's saying a lot about a woman who had plenty of substance. Aretha, Queen of soul, you excelled beyond measurs with your music and your voice but writing a book was definitely not your forte which is ok. I will forever honor you with your music but not with this travesty of a book.

[Paul Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very much like Aretha herself in interviews. She's not gushing and spilling. She's careful, reserved, and deliberate. There are a lot of specifics and details, and not very much introspection and divulgence. I absolutely loved it. I cried many times. I am the biggest fan, and getting so many stories and details about her life was rewarding and immensely pleasurable. Yes, she is shady and petty with some of the girls. Oh well. Ignore the negative reviews. Let her speak for herself. Loved this so much.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg A Really Aweome Book. awesome awesome book I truly enjoyed reading the autobiography Aretha Franklin. a must-read for any of Her Fans. I learned alot more about this amazing singer. She endured alot of Heartache and loss but still came out on top. I Highly Reccomend this awesome book.💄

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am being generous giving 2 stars. It earns an extra star for increasing my knowledge of soul and gospel music, of which I knew little. On the whole, however, this traditional memoir is a train wreck. It didn't help that in his introduction her ghostwriter appeared to be terrified of Aretha. I can't imagine he asked her any hard pressing questions or even asked her to explain herself more clearly or in greater detail. He basically just transcribed her words.

And what words they are! Aretha is, to put it bluntly, full of herself. I wonder, can you be called conceited and egotistical if you actually have the deeds to back up your claims of greatness? For sure, Aretha is a wildly successful and talented singer. I'm not a huge fan of hers but do know her music. It's hard not to. I was listening to her greatest hits album in my car and even my kids recognized several songs without ever having consciously listened to her. Her body of work and her voice are impressive and I had to keep reminding myself of that fact as I read her puff piece, I mean memoir.

This is a classic "I did this and then I did that" memoir with very little introspection or thought included. As a reader, I always wonder about memoirs like this. Is the person just incredibly vapid and dull and actually does not have much of an inner life? (See Grace Coddington's memoir for a fine example of this) Or is the person just a very private person who feels uncomfortable sharing their inner thoughts? (see Kristen Hersh's memoir for an example of this style). I am leaning towards a combination of the two. At some points, mainly to do with her romantic life, Aretha does explicitly state she is not going to talk in detail about this man because what happened is private and between the two of them. Ok, that is well & good, but then why are you writing a memoir? It's pretty lame to hold back like that. No, readers don't need explicit details but if a person is writing the story of their life, then write the story of your life! Stop with the conscious self editing.

Not too much can be done to prevent the unconscious self editing. Aretha is not a very self aware person at all. AT ALL. She should really go into therapy. She explains her weight struggles as being a result of loving food. Uh, no. Just like a person isn't an alcoholic because they really love the taste of booze. You are self-medicating. What are you self-medicating? You are using food/drugs/gambling etc to fill what void in your psyche? She mentions without going into detail (of course) about her parents divorce when she was 6, her mother's death when she was 10, her father's many many many girlfriends who came & went creating instability in Aretha's childhood, her pregnancies at 14(!) and 16(!) by different guys who totally dumped her once she was pregnant....the list goes on & on. It seemed to me that Aretha's preoccupation with food was a way for her to comfort herself and to soothe herself since no one else was. At least, that is my armchair diagnosis.

The bulk of the memoir concerns Aretha's career more than her personal life. Sadly, she does a really poor job conveying what was going on when making her albums and touring. I found it telling that she mentioned falling asleep(!) during a business meeting with her record label. In a way, she was asleep throughout a lot of her career. Her discussions of events is more like reading an album's notes rather than a story about what was going on. Lots of listing of names of people who worked on the album. It was a bit mind numbing reading a long list of non-famous names without any information about them. Occasionally she would have a throwaway sentence or two about something interesting that happened while on tour or while recording an album but then does not flesh out the story. It was times like these that I wished her ghostwriter had had a stiffer spine and gotten Aretha to discuss the event more. Like the story of a potential gang rape by The Isley Brothers. WHAT. Seriously, it was like 2 sentences. Aretha & her sister, her back up singer, were recording an album in Manhattan early in her career and were invited to a party in New Jersey by The Isley Brothers. They arrive to an empty isolated house, just several men waiting, and realize THEY are meant to be the "party". The girls insist on being taken home. The men refuse. So Aretha and her sister walk several miles in the dark in order to find a cab to get home. The end. Ok....WHAT. Seriously, you could have written several pages about that incident. Or the story about Miles Davis manhandling her. Details, Aretha, details. Oh, or the story of her shopping in Cannes in the late 70's wearing only a string bikini and high heels while paparazzi followed her? That would have been a fun one to devote a few pages to.

The details the reader does get are totally pointless. Want to know what soap operas Aretha likes? Here they are! What about the food options at nearly every venue she ever performed at? Here they are! Details about Detroit neighbors in the 1940s & 1950's? Here they are! A page spent detailing her love of roller skating? It's all in this book. A nuanced discussion of her career, her professional relationships, her family relationship or her love life - not in this book.

I learned more from googling her name than I learnt from reading this memoir. (Fun fact - her dad impregnated a 12 year old while married to his first wife! Yeah, not in the book)

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

From These Roots was Somewhat Informational but mostly name dropping, family and friend mentions, and surface talking. I wanted to hear her life-touching moments. Instead, I heard backstage issues, a few bad choices, disappointing career points, a few historical references, but nothing of genuine substance—disappointed 7 hours of kitchen table talk.

Every place where this biography could have popped and drawn the reader in missed its mark. She skims over the death of Kennedy, King, Sam Cooke, and other notable people with little reference to how it touched her spirit. Even when her mother dies in the middle of her book, it was covered with little emotion. Areas where landmarks like her father's church were destroyed received little mention. It feels like I wasted 7 hours listening to a tabloid.

[Daryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I LOVE Aretha Franklin. When you think of soul music, if you don't think of her, you'd have to be crazy. I was hoping that this book would give us insight into a career that has spanned the last four decades but I was totally disappointed. The entire book is spotty at best. It is poorly written with too much hidden from the readers and has to be one of the worst autobiographies I've ever read. You would think a life as interesting as the "Queen of Soul" would be enough to fill two volumes but if this is it, I think we better stick to her singing. Forget this lemon, console yourself with one of her cds---you're guaranteed to like that!

[Troy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting, I guess, but not my favorite autobiography. I had purchased it at Goodwill, so it's not like I'm out much money. I probably wouldn't recommend it, though, as it is one of the least objective autobiographies I've ever read - a toss-up between this and John Fogerty's. If anyone said anything bad about her, she made a point to say why that person was so much worse at whatever that complaint was than she is. It came off pretty whiny and petty about some less-than-important issues.

All that said, I still think she is a fine singer and musician. Listen to her music; don't read this book.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love Aretha Franklin so this autobiography I've re-read after her death has made me appreciate her even more. She was very gracious towards those that weren't so gracious towards her through out her career. Her life hasn't been easy. But that talent. - wow! I've been listening to her music again and loving it all over again. Thank You for sharing your life Aretha and your talent.

[Kym Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and candid account of Aretha Franklin's life from the time she grew up to her career highs and lows.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love soul music and its undisputed queen, but I found this book to be shallow. I am a bit disappointed to find that someone I admire so much as an artist I don’t relate to much as a person. There is something about the way she narrates her luxurious lifestyle that makes her sound rather tone deaf to me toward people on the outside of the rich celebrity bubble. Because of a disability, I mostly listen to audio books, so I get the audio narrator’s interpretation on top of the author’s, and I think the narrator had a glib and self-satisfied tone, but it seemed to me the author did as well.

It seemed that one of her objects was to refute anything negative that anyone else had ever said about her or her life, to point out how anyone she had ever had a conflict with had been wrong, and deny any gossip about her that had ever appeared in the media. In the process she sometimes created a narrative that seemed to me to be too rosy to ring completely true, especially when discussing her childhood and adolescence. I don’t know whether I am wrong to question what someone else says about their own life, but having earlier seen the movie Respect, I am struck by the difference in the way her first pregnancy and what it meant for her life was treated here versus in the movie. In this narrative, it sounded consensual, she had a boyfriend who was also a kid, they took to holding, she found herself putting on weight and was pregnant, her father was supportive, the pregnancy went well, the child was a gift from God. This was before abortion was legal, but it’s the type of narrative that would be championed by abortion opponents. She was only thirteen when she became pregnant. Considering that she didn’t know what was happening when she got her first period, it raises the question of whether she even knew how women became pregnant. People do not become pregnant just by holding. IMO anyone who gets a thirteen year old pregnant is taking advantage of her. The pregnancy went well, gift from God narrative is repeated with her pregnancy at sixteen. She also depicts her parents as having been perfect. She wanted to answer what she considered an unfair accusation that her mother had abandoned them, but are any parents perfect? There is no mention of the “demons” that haunt her in the movie, but it could be that the movie played up this aspect of her story knowing it would interest an audience.

The way she narrates her lifestyle, which ranges from well to do to luxurious, seems to me to show a lack of connectedness with those less fortunate. Of course it’s great that there was a prosperous African American community in Detroit in the time she was growing up, where kids could enjoy themselves, and that nurtured the creation of so much great music. And people who have earned their wealth by doing brilliant creative work have earned it more than most of the very wealthy. But her tone sounds insulated from what others are experiencing. Even when she toured with her father as a gospel singer in the segregated south, where they were treated as “second class” in restaurants, she said it didn’t bother her because she knew they were first class. No comment on what she saw other African Americans experiencing in that time and place, or discussion of the terrible poverty that would later plague her beloved home city, though she does mention the construction of a freeway that destroyed her father’s church. All her luxurious costumes, luxurious homes, endless series of attractive lovers, friendships with other superstars…if she were not as big a star as any of them, one might get the impression that she is name dropping to impress an audience. I guess not everyone believes that the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy has any relationship to the deprivation of the poor. She raves about the great time she had entertaining and being honored by the Clintons, but she doesn’t say a word about what she thought of their policies. To me this showed a lack of seriousness. No African Americans, no matter how wealthy or successful, are immune to the violence that often gets visited on their people, and Aretha’s own son was brutalized by some cops to whom he was just another young black man, not the son of a queen. I wonder how much she really bared her soul in this continually upbeat and largely superficial narrative, or whether it is more about keeping up appearances. Her soul is in her singing, her priceless gift to us all.

[S. Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I OWN A COPY OF THIS BOOK & I FOUND IT ENLIGHTENING, AT LEAST WHAT THE QUEEN RE RE CHOSE TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD.
BEING AS THOUGH WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE EXPECTS & NEARLY REQUIRES STARS/CELEBRITIES TO TELL THEIR DEEPEST TALES IN THEIR LIVES SO AS THEY CAN FIND THEMSELVES VULNERABLE TO JUDGMENT & RIDICULE BY PEOPLE THAT HAD DONE THE VERY LEAST WITH THEIR OWN LIVES, I FELT THAT SINCE IT HAD BEEN THE WORDS OF QUEEN OF SOUL ARETHA FRANKLIN, WHO A LOT HAD BEEN SAID ABOUT, BE IT TRUE OR LIES, ABOUT HER OWN LIFE I DIDN'T FEEL THAT SHE OWNED US ANY INSIGHTS INTO HER PERSONAL LIFE AS IT PERTAINS TO WHO HELPED HER CONCEIVE HER CHILDREN AS A TEEN AS WELL AS OTHER EXTREMELY PERSONAL ASPECTS OF HER LIFE!
THE TITLE OF THE BOOK SAYS: "FROM THESE ROOTS", WHICH I GATHERED, UNLIKE OTHER REVIEWERS WHO FELT SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FORTHCOMING ON HER PRIVATE LIFE, THAT QUEEN RE-RE WOULD BE SPEAKING OF THE INCREDIBLY UNMATCHABLE GIFT OF HER SINGING VOICE & HER JOURNEY FROM IMPACTING GOSPEL MUSIC TO BEING OUR QUEEN OF SOUL & LAUNCHING OR AT LEAST INSPIRING OTHER SINGERS IN HOW THEY ARE TO UTILIZE THEIR VOCAL ABILITIES IN NOT JUST GOSPEL BUT IN ALL OF MUSIC!
SHE OWED US NOTHING ELSE, GIVEN THIS WAS NOT A LOOK INTO HER PRIVATE LIFE OR THOSE OF HER FOUR CHILDREN-ONLY HER PERSPECTIVE OF EVENTS HAVING TO DO WITH ENTERTAINING TO PERFECTION! PERIOD & PLAINLY PRESENTED!
JOB WELL DONE, MS. ARETHA FRANKLIN!

[Peter O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is Aretha Franklin so it is always going to be worth a look and the early accounts of her upbringing are interesting. It does often appear though that ghost writer David Ritz was purely there to take notes, ask questions and take dictation as it often lacks a lot of the punch and insight that a book on or by Aretha Franklin should. If nothing else though, it at least seems a fair representation of her take on her own career. Overall though, the whole thing is just a bit too on rails to be worthwhile.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life and times of Aretha Louise Franklin as shared and told in her own words. This remarkable story tells of a child prodigy who soared to unbelievable heights in the music world. The daughter of a world famous preacher shares her most intimate moments in the public eye, and behind the scenes of her family life, and very personal moments. A great read that will push the reader to revisit her discography, and come to a better understanding of what makes her title as the Queen of Soul diva worthy, and well deserved.

[Philomena · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very good read! Early on, it's pretty apparent Ms Franklin has a co-author. Her voice doesn't come through well. However, as we get later into her life and her memories and feelings of the time grow in strength, her voice comes through in the writing! Also, she drops so many names of her influences, I have a HUGE new gospel/soul playlist to keep me entertained! I highly recommend this for any fans of the Queen of Soul!

[Damika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Re-re was a little too self righteous for me on this one. I expected a little more reminiscing and a little less horn tooting. Somebody needs to ask her who's zooming who.

[Linda Trout · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting, but not well written. Lots of name-dropping and grudges on display here.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since this book was published in 1999, it is not up to date--Aretha died in 2018.
It was just ok because of its simple writing and most of the time just listing details in a dry way. In the introduction, she said she chose to do it her way even with her co author disagreeing. Sometimes, she does go into detail which makes the narrative more colorful, explanatory, and interesting.
I skimmed a lot of the material (but absorbed it) due to the more juvenile writing style.
Aretha comes across in this memoir as very self-centered. She denies this, but her choices seem to reflect that conclusion. She made many bad choices in men and in other moral choices. I appreciate her talent--one of the great singers who influenced many others. She wrote a lot of her own songs.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A memoir that sent me on another YouTube quest. What’s not to love?
I learned that Aretha’s father was a highly regarded Baptist preacher who was friends with all the big names of the era, MLK, Jesse Jackson, etc.

I enjoyed cross-referencing the information presented here with Wikipedia and its concise lists.
She was a trail-blazer with decades of music as her legacy.

I was especially impressed when she stepped in with 15 minutes notice to perform a Puccini opera number “Nessun dorma” at the MusiCares dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. Luciano Pavarotti was unable to go on due to pain from overdue hip surgery. The orchestration was written in his key, not hers, but there was no time for adjustments or rehearsal. She knocked it out of the park.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems to be a lot of Aretha tooting her own horn and putting down others, while trying to come off as a victim. She's an amazing talent, but her true negative self comes through even though she tried to play it off as she's the one who's been wronged. By the end of the book I was just annoyed, and ready for it to be over.

[Sam Branstner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a huge Aretha fan and I was lucky enough to have seen her in concert. She was brilliant. Unfortunately, this memoir wasn’t nearly as brilliant. There could have been some great stories, but nearly all ended with “for the sake of privacy, I won’t go into details.” I thought that was the point of a memoir? There was nothing here I felt revealing or even that interesting.

[Gail Johnson, Ph.D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a recorded interview with Aretha that expanded over several sessions. While reading (the year before she died) the book I felt as though I was sitting right there at the kitchen table listing to the conversation. I could hear when Aretha pause to take drag from her cigarette and then ponder how she was going to answer a question. I was so glad I had purchased the book before she died.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting history of the gospel & soul movements. As with many autobiographies, there was more of the self promoting then I cared for. Overall a good bedside read!

[Khabeer Rashad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more of a history of her beginnings and Musical career. I wish she really dug in and went deep. But this was still a good book. Her naivete about things cracked me up.

[George Hamblen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great background on the rise of Aretha. Nice to get so many of the back stories. The book could have used more details at times. Like to hear things in her own words

[Jessica Lerbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to hear so much in her own words, but so many many many names of people and songs it got taxing

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the Queen of Soul's autobiography is no crowning achievement, it offers a breezy tour through the singer's life and trailblazing recording career. Raised in a musical household in Detroit (next door to Smokey Robinson, with frequent visits from Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington and Rev. James Cleveland), Franklin made her solo singing debut at the age of 10 in her father's church. At 16, she gave birth to her second son, dropped out of high school and recorded her first album. Several romances and two more sons followed, as did 17 Grammies (the most for a female performer) and more than 20 number-one hits. The strength of this memoir, whose coauthor has collaborated on books by Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Smokey Robinson and Atlantic Records owner Jerry Wexler, lies in Franklin's candid discussion of her craft, song selection and various peers. She's not shy about settling old scores with those she believes have dismissed her in print--including Gladys Knight, Mavis Staples and Cissy Houston. But she remains emotionally remote when talking about herself, reserving her real passion for her music. Few will finish this book, however, without an urge to add another Franklin disc to their collection.

[Ternelljade]

I couldn't put this book down either. I love how Ms. Franklin has a sense of fun about herself too [The Snickers commercial!]. :) I want to get her cookbook as well. I learned a lot about her that I never knew before and like Etta James, she tells her story with candor. I like that she uses discretion as far as telling other people's business too. [You don't see a lot of that type of integrity anymore...] I also value that she is a singer/musician that just loves music period and it shows in her versatility (gospel, soul, opera...Wow!).

[MaryAlice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fact: Aretha was so enamored of Sam Cooke, that she switched from smoking Kools, to his brand Kent. She said that she gained all that weight after she quit smoking.

Little did she know when she was a child watching shows like,"Kukla, Fran and Ollie," and "I Remember Mama," that frequent visitors to her home, would become household names someday. Nor that, one day, she too would be known the world over. Or imagining herself singing at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

A good, informative read.

[Franciszka · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was really excited about hearing the first-person account/story behind the person who made this music that i couldn't get enough of.
it was disappointing.
lots of tossing names around [sam cooke for instance] and how good those times were, but not much of the story of a deeper self.
aretha, i just want to know you.