Genius (2017) s03e05 Episode Script
Young, Gifted and Black
1
ANNOUNCER: Previously on Genius.
JERRY: What kind of music
do you really want to make,
Ms. Franklin?
ARETHA: I want to make hits, Mr. Wexler.
JERRY: You'll get there
when you realize you're
Aretha Franklin and nobody else.
I can help you find
your sound, that's what I do.
ARETHA: I'd like to
join your tour, Dr. King.
KING: We'd love to have you.
CL: Detroit needs its
favorite daughter now.
KING: Your daughter is a start
of international prominence,
that comes with a
certain responsibility.
BARBARA: Why is there
a second crib here with
CL's name on it?
WOMAN: Oh, I'm sure it's just a mistake.
BARBARA: I always had
suspicions but at your core,
I thought you were a good, loving man.
ARETHA: Her mother
deserted the family and died;
our mother never deserted us.
How the hell did he know all this shit?
Did you speak to him by yourself?
TED: He called me, yeah.
ARETHA: He was only acting
friendly and you feel for it?
TED: We all fell for it.
KING CURTIS: You know
he don't treat you right.
ARETHA: He never has.
KING CURTIS: You think you need him,
but he knows deep inside you don't.
TED: Look, we've been
through a lot of stuff,
we always make it through.
ARETHA: Not this time.
You have one choice;
you can leave, or I can.
TED: You need me, Re.
ARETHA: Hell I do.
It's a family affair ♪♪
CHILD: Cannon ball!
Shark attack!
It's a family affair ♪
It's a family affair ♪♪
ARETHA: Would you go on and take that
over there now, please.
CAROLYN: This is what I'm
thinking for my album cover.
ARETHA: Baby Dynamite, it's gorgeous.
CAROLYN: Any chance you'd
write the liner notes?
It'd be a help.
ARETHA: Is Erma still
mad that I released
"Son of a Preacher Man"?
CAROLYN: Well, you did say
you weren't going to release it.
ARETHA: Well, she recorded
it and it didn't chart.
CAROLYN: And now she feels
like you stole her thunder.
ARETHA: This is a crazy business,
we all just out here trying to make it.
REPORTER (OVER TV):
A riot broke out today in
California Soledad State Prison.
ARETHA: All right, I'll
write your liner notes,
no sweat.
CAROLYN: Thank you.
REPORTER (OVER TV): Three
Negro inmates, while engaged in,
what several reports
say was a fistfight,
were shot and killed by prison guards.
Some think the violence
is related to the racially
charged riots that have
rocked several American cities
over the past few years.
- CAROLYN: Let me turn this off.
- ARETHA: Don't.
REPORTER (OVER TV): Most
notably in the months of 1967.
CAROLYN: The world is going crazy,
but you can only do so much.
ARETHA: Well, the
least I can do is listen.
Mass incarceration, racial injustice;
it just makes me want to holler.
CAROLYN: I hear that.
But you always getting tangled
up in other people's messes.
Don't.
ARETHA: They shoot us down like dogs;
like our lives ain't worth nothing.
I'm going to record a protest album.
It's time to take a stand.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)
♪
CECIL: Well, Re, you
wanted to meet the man who
made my medallion.
Ken Cunningham meet my
sister Aretha Franklin.
ARETHA: Pleasure to meet you.
KEN: It's an honor.
CECIL: I'll leave you two.
ARETHA: Shall we sit?
KEN: Sounds good.
ARETHA: These are your designs?
KEN: Yes, ma'am.
Our designers are brothers
and sisters who work
with jewelers and
seamstresses in Harlem.
ARETHA: Everything is gorgeous.
KEN: Yes, indeed.
Gorgeous, comfortable,
and instep with the time.
Now, we going to be in
runways and magazines,
and we've got good word of mouth.
ARETHA: And now you need investors.
Cecil says that you're a
self-made businessman who is
socially conscious.
KEN: Well, thank you, Cecil.
ARETHA: Well, I like to empower people,
but I have to thoroughly
checkup on people before
I meet them.
KEN: Well, I certainly hope I rate.
ARETHA: So far.
Could I have a scotch, please?
KEN: Just water for me, thanks.
Hey, I have a gift for you.
If you would allow me
to flip to the back page.
Ah, this, this is from Ghana.
Now, if you look here the
white symbolizes goodness and
the gold is for prosperity.
I thought it would be perfect for you.
ARETHA: Thank you.
You've got to come to the studio,
see how I run my business.
(PIANO).
ARETHA: And after that, I come in.
You got it?
ARIF, I know I've been
talking a mile a minute,
are you getting everything down?
ARIF: Just like you laid it out for me,
hot off the press.
ARETHA: Billy, can
you give us more feel?
BILLY: I'll take us all to church.
ARETHA: Cornell, I want
you to keep it greasy.
CORNELL: Deep fried
and laid to the side.
ARETHA: And, Chuck and Ray won't rush.
- CHUCK: I'm in.
- RAY: Copy that.
ARETHA: Ladies?
WOMAN: Oh, we're good to go.
(HARMONIZING)
WOMAN: Wait a minute, wait a minute.
ARETHA: Okay,
let's take it from the top.
MAN: Going to make a hit.
We need to work on that pocket.
ARETHA: All right.
(PIANO).
ARETHA: Wait a minute, now.
There was a pizza box on
the piano, where is it?
There was a pizza box
on the piano, where is it?
ARIF: What, you want
to order dinner, or?
ARETHA: It makes the
piano sound different.
- MAN: Sorry.
- MAN 2: Chop, chop.
MAN: Thought it was garbage.
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
ARETHA: Let's take it from the top.
(PIANO).
Holy Moses, I have been removed ♪
I have seen the specter,
he has been here too ♪
Distant cousin from down the line ♪
Brand of people who ain't my kind ♪
Holy Moses, I have been removed ♪♪
JERRY: How political
is she going to get?
RUTH: She hasn't said.
CECIL: She's been listening
to anti-war songs,
migrant farmer songs.
TOM: Hasn't she earned the
right to do what she wants?
Now the wind has changed directions ♪
I think I'll have to leave ♪♪
JERRY: I just don't want
people to boycott her.
You know, she could play
the Fillmore West instead.
You know, peace and drug loving hippies,
they're radical but
not in a way that would
alienate her fanbase.
Think hippies would get her?
CECIL: Why wouldn't they get her?
RUTH: What she should
do is play the Fillmore
and make this album.
Yes I have now ♪
I'm going back to the
border where my affairs ♪
My affairs ain't been abused ♪
I can't take any more bad water ♪
I've been poisoned from
my head down to my shoes ♪♪
JERRY: Yeah, I don't know
that this song is going
to resonate with her hardcore fans.
RUTH: Well, it resonates with me.
JERRY: Well, if they all
sound like this, great,
but if not, we've got
a dud on our hands.
You know, she thinks
those Soledad Brothers are
folk heroes but I'm not
so sure her fanbase does.
RUTH: Look, it's not
easy on my end either.
Last summer, she sparks
a riot in Denver and then
she cancels in Las Vegas.
I'm having trouble booking her.
JERRY: Yeah.
Who's this guy she's with?
CECIL: It's Ken Cunningham,
social activist, businessman.
He's solid, I checked.
JERRY: The divorce with
Ted come through yet?
Great.
Holy Moses, can we live in peace? ♪
Let us strive to find a
way to make all hatred cease ♪
There's a man standing over there ♪
What's his color, do you care? ♪
Holy ♪
Holy, holy, holy ♪
Holy Moses can we live in peace? ♪
Lord help me know ♪
Holy, holy Moses ♪
Can we live in peace? ♪
My brother ♪
Holy Moses ♪
Can we live ♪
I wonder can we? ♪
Can we ♪
Can we live in peace? ♪
♪
ARETHA: I'm writing a new song.
JERRY: What's it called?
ARETHA: I don't know yet but it's,
it's going to hit you hard,
get under your skin
right down to the bone.
CECIL: I'm loving it already.
MAN: Right on.
ARETHA: It's going to be a protest song.
The message is going to
be there but it's going
to be quiet.
It's going to be fun to dance to.
KEN: Subversive.
ARETHA: Yeah, that's right.
KEN: Anybody aside from me
follow what's going on over
there in Soledad?
ARETHA: Angela Davis speaking out?
KING CURTIS: Cause the
incarceration has been unjust
and unwarranted from jump.
ARETHA: Angela Davis has my vote.
RUTH: Maybe you could
do a concert at Folsom.
Johnny Cash did and B. B. King
is planning to do one.
I also like that idea
about the Fillmore.
ARETHA: It's nice to know
that the world doesn't
turn off when the signer
starts telling it like it is.
I'd sing any gig.
I miss the energy of the audience.
RUTH: I'll work on it.
JERRY: Okay.
Just a reminder that music
is a business, all right.
What do you think pays
for your vacation home?
Or my boat in Miami?
Hit records do.
ARETHA: All right.
So, my protest album's
going to be a hit.
JERRY: Okay.
ARETHA: I'll tell you what,
if you can't get your head
around this concept album,
Jerry, I, I'll produce it myself.
JERRY: Okay.
RUTH: Oh, oh, oh.
KEN: You okay?
ARETHA: Mm-hmm.
JERRY: I'm just trying
to be the voice of reason,
is that a crime?
ARETHA: Nope.
JERRY: So, Ken, was it?
You two talk politics a lot?
KEN: Well, no, Mr. Wexler.
I ain't putting no ideas
in her head if that's what
you was thinking.
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
(VOMIT)
♪
♪
ARETHA: I'm going to call my album
Young, Gifted and Black.
RUTH: That's the title
of Nina Simone's hit song.
CECIL: And Hansberry's hit play.
ARETHA: Mm-hmm.
JERRY: Okay, now you want
to be like Nina Simone.
Can I remind everybody that
Nina Simone is a head case?
ARETHA: Can I remind
you that Nina Simone fired
her record label?
You know why?
Because she wanted to do
what the hell she wanted to.
And maybe I might fire you, Jerry,
so I could do whatever
the hell I want to do.
Because, you know, you don't own me.
You know that?
Cause I'm free.
JERRY: You're drunk.
ARETHA: I'm free.
You hear me?
I am free.
I'm free, God dammit, I'm free.
Your love, liftin' me higher ♪
Than I've ever been lifted before ♪
So keep it up ♪
Quench my desire ♪
And I'll be at your side forevermore ♪
You know your love ♪
Your love keeps liftin' me ♪
Keeps on liftin' ♪
Your love keeps liftin' me ♪
Higher ♪
Lifting me ♪
Higher and higher ♪
I said your love ♪
Your love keeps liftin' me ♪
Keep on ♪♪
NEWS ANCHOR (OVER TV):
In response to events at the
California prison where
inmates have been charged with
the retaliation killing
of a prison guard,
Professor Angela Davis has
joined the Soledad Brothers
Defense Committee to advocate
for the negro prisoners.
ANGELA (OVER TV): This
demonstration was organized by
the Soledad Brothers
Defense Committee in order to
bring to light, to the public,
the face of the Soledad Brothers and
in order to begin to move
on changing the oppressive
conditions in the penal
system of the States.
KEN: Well, you know the
way to a man's heart, I see.
ARETHA: So, you like
my pig's feet ala Re.
KEN: I must admit I've never
been offered pig feet at a
business meeting before.
ARETHA: Well, see, you wanted
to take me to Silvia's,
and I say why go outside for
something you can get at home.
KEN: Now, I hope you
don't mind me asking,
who picks your songs?
ARETHA: I do.
I hear something I want,
and I give the idea to the
guys and I pick the musicians,
I pick the singers,
and Jerry has input too, so does Tom.
But I can't sing something
I don't feel so I have to
arrange it so I can feel it.
KEN: Mmm, but what
does the other guy do?
- ARETHA: Arif?
- KEN: Mm-hmm.
ARETHA: He's a producer,
a great producer.
KEN: Well, sounds like
you're the producer, too.
ARETHA: No, I'm the artist.
I'm the talent.
KEN: Well, no, from what you
just described it sounds like
you're calling the shots,
you're running the show,
you're making the arrangements,
you're setting up the music.
You deserve a producer
credit too, sugar.
ARETHA: You're thinking
what I'm thinking.
KEN: Yeah, the movement
starts at home with you, Re.
You've got to claim your power.
ARETHA: Well, all right, um, tomorrow
KEN: Uh-huh.
ARETHA: I'm going to
walk into Jerry's office.
KEN: Okay.
ARETHA: I'm going to roll up my sleeves.
KEN: I can dig it.
ARETHA: All right.
I'm going to puff up my chest.
- KEN: Uh-huh. Yeah.
- ARETHA: And I will say Jerry.
ARETHA: I am a producer.
Aretha Franklin is now a producer.
KEN: Get down!
ARETHA: Yes.
KEN: I tell you; I would
pay top dollar to be able
to be in there to see
them uppity honkey's face
when you say that.
ARETHA: Me too.
KEN: That would be
something, I tell you.
Now, I try not to listen to
everything I hear but the word
is you're still married
ARETHA: Well, the word is wrong.
I'm getting divorced.
KEN: Well, the word is quite
similar to my word because
I'm getting a divorce, too.
ARETHA: Oh, very good to know.
KEN: That wouldn't stop
anything now would it?
ARETHA: Absolutely not.
KEN: Well, I happen to
be very, very serious,
just so you know.
- BARBARA: You're my heart.
- ARETHA: And you're mine.
BARBARA: Mmmm. Love you.
ARETHA: Love you, too.
Is it past my bedtime yet?
BARBARA: Yes.
Your brother and
sisters are already in bed.
Go on, head on upstairs.
CL: Where's my favorite
women folk who make me
the most blessed man
in the whole, wide world.
I'll see you later.
ARETHA: Are you planning
your pastor's anniversary?
CL: Yes, I am, with Sister
Helen and a few others.
It's not too bad for
a little country preacher
now running a big
Detroit, Michigan church.
BARBARA: New Bethel
is blessed to have you.
They've improved
themselves quite a bit since
you took over.
CL: Indeed, they have.
I'll see you later.
You going to wait up for me?
I'll have something for you.
Little Re, I'll see you later.
ARETHA: Bye, Daddy.
Can I stay up 'til Daddy comes back?
BARBARA: He won't be back until late.
(HORN HONKING).
(DOG BARKING).
ARETHA: But can I wait up with you?
BARBARA: I'd like that.
♪
ARETHA: What's Daddy doing?
BARBARA: Oh.
(TORN CLOTH)
ARETHA: Mommy? Mom?
ERMA: Mommy, can I help you?
BARBARA: No, sweetie,
just sit down and stay quiet.
CAROLYN: Where are we going?
ARETHA: Stay quiet I said.
CAROLYN: Is Daddy coming with us?
BARBARA: No, and we going to
be gone before he gets here.
ARETHA: How come we have to
be gone before Daddy comes back?
BARBARA: I said hush.
CECIL: Mommy!
CAROLYN: What is happening?
BARBARA: Shh.
ERMA: Come here.
Carolyn.
CAROLYN: What is
CL: What the hell is going on here?
What are you doing?
Where the hell she taking you?
You ain't going to answer me?
BARBARA: I'm tired of washing
your dirty laundry, Frank.
Tired of making sure
your mess looks clean.
Going to live with
my sister and I'm taking
the children with me.
CL: You don't like me
spending time with Sister Helen?
She, she just my secretary.
BARBARA: Your tongue ought
to be forked you lie so much.
You made a vow to me when
Aretha Louise was born.
CL: Yelling, for what,
so that all the neighborhood
can hear you?
BARBARA: I don't care who hears me!
CL: You just need us
to be a storybook family,
that' ain't who we are, baby.
BARBARA: Don't put that on me.
It is Pastor Franklin who
needs to look good or else
you'd get run out of town.
You're going to lose your church.
Just like in Memphis.
They going to kick you out
and you're going to have
to leave town again with
your tail between your
legs dragging your family behind you.
CL: Shout it, girl, shout it!
Yeah, shout it.
You like everybody to hear you, why,
why don't you run down
the street shouting.
Come on, run down the street
shouting, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, everybody, hey, hey.
You done took a stand.
You take your children, but
did you ever stop and think
about how you going to
provide for them children?
You ain't got no money,
you ain't got no job,
you ain't got no home, you
ain't got no Goddamn sense.
BARBARA: You broke my heart.
And I won't let you treat me like this,
and I won't let the children
- CL: If you think
- BARBARA: Quit it.
CL: That I would
let you take my damn children?
Never!
Put that down.
CHILDREN: No. Mommy!
CL: Put that down.
BARBARA: No! No!
CHILDREN: Mommy, Daddy.
Mommy!
CL: Put them clothes down!
(SCREAMING).
CL: No, no, no.
ARETHA: Leave me alone.
CL: No, no, no.
(SCREAMING AND CRYING).
CL: Stop that crying.
Leave her be, leave her be.
ARETHA: Let go of me.
Let go of me.
CL: Stop that crying!
Or I'm going to give you
something to cry about.
Stop that crying.
BARBARA: I've got to leave your father.
I can't live otherwise.
ARETHA: Take my hand.
BARBARA: I would never leave you all,
I would never leave my babies ever.
CL: Go on, go on.
BARBARA: Don't you ever
just wait for something bad
to turn good.
CL: Go on.
(CRYING).
- ARETHA: Mommy! Mommy!
- CL: Stop that crying.
ARETHA: Mommy.
(CRYING).
ARETHA: Mommy. Don't leave. Come back.
Say it loud ♪
I'm black and I'm proud ♪
Say it loud ♪
I'm black and I'm proud ♪
Well, some people say
we've got a lot of malice ♪
Some say it's a lot of nerve ♪
But I say we won't
quit moving until we get ♪
What we deserve ♪
We've been 'buked and ♪♪
- ARETHA: James Baldwin.
- KEN: Mm-hmm.
- ARETHA: Zora Neale Hurston.
- KEN: Yup.
- ARETHA: Frantz.
- KEN: Fanon.
- ARETHA: Fanon?
- KEN: Uh-huh.
ARETHA: Frantz Fanon,
and Lorraine Hansberry.
KEN: These are some of the essentials.
ARETHA: I'm be a scholar
and a revolutionary.
KEN: Right on, sister.
I'll get you some more books.
ARETHA: Thank you.
CAROLYN: You didn't have
time to come with me to the
Gay Pride March.
That's all cool but now
you up here trying to save
the world and you've
been AWOL in the studio.
ARETHA: And I didn't
write your liner notes
for your record.
CAROLYN: Daddy wrote them,
they turned out great.
ARETHA: I'm sorry.
Really.
MAN: Welcome to Harlem, Queen.
Can I get your autograph?
ARETHA: Yeah, of course you can.
You've got two Franklin
sisters for the price of one.
Have a good day now.
MAN: You too.
ARETHA: Thank you.
(CROWD CHATTER).
OFFICER (OVER SPEAKER):
Detroit PD, step out of the car
CL: Now, you know this
is an illegal search.
Come on now, this is an illegal search.
OFFICER: You ran a stop sign.
CL: Ya'll need to call
somebody and you ain't need to
come here and get me.
What did I do?
OFFICER: Keep your hands visible, sir.
CL: It's because I'm, it's
because I'm CL Franklin, huh,
Aretha Franklin's father
you going to do that to me.
This is ridiculous.
Oh, see now you done planted that.
You done planted that.
You don't never want to
see a black person succeed.
You're always trying to drag us down.
You know this ain't right.
JERRY: I, I like your haircut.
It suits you.
ARETHA: Thank you.
JERRY: But you've been
AWOL for two whole months.
ARETHA: I've been
dealing with family stuff.
My dad was in jail,
I had to bail him out.
JERRY: Yeah, I heard.
ARETHA: Black people everywhere from my,
my father to the Soledad
Brothers are under the thumb
of a system that's completely rigged.
That's what I've been focusing on.
JERRY: The hypocrisy of justice,
black folks can't get a fair shake.
I hear ya.
Is your dad going to be all right?
ARETHA: He always lands on his feet.
JERRY: You know, supporting
Dr. King was one thing but
I don't know, these
times feel more risky.
You know, Nina recorded
"Mississippi God Damn",
a great song, but then the
radio stations boycotted her,
and the people went into the
record stores and they smashed
her albums to bits.
ARETHA: I'm not drinking.
Look, make me a producer
on my new album.
Let the world, everywhere,
read in the trades that
Atlantic has named
Aretha Franklin a producer on
Young, Gifted and Black.
JERRY: Okay.
I'll think about that.
But three sessions in a
row I organized for you on
dates that you chose,
and you missed them all.
And last year you were
a no show in Las Vegas
at Caesar's Palace for crying out loud.
And how much did that cost you?
100-grand, 100-grand.
And Ruth says she's got
to jump through hoops to book
you cause people say you are a problem.
ARETHA: People are just
bad mouthing me to try and
keep me in my place.
JERRY: And what are you
doing to prove them wrong?
ARETHA: Give me a real
seat at the table and I can
show you how I can prove them wrong.
JERRY: Aretha, you're out
there acting like a hot head.
You're worrying about these
young men in jail when you
should be worrying
about the bottom line.
In, in what universe are you a producer?
ARETHA: I do all the work.
JERRY: You don't know half of what I do.
ARETHA: Well, I do know
that I deserve more credit and
that you are standing in my way.
JERRY: I'm standing, I'm
Look, I'm glad you're laying
off the sauce and I'm very
glad you're back.
ARETHA: But you like me better
when I'm drinking, don't you?
JERRY: No, I don't. And that's not fair.
ARETHA: If I don't get
what I need from you,
I'm going to find a
way to get it myself.
I'm gonna do what I gotta do.
♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
That's what I feel now ♪
Let's call this song
exactly what it is ♪
Step and move your hips ♪
With a feelin' from side to side ♪
Sit yourself down in
your car and take a ride ♪
And while you're moving, rock steady ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Let's call this song
exactly what it is ♪
What it is, what it is, what it is ♪
It's a funky and lowdown feeling ♪
What it is ♪
Move your hips from left to right ♪
What it is ♪
What it is, is I might be doin' ♪
This funky dance all night, ah ♪
Put your hands up in the air ♪
Got a feelin' you ain't got a care ♪
Wouldn't you wanna take this burn? ♪
That sail us all inside ♪
Rock steady, rock steady baby ♪
Rock steady, rock steady baby ♪
♪
♪
Jump and move your
hips with a feelin' from ♪
side to side ♪
Sit yourself down in
your car and take a ride ♪
And while you're movin', rock steady ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Let's call this song
exactly what it is ♪
What it is, what it is, what it is ♪
It's a funky and lowdown feelin' ♪
What it is ♪
Move your hips from left to right ♪
What it is ♪
What it is, is I might be doin' ♪
This funky dance all night, ah ♪
Put your hands up in the air ♪
Got a feelin' you ain't got a care ♪
Wouldn't you want to take this burn? ♪
That sail us all inside ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Rock steady, baby, rock steady ♪
♪
♪
Rock ♪
♪
Steady ♪
Rock ♪
Steady ♪
What it is ♪
It's a funky and lowdown feelin' ♪
Move your hips from left to right ♪
What it is, is I might be doin' ♪
This funky dance all night, ah ♪
Put your hands up in the air ♪
Got a feelin' you ain't got a care ♪
Wouldn't you want to take this burn? ♪
That sail us all inside ♪
Rock steady, steady baby ♪
Rock ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Baby ♪
What it is ♪♪
ERMA: Okay, say
something, Re, or give me.
BARBARA (OVER PHONE): Baby tell Mommy
about your piano playing
or your singing.
Has your father let
you solo in church yet?
ERMA (OVER PHONE): She
ain't soloed yet, Mom.
Give it to me, say something.
CECIL: I want my turn.
ARETHA: I miss you, Mommy.
Big Momma pressed my hair.
BARBARA: Aretha Louise,
I bet you look so pretty.
ERMA: Do you like living in
Buffalo better than Detroit?
BARBARA: Erma, you
ask me that every week.
ERMA: Well, then how
come you're staying there if
you don't like it?
CECIL: Oh.
CAROLYN: Cecil.
CECIL: Will you come
home for spring so we can
have a picnic?
CAROLYN: Or we could go to a ballgame!
ARETHA: Give it to me.
ERMA: I'm the older one.
ARETHA: I can hear you breathing, Mommy.
BARBARA: I hear you too, baby.
ERMA (OVER PHONE):
Well, we love you, Mommy.
Okay?
- CAROLYN: Lots and lots! Love you more!
- CECIL: We love you, a lot.
BIG MOMMA: We'll speak
with you next week, honey.
BARBARA (OVER PHONE): Yes, ma'am.
BIG MOMMA: All right, goodbye.
ARETHA: Love you, Mommy.
I want to go live with Mommy in Buffalo.
CL: You already live here, baby.
ARETHA: You're not being fair.
CL: The world ain't fair, Aretha.
♪
ARETHA: Could I get a glass of water?
MAN: Yes, ma'am. Just water?
ARETHA: Mm-hmm. Thank you, honey.
It's getting to the
point where I'm no ♪♪
MAN: Hey, hey, take our photo here.
Oh, oh, better yet let's
get all four of you together.
MAN: Great, there we go.
Great, thank you.
MAN 2: That's something you
don't see every day, huh?
JERRY: Thanks for being here.
ARETHA: I'm trying to show
up in more ways than one.
Nobody like me seems to have come.
JERRY: Yeah, well,
these industry parties are
boring as hell.
But if you'd have ditched it,
it might not look like
we were on the same team.
ARETHA: Well, maybe we're not.
MAN: Congratulations, Arif.
Well-deserved producer credit.
MAN 2: "Don't Play that Song"
wouldn't have that sound
wouldn't have that sound
without your touch.
MAN: Plus "Spirit in the Dark",
the whole album is brilliant.
Beautiful singing,
Ms. Franklin, as always.
MAN: She's the magic touch,
made it timeless.
ARIF: Well, I wasn't
in there alone, guys.
I mean Jerry was in there with me.
MAN: Come on, man.
MAN 2: We heard the
roughs for "Border Song".
MAN 3: The sound you got with the keys.
MAN 4: We heard you put
an empty pizza box on top
of a piano.
ARETHA: That was my idea.
MAN: Wow, great.
And "Rock Steady," it's really hot.
ARETHA: Where's my
producer credit, Jerry?
JERRY: You're talent,
you're, you're the artist.
No artist gets producer credit.
Not The Who, not The Stones,
not even The Beatles.
MAN: It just isn't done.
ARETHA: You full of shit.
I'm the type of person
that brings people together.
I don't divide them.
So, why am I being left
out on the outside?
JERRY: I can't give
you something just because
you want it.
This is the world, okay,
I can't change the rules.
ARETHA: You want me to
think that you hear me.
You want me to think that you care.
JERRY: I do.
ARETHA: But you don't,
not really, not for real.
There's something
inside is telling me that I ♪♪
JERRY: Would you like
something to drink?
ARETHA: I'm not drinking.
Fear is the lock ♪
And laughter the key to your heart ♪♪
(FLASH BULBS)
♪
Gotta change around here ♪
Gotta change around here ♪
Can't go on this way ♪
Things gotta change around here ♪
Say it loud ♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): A young man,
George Jackson,
was thrown into jail
on a trumped-up charge.
His kid brother, Jonathan,
does everything he can to get
him a fair trial but the
world just ain't fair for us.
WOMAN: Amen!
ARETHA (OVER PA): They said
George stole $70.00 from a gas station.
And after years of not
being granted parole,
they accused George of
killing a prison guard.
MAN: That ain't right.
ARETHA (OVER PA): So, he
gets locked up for life.
What does his little
brother Jonathan do?
JONATHAN: Freeze.
My brother, George, is
locked up for no good reason.
ARETHA: He smuggles guns
into a courthouse demanding
justice and gets killed.
Other folks were killed, too.
What good is freedom? ♪
If we haven't learned ♪♪
ARETHA: Change is not going
to come, it's already here.
Angela was trying to help
the Soledad Brothers and
now I'm trying to help Angela.
She was charged with murder,
kidnapping, and conspiracy.
And I'm here in support
of inmate number 02G0964.
You know her as Professor Angela Davis.
REPORTER: You're joining
her legal defense team?
ARETHA: I'm offering to post her bail.
REPORTER: You'll contribute
to her legal fund?
ARETHA (OVER PA): I'll
do anything I can to help.
REPORTER: Do you believe in communism?
REPORTER 2: Are you suggesting
we riot against the establishment?
ARETHA (OVER PA): I believe in freedom.
And I believe in the right of
black people to assert their rights.
Angela Davis must go free.
Black people will be free.
You got to disturb the peace
when you can't get no peace.
I'm going to see her free
if this court system has any
justice at all.
Not because I believe in
communism but because she is a
black woman who believes in
the freedom of black people.
I intend to use all my money
and power that my people have
given to me to free Angela.
REPORTER: Are you afraid
of alienating your fans?
REPORTER 2: Are you advocating violence
against the establishment?
ARETHA (OVER PA): I have
said all I need to say.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE).
CL: How the hell can you do this to me?
ARETHA: Cause it ain't about you,
it's about doing what's right.
CL: You support a communist
who buys guns for criminals.
ARETHA: Angela didn't mean
for them to get her guns.
CL: You believe that?
ARETHA: George Jackson was
not supposed to be in jail
in the first place.
He was wrongfully incarcerated.
CL: Well, the newspapers
are saying something.
ARETHA: I'm doing what
you taught me to do,
to stand up for our people.
CL: I never stood up for no criminals.
ARETHA: Except for those
hot heads that walked in the
church with guns and
shot out with the police.
CL: And you raked me over
the coals for that and for
involving you in that.
ARETHA: I'm involved in
this because I want to be,
not because of you.
I get to support who
I want to on my terms.
CL: But you make me
look bad in the process.
ARETHA: You can do that all by yourself.
CL: You know, you talk about
black empowerment but when I
suggest you use one of my
sermons in my protest record,
you turn your nose up.
Now, I've been protesting
since before you were born.
Carolyn asked you to write
the liner notes in her
new record and you ain't
got the time to empower her.
When you heard Erma was
recording "Preacher Man",
you went and released
your own version to
undercut her chance.
ARETHA: How much help
do ya'll need from me?
CL: You just got to
flaunt your power, don't you?
ARETHA: Yes, maybe I do.
Because I'm my mother's daughter.
CL: Don't you start about your mother.
ARETHA: And she waited too
long to stand up for herself
and it killed her, and I
refuse to let that be me.
So, yes, even if it makes you look bad.
KEN: Fighting the power
begins at home, huh?
Still glad you brought
me here to meet him.
ARETHA: Seems like we
fighting all the time.
Maybe wanting to help Angela
is not the smartest move.
KEN: Hey, standing up
for what you believe in is
always the right call.
Now, I may not be royalty
like you, but I can help.
CL: My daughter and I
don't always see eye to eye.
But I'm glad you visiting with us.
KEN: I thank you for that
welcome, Reverend Franklin.
CL: Bless you.
You have a good evening.
- ARETHA: Bye, Daddy.
- CL: Mm-hmm.
ARETHA: I'm performing
at the Fillmore West.
KEN: Huh, are you now?
ARETHA: Coming?
KEN: Yes, indeed. I will be there.
This is beautiful.
ARETHA: It's all right.
KEN: So are you, come here.
ARETHA: I
KEN: What?
What's wrong?
ARETHA: I don't know how to.
KEN: I love you.
(THUNDER)
(PIANO).
♪
BARBARA: What's the matter, sunshine?
ARETHA: It's just that this
time tomorrow our bus will be
headed back to Detroit.
BARBARA: But you've
enjoyed your visit, right?
ARETHA: Me and Erma
and Cecil and Carolyn,
we all want to stay here with you.
BARBARA: Your daddy's going
to let you visit this summer.
ARETHA: For the whole summer?
BARBARA: We'll have to see.
ARETHA: When we're at home, we miss you.
What's the matter?
BARBARA: I'm just tired.
I miss you all too.
Let's play make it up as we go.
ARETHA: Okay.
(PIANO).
(HUMMING).
(PHONE RINGING).
CL: Hello?
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Momma!
ERMA: Re?
ARETHA: No, no.
(CRYING).
ERMA: I know.
(CRYING).
(CRYING).
(CRYING).
SISTER HELEN: Do you want
something to eat, honey?
ARETHA: No, Sister Helen.
SISTER HELEN: Your mother
loved her children more than
anything else in this world.
Your mother's in a better place now.
She's with the Lord, child.
ARETHA: You don't need to talk to me.
SISTER HELEN: I'm sure your
daddy gave your momma a
beautiful home going speech.
ARETHA: Daddy didn't
go to Momma's funeral.
We buried her in Buffalo,
and he wasn't even there.
You best leave me be.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE).
ARETHA (OVER PA): Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to say before we leave that
you have been much more than
I could have ever expected.
I'd like to leave you saying
Reach out and touch somebody's hand ♪
Make this a better world, if you can ♪
We love you ♪
Reach out and touch ♪
Somebody's hand ♪
Why don't you make it a better world ♪
If you can ♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): Turn around
and touch your brother,
touch your sister.
Reach out and touch.
Extend your hand.
Somebody's hand ♪
Make this a better world ♪
If you can ♪
Reach out and touch ♪
Somebody's hand ♪
Make this a better world ♪♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): Need I say more, no.
If you can ♪♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): Reach out and touch.
Reach out and touch ♪
Grab hold of somebody's hand ♪
Go on make it a better world ♪
I know you ♪
♪
JERRY: She really does
bring people together.
RUTH: She's at her best out there.
ARETHA (OVER PA): I love you
and I love you.
Call me the mother you didn't have.
I love you.
KING CURTIS: I love you.
Go on and reach out ♪♪
♪
Wo ♪
Woo-oo-oo-oo ♪
Ahhh-oh ♪
Reach out and reach out and ♪
Yeah ♪
Reach out ♪
Reach out ♪
Reach out and touch somebody's hand ♪♪
(MUSIC PLAYS THROUGH CREDITS)
ANNOUNCER: Previously on Genius.
JERRY: What kind of music
do you really want to make,
Ms. Franklin?
ARETHA: I want to make hits, Mr. Wexler.
JERRY: You'll get there
when you realize you're
Aretha Franklin and nobody else.
I can help you find
your sound, that's what I do.
ARETHA: I'd like to
join your tour, Dr. King.
KING: We'd love to have you.
CL: Detroit needs its
favorite daughter now.
KING: Your daughter is a start
of international prominence,
that comes with a
certain responsibility.
BARBARA: Why is there
a second crib here with
CL's name on it?
WOMAN: Oh, I'm sure it's just a mistake.
BARBARA: I always had
suspicions but at your core,
I thought you were a good, loving man.
ARETHA: Her mother
deserted the family and died;
our mother never deserted us.
How the hell did he know all this shit?
Did you speak to him by yourself?
TED: He called me, yeah.
ARETHA: He was only acting
friendly and you feel for it?
TED: We all fell for it.
KING CURTIS: You know
he don't treat you right.
ARETHA: He never has.
KING CURTIS: You think you need him,
but he knows deep inside you don't.
TED: Look, we've been
through a lot of stuff,
we always make it through.
ARETHA: Not this time.
You have one choice;
you can leave, or I can.
TED: You need me, Re.
ARETHA: Hell I do.
It's a family affair ♪♪
CHILD: Cannon ball!
Shark attack!
It's a family affair ♪
It's a family affair ♪♪
ARETHA: Would you go on and take that
over there now, please.
CAROLYN: This is what I'm
thinking for my album cover.
ARETHA: Baby Dynamite, it's gorgeous.
CAROLYN: Any chance you'd
write the liner notes?
It'd be a help.
ARETHA: Is Erma still
mad that I released
"Son of a Preacher Man"?
CAROLYN: Well, you did say
you weren't going to release it.
ARETHA: Well, she recorded
it and it didn't chart.
CAROLYN: And now she feels
like you stole her thunder.
ARETHA: This is a crazy business,
we all just out here trying to make it.
REPORTER (OVER TV):
A riot broke out today in
California Soledad State Prison.
ARETHA: All right, I'll
write your liner notes,
no sweat.
CAROLYN: Thank you.
REPORTER (OVER TV): Three
Negro inmates, while engaged in,
what several reports
say was a fistfight,
were shot and killed by prison guards.
Some think the violence
is related to the racially
charged riots that have
rocked several American cities
over the past few years.
- CAROLYN: Let me turn this off.
- ARETHA: Don't.
REPORTER (OVER TV): Most
notably in the months of 1967.
CAROLYN: The world is going crazy,
but you can only do so much.
ARETHA: Well, the
least I can do is listen.
Mass incarceration, racial injustice;
it just makes me want to holler.
CAROLYN: I hear that.
But you always getting tangled
up in other people's messes.
Don't.
ARETHA: They shoot us down like dogs;
like our lives ain't worth nothing.
I'm going to record a protest album.
It's time to take a stand.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)
♪
CECIL: Well, Re, you
wanted to meet the man who
made my medallion.
Ken Cunningham meet my
sister Aretha Franklin.
ARETHA: Pleasure to meet you.
KEN: It's an honor.
CECIL: I'll leave you two.
ARETHA: Shall we sit?
KEN: Sounds good.
ARETHA: These are your designs?
KEN: Yes, ma'am.
Our designers are brothers
and sisters who work
with jewelers and
seamstresses in Harlem.
ARETHA: Everything is gorgeous.
KEN: Yes, indeed.
Gorgeous, comfortable,
and instep with the time.
Now, we going to be in
runways and magazines,
and we've got good word of mouth.
ARETHA: And now you need investors.
Cecil says that you're a
self-made businessman who is
socially conscious.
KEN: Well, thank you, Cecil.
ARETHA: Well, I like to empower people,
but I have to thoroughly
checkup on people before
I meet them.
KEN: Well, I certainly hope I rate.
ARETHA: So far.
Could I have a scotch, please?
KEN: Just water for me, thanks.
Hey, I have a gift for you.
If you would allow me
to flip to the back page.
Ah, this, this is from Ghana.
Now, if you look here the
white symbolizes goodness and
the gold is for prosperity.
I thought it would be perfect for you.
ARETHA: Thank you.
You've got to come to the studio,
see how I run my business.
(PIANO).
ARETHA: And after that, I come in.
You got it?
ARIF, I know I've been
talking a mile a minute,
are you getting everything down?
ARIF: Just like you laid it out for me,
hot off the press.
ARETHA: Billy, can
you give us more feel?
BILLY: I'll take us all to church.
ARETHA: Cornell, I want
you to keep it greasy.
CORNELL: Deep fried
and laid to the side.
ARETHA: And, Chuck and Ray won't rush.
- CHUCK: I'm in.
- RAY: Copy that.
ARETHA: Ladies?
WOMAN: Oh, we're good to go.
(HARMONIZING)
WOMAN: Wait a minute, wait a minute.
ARETHA: Okay,
let's take it from the top.
MAN: Going to make a hit.
We need to work on that pocket.
ARETHA: All right.
(PIANO).
ARETHA: Wait a minute, now.
There was a pizza box on
the piano, where is it?
There was a pizza box
on the piano, where is it?
ARIF: What, you want
to order dinner, or?
ARETHA: It makes the
piano sound different.
- MAN: Sorry.
- MAN 2: Chop, chop.
MAN: Thought it was garbage.
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
ARETHA: Let's take it from the top.
(PIANO).
Holy Moses, I have been removed ♪
I have seen the specter,
he has been here too ♪
Distant cousin from down the line ♪
Brand of people who ain't my kind ♪
Holy Moses, I have been removed ♪♪
JERRY: How political
is she going to get?
RUTH: She hasn't said.
CECIL: She's been listening
to anti-war songs,
migrant farmer songs.
TOM: Hasn't she earned the
right to do what she wants?
Now the wind has changed directions ♪
I think I'll have to leave ♪♪
JERRY: I just don't want
people to boycott her.
You know, she could play
the Fillmore West instead.
You know, peace and drug loving hippies,
they're radical but
not in a way that would
alienate her fanbase.
Think hippies would get her?
CECIL: Why wouldn't they get her?
RUTH: What she should
do is play the Fillmore
and make this album.
Yes I have now ♪
I'm going back to the
border where my affairs ♪
My affairs ain't been abused ♪
I can't take any more bad water ♪
I've been poisoned from
my head down to my shoes ♪♪
JERRY: Yeah, I don't know
that this song is going
to resonate with her hardcore fans.
RUTH: Well, it resonates with me.
JERRY: Well, if they all
sound like this, great,
but if not, we've got
a dud on our hands.
You know, she thinks
those Soledad Brothers are
folk heroes but I'm not
so sure her fanbase does.
RUTH: Look, it's not
easy on my end either.
Last summer, she sparks
a riot in Denver and then
she cancels in Las Vegas.
I'm having trouble booking her.
JERRY: Yeah.
Who's this guy she's with?
CECIL: It's Ken Cunningham,
social activist, businessman.
He's solid, I checked.
JERRY: The divorce with
Ted come through yet?
Great.
Holy Moses, can we live in peace? ♪
Let us strive to find a
way to make all hatred cease ♪
There's a man standing over there ♪
What's his color, do you care? ♪
Holy ♪
Holy, holy, holy ♪
Holy Moses can we live in peace? ♪
Lord help me know ♪
Holy, holy Moses ♪
Can we live in peace? ♪
My brother ♪
Holy Moses ♪
Can we live ♪
I wonder can we? ♪
Can we ♪
Can we live in peace? ♪
♪
ARETHA: I'm writing a new song.
JERRY: What's it called?
ARETHA: I don't know yet but it's,
it's going to hit you hard,
get under your skin
right down to the bone.
CECIL: I'm loving it already.
MAN: Right on.
ARETHA: It's going to be a protest song.
The message is going to
be there but it's going
to be quiet.
It's going to be fun to dance to.
KEN: Subversive.
ARETHA: Yeah, that's right.
KEN: Anybody aside from me
follow what's going on over
there in Soledad?
ARETHA: Angela Davis speaking out?
KING CURTIS: Cause the
incarceration has been unjust
and unwarranted from jump.
ARETHA: Angela Davis has my vote.
RUTH: Maybe you could
do a concert at Folsom.
Johnny Cash did and B. B. King
is planning to do one.
I also like that idea
about the Fillmore.
ARETHA: It's nice to know
that the world doesn't
turn off when the signer
starts telling it like it is.
I'd sing any gig.
I miss the energy of the audience.
RUTH: I'll work on it.
JERRY: Okay.
Just a reminder that music
is a business, all right.
What do you think pays
for your vacation home?
Or my boat in Miami?
Hit records do.
ARETHA: All right.
So, my protest album's
going to be a hit.
JERRY: Okay.
ARETHA: I'll tell you what,
if you can't get your head
around this concept album,
Jerry, I, I'll produce it myself.
JERRY: Okay.
RUTH: Oh, oh, oh.
KEN: You okay?
ARETHA: Mm-hmm.
JERRY: I'm just trying
to be the voice of reason,
is that a crime?
ARETHA: Nope.
JERRY: So, Ken, was it?
You two talk politics a lot?
KEN: Well, no, Mr. Wexler.
I ain't putting no ideas
in her head if that's what
you was thinking.
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
(VOMIT)
♪
♪
ARETHA: I'm going to call my album
Young, Gifted and Black.
RUTH: That's the title
of Nina Simone's hit song.
CECIL: And Hansberry's hit play.
ARETHA: Mm-hmm.
JERRY: Okay, now you want
to be like Nina Simone.
Can I remind everybody that
Nina Simone is a head case?
ARETHA: Can I remind
you that Nina Simone fired
her record label?
You know why?
Because she wanted to do
what the hell she wanted to.
And maybe I might fire you, Jerry,
so I could do whatever
the hell I want to do.
Because, you know, you don't own me.
You know that?
Cause I'm free.
JERRY: You're drunk.
ARETHA: I'm free.
You hear me?
I am free.
I'm free, God dammit, I'm free.
Your love, liftin' me higher ♪
Than I've ever been lifted before ♪
So keep it up ♪
Quench my desire ♪
And I'll be at your side forevermore ♪
You know your love ♪
Your love keeps liftin' me ♪
Keeps on liftin' ♪
Your love keeps liftin' me ♪
Higher ♪
Lifting me ♪
Higher and higher ♪
I said your love ♪
Your love keeps liftin' me ♪
Keep on ♪♪
NEWS ANCHOR (OVER TV):
In response to events at the
California prison where
inmates have been charged with
the retaliation killing
of a prison guard,
Professor Angela Davis has
joined the Soledad Brothers
Defense Committee to advocate
for the negro prisoners.
ANGELA (OVER TV): This
demonstration was organized by
the Soledad Brothers
Defense Committee in order to
bring to light, to the public,
the face of the Soledad Brothers and
in order to begin to move
on changing the oppressive
conditions in the penal
system of the States.
KEN: Well, you know the
way to a man's heart, I see.
ARETHA: So, you like
my pig's feet ala Re.
KEN: I must admit I've never
been offered pig feet at a
business meeting before.
ARETHA: Well, see, you wanted
to take me to Silvia's,
and I say why go outside for
something you can get at home.
KEN: Now, I hope you
don't mind me asking,
who picks your songs?
ARETHA: I do.
I hear something I want,
and I give the idea to the
guys and I pick the musicians,
I pick the singers,
and Jerry has input too, so does Tom.
But I can't sing something
I don't feel so I have to
arrange it so I can feel it.
KEN: Mmm, but what
does the other guy do?
- ARETHA: Arif?
- KEN: Mm-hmm.
ARETHA: He's a producer,
a great producer.
KEN: Well, sounds like
you're the producer, too.
ARETHA: No, I'm the artist.
I'm the talent.
KEN: Well, no, from what you
just described it sounds like
you're calling the shots,
you're running the show,
you're making the arrangements,
you're setting up the music.
You deserve a producer
credit too, sugar.
ARETHA: You're thinking
what I'm thinking.
KEN: Yeah, the movement
starts at home with you, Re.
You've got to claim your power.
ARETHA: Well, all right, um, tomorrow
KEN: Uh-huh.
ARETHA: I'm going to
walk into Jerry's office.
KEN: Okay.
ARETHA: I'm going to roll up my sleeves.
KEN: I can dig it.
ARETHA: All right.
I'm going to puff up my chest.
- KEN: Uh-huh. Yeah.
- ARETHA: And I will say Jerry.
ARETHA: I am a producer.
Aretha Franklin is now a producer.
KEN: Get down!
ARETHA: Yes.
KEN: I tell you; I would
pay top dollar to be able
to be in there to see
them uppity honkey's face
when you say that.
ARETHA: Me too.
KEN: That would be
something, I tell you.
Now, I try not to listen to
everything I hear but the word
is you're still married
ARETHA: Well, the word is wrong.
I'm getting divorced.
KEN: Well, the word is quite
similar to my word because
I'm getting a divorce, too.
ARETHA: Oh, very good to know.
KEN: That wouldn't stop
anything now would it?
ARETHA: Absolutely not.
KEN: Well, I happen to
be very, very serious,
just so you know.
- BARBARA: You're my heart.
- ARETHA: And you're mine.
BARBARA: Mmmm. Love you.
ARETHA: Love you, too.
Is it past my bedtime yet?
BARBARA: Yes.
Your brother and
sisters are already in bed.
Go on, head on upstairs.
CL: Where's my favorite
women folk who make me
the most blessed man
in the whole, wide world.
I'll see you later.
ARETHA: Are you planning
your pastor's anniversary?
CL: Yes, I am, with Sister
Helen and a few others.
It's not too bad for
a little country preacher
now running a big
Detroit, Michigan church.
BARBARA: New Bethel
is blessed to have you.
They've improved
themselves quite a bit since
you took over.
CL: Indeed, they have.
I'll see you later.
You going to wait up for me?
I'll have something for you.
Little Re, I'll see you later.
ARETHA: Bye, Daddy.
Can I stay up 'til Daddy comes back?
BARBARA: He won't be back until late.
(HORN HONKING).
(DOG BARKING).
ARETHA: But can I wait up with you?
BARBARA: I'd like that.
♪
ARETHA: What's Daddy doing?
BARBARA: Oh.
(TORN CLOTH)
ARETHA: Mommy? Mom?
ERMA: Mommy, can I help you?
BARBARA: No, sweetie,
just sit down and stay quiet.
CAROLYN: Where are we going?
ARETHA: Stay quiet I said.
CAROLYN: Is Daddy coming with us?
BARBARA: No, and we going to
be gone before he gets here.
ARETHA: How come we have to
be gone before Daddy comes back?
BARBARA: I said hush.
CECIL: Mommy!
CAROLYN: What is happening?
BARBARA: Shh.
ERMA: Come here.
Carolyn.
CAROLYN: What is
CL: What the hell is going on here?
What are you doing?
Where the hell she taking you?
You ain't going to answer me?
BARBARA: I'm tired of washing
your dirty laundry, Frank.
Tired of making sure
your mess looks clean.
Going to live with
my sister and I'm taking
the children with me.
CL: You don't like me
spending time with Sister Helen?
She, she just my secretary.
BARBARA: Your tongue ought
to be forked you lie so much.
You made a vow to me when
Aretha Louise was born.
CL: Yelling, for what,
so that all the neighborhood
can hear you?
BARBARA: I don't care who hears me!
CL: You just need us
to be a storybook family,
that' ain't who we are, baby.
BARBARA: Don't put that on me.
It is Pastor Franklin who
needs to look good or else
you'd get run out of town.
You're going to lose your church.
Just like in Memphis.
They going to kick you out
and you're going to have
to leave town again with
your tail between your
legs dragging your family behind you.
CL: Shout it, girl, shout it!
Yeah, shout it.
You like everybody to hear you, why,
why don't you run down
the street shouting.
Come on, run down the street
shouting, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, everybody, hey, hey.
You done took a stand.
You take your children, but
did you ever stop and think
about how you going to
provide for them children?
You ain't got no money,
you ain't got no job,
you ain't got no home, you
ain't got no Goddamn sense.
BARBARA: You broke my heart.
And I won't let you treat me like this,
and I won't let the children
- CL: If you think
- BARBARA: Quit it.
CL: That I would
let you take my damn children?
Never!
Put that down.
CHILDREN: No. Mommy!
CL: Put that down.
BARBARA: No! No!
CHILDREN: Mommy, Daddy.
Mommy!
CL: Put them clothes down!
(SCREAMING).
CL: No, no, no.
ARETHA: Leave me alone.
CL: No, no, no.
(SCREAMING AND CRYING).
CL: Stop that crying.
Leave her be, leave her be.
ARETHA: Let go of me.
Let go of me.
CL: Stop that crying!
Or I'm going to give you
something to cry about.
Stop that crying.
BARBARA: I've got to leave your father.
I can't live otherwise.
ARETHA: Take my hand.
BARBARA: I would never leave you all,
I would never leave my babies ever.
CL: Go on, go on.
BARBARA: Don't you ever
just wait for something bad
to turn good.
CL: Go on.
(CRYING).
- ARETHA: Mommy! Mommy!
- CL: Stop that crying.
ARETHA: Mommy.
(CRYING).
ARETHA: Mommy. Don't leave. Come back.
Say it loud ♪
I'm black and I'm proud ♪
Say it loud ♪
I'm black and I'm proud ♪
Well, some people say
we've got a lot of malice ♪
Some say it's a lot of nerve ♪
But I say we won't
quit moving until we get ♪
What we deserve ♪
We've been 'buked and ♪♪
- ARETHA: James Baldwin.
- KEN: Mm-hmm.
- ARETHA: Zora Neale Hurston.
- KEN: Yup.
- ARETHA: Frantz.
- KEN: Fanon.
- ARETHA: Fanon?
- KEN: Uh-huh.
ARETHA: Frantz Fanon,
and Lorraine Hansberry.
KEN: These are some of the essentials.
ARETHA: I'm be a scholar
and a revolutionary.
KEN: Right on, sister.
I'll get you some more books.
ARETHA: Thank you.
CAROLYN: You didn't have
time to come with me to the
Gay Pride March.
That's all cool but now
you up here trying to save
the world and you've
been AWOL in the studio.
ARETHA: And I didn't
write your liner notes
for your record.
CAROLYN: Daddy wrote them,
they turned out great.
ARETHA: I'm sorry.
Really.
MAN: Welcome to Harlem, Queen.
Can I get your autograph?
ARETHA: Yeah, of course you can.
You've got two Franklin
sisters for the price of one.
Have a good day now.
MAN: You too.
ARETHA: Thank you.
(CROWD CHATTER).
OFFICER (OVER SPEAKER):
Detroit PD, step out of the car
CL: Now, you know this
is an illegal search.
Come on now, this is an illegal search.
OFFICER: You ran a stop sign.
CL: Ya'll need to call
somebody and you ain't need to
come here and get me.
What did I do?
OFFICER: Keep your hands visible, sir.
CL: It's because I'm, it's
because I'm CL Franklin, huh,
Aretha Franklin's father
you going to do that to me.
This is ridiculous.
Oh, see now you done planted that.
You done planted that.
You don't never want to
see a black person succeed.
You're always trying to drag us down.
You know this ain't right.
JERRY: I, I like your haircut.
It suits you.
ARETHA: Thank you.
JERRY: But you've been
AWOL for two whole months.
ARETHA: I've been
dealing with family stuff.
My dad was in jail,
I had to bail him out.
JERRY: Yeah, I heard.
ARETHA: Black people everywhere from my,
my father to the Soledad
Brothers are under the thumb
of a system that's completely rigged.
That's what I've been focusing on.
JERRY: The hypocrisy of justice,
black folks can't get a fair shake.
I hear ya.
Is your dad going to be all right?
ARETHA: He always lands on his feet.
JERRY: You know, supporting
Dr. King was one thing but
I don't know, these
times feel more risky.
You know, Nina recorded
"Mississippi God Damn",
a great song, but then the
radio stations boycotted her,
and the people went into the
record stores and they smashed
her albums to bits.
ARETHA: I'm not drinking.
Look, make me a producer
on my new album.
Let the world, everywhere,
read in the trades that
Atlantic has named
Aretha Franklin a producer on
Young, Gifted and Black.
JERRY: Okay.
I'll think about that.
But three sessions in a
row I organized for you on
dates that you chose,
and you missed them all.
And last year you were
a no show in Las Vegas
at Caesar's Palace for crying out loud.
And how much did that cost you?
100-grand, 100-grand.
And Ruth says she's got
to jump through hoops to book
you cause people say you are a problem.
ARETHA: People are just
bad mouthing me to try and
keep me in my place.
JERRY: And what are you
doing to prove them wrong?
ARETHA: Give me a real
seat at the table and I can
show you how I can prove them wrong.
JERRY: Aretha, you're out
there acting like a hot head.
You're worrying about these
young men in jail when you
should be worrying
about the bottom line.
In, in what universe are you a producer?
ARETHA: I do all the work.
JERRY: You don't know half of what I do.
ARETHA: Well, I do know
that I deserve more credit and
that you are standing in my way.
JERRY: I'm standing, I'm
Look, I'm glad you're laying
off the sauce and I'm very
glad you're back.
ARETHA: But you like me better
when I'm drinking, don't you?
JERRY: No, I don't. And that's not fair.
ARETHA: If I don't get
what I need from you,
I'm going to find a
way to get it myself.
I'm gonna do what I gotta do.
♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
That's what I feel now ♪
Let's call this song
exactly what it is ♪
Step and move your hips ♪
With a feelin' from side to side ♪
Sit yourself down in
your car and take a ride ♪
And while you're moving, rock steady ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Let's call this song
exactly what it is ♪
What it is, what it is, what it is ♪
It's a funky and lowdown feeling ♪
What it is ♪
Move your hips from left to right ♪
What it is ♪
What it is, is I might be doin' ♪
This funky dance all night, ah ♪
Put your hands up in the air ♪
Got a feelin' you ain't got a care ♪
Wouldn't you wanna take this burn? ♪
That sail us all inside ♪
Rock steady, rock steady baby ♪
Rock steady, rock steady baby ♪
♪
♪
Jump and move your
hips with a feelin' from ♪
side to side ♪
Sit yourself down in
your car and take a ride ♪
And while you're movin', rock steady ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Let's call this song
exactly what it is ♪
What it is, what it is, what it is ♪
It's a funky and lowdown feelin' ♪
What it is ♪
Move your hips from left to right ♪
What it is ♪
What it is, is I might be doin' ♪
This funky dance all night, ah ♪
Put your hands up in the air ♪
Got a feelin' you ain't got a care ♪
Wouldn't you want to take this burn? ♪
That sail us all inside ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Rock steady, baby, rock steady ♪
♪
♪
Rock ♪
♪
Steady ♪
Rock ♪
Steady ♪
What it is ♪
It's a funky and lowdown feelin' ♪
Move your hips from left to right ♪
What it is, is I might be doin' ♪
This funky dance all night, ah ♪
Put your hands up in the air ♪
Got a feelin' you ain't got a care ♪
Wouldn't you want to take this burn? ♪
That sail us all inside ♪
Rock steady, steady baby ♪
Rock ♪
Rock steady, baby ♪
Baby ♪
What it is ♪♪
ERMA: Okay, say
something, Re, or give me.
BARBARA (OVER PHONE): Baby tell Mommy
about your piano playing
or your singing.
Has your father let
you solo in church yet?
ERMA (OVER PHONE): She
ain't soloed yet, Mom.
Give it to me, say something.
CECIL: I want my turn.
ARETHA: I miss you, Mommy.
Big Momma pressed my hair.
BARBARA: Aretha Louise,
I bet you look so pretty.
ERMA: Do you like living in
Buffalo better than Detroit?
BARBARA: Erma, you
ask me that every week.
ERMA: Well, then how
come you're staying there if
you don't like it?
CECIL: Oh.
CAROLYN: Cecil.
CECIL: Will you come
home for spring so we can
have a picnic?
CAROLYN: Or we could go to a ballgame!
ARETHA: Give it to me.
ERMA: I'm the older one.
ARETHA: I can hear you breathing, Mommy.
BARBARA: I hear you too, baby.
ERMA (OVER PHONE):
Well, we love you, Mommy.
Okay?
- CAROLYN: Lots and lots! Love you more!
- CECIL: We love you, a lot.
BIG MOMMA: We'll speak
with you next week, honey.
BARBARA (OVER PHONE): Yes, ma'am.
BIG MOMMA: All right, goodbye.
ARETHA: Love you, Mommy.
I want to go live with Mommy in Buffalo.
CL: You already live here, baby.
ARETHA: You're not being fair.
CL: The world ain't fair, Aretha.
♪
ARETHA: Could I get a glass of water?
MAN: Yes, ma'am. Just water?
ARETHA: Mm-hmm. Thank you, honey.
It's getting to the
point where I'm no ♪♪
MAN: Hey, hey, take our photo here.
Oh, oh, better yet let's
get all four of you together.
MAN: Great, there we go.
Great, thank you.
MAN 2: That's something you
don't see every day, huh?
JERRY: Thanks for being here.
ARETHA: I'm trying to show
up in more ways than one.
Nobody like me seems to have come.
JERRY: Yeah, well,
these industry parties are
boring as hell.
But if you'd have ditched it,
it might not look like
we were on the same team.
ARETHA: Well, maybe we're not.
MAN: Congratulations, Arif.
Well-deserved producer credit.
MAN 2: "Don't Play that Song"
wouldn't have that sound
wouldn't have that sound
without your touch.
MAN: Plus "Spirit in the Dark",
the whole album is brilliant.
Beautiful singing,
Ms. Franklin, as always.
MAN: She's the magic touch,
made it timeless.
ARIF: Well, I wasn't
in there alone, guys.
I mean Jerry was in there with me.
MAN: Come on, man.
MAN 2: We heard the
roughs for "Border Song".
MAN 3: The sound you got with the keys.
MAN 4: We heard you put
an empty pizza box on top
of a piano.
ARETHA: That was my idea.
MAN: Wow, great.
And "Rock Steady," it's really hot.
ARETHA: Where's my
producer credit, Jerry?
JERRY: You're talent,
you're, you're the artist.
No artist gets producer credit.
Not The Who, not The Stones,
not even The Beatles.
MAN: It just isn't done.
ARETHA: You full of shit.
I'm the type of person
that brings people together.
I don't divide them.
So, why am I being left
out on the outside?
JERRY: I can't give
you something just because
you want it.
This is the world, okay,
I can't change the rules.
ARETHA: You want me to
think that you hear me.
You want me to think that you care.
JERRY: I do.
ARETHA: But you don't,
not really, not for real.
There's something
inside is telling me that I ♪♪
JERRY: Would you like
something to drink?
ARETHA: I'm not drinking.
Fear is the lock ♪
And laughter the key to your heart ♪♪
(FLASH BULBS)
♪
Gotta change around here ♪
Gotta change around here ♪
Can't go on this way ♪
Things gotta change around here ♪
Say it loud ♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): A young man,
George Jackson,
was thrown into jail
on a trumped-up charge.
His kid brother, Jonathan,
does everything he can to get
him a fair trial but the
world just ain't fair for us.
WOMAN: Amen!
ARETHA (OVER PA): They said
George stole $70.00 from a gas station.
And after years of not
being granted parole,
they accused George of
killing a prison guard.
MAN: That ain't right.
ARETHA (OVER PA): So, he
gets locked up for life.
What does his little
brother Jonathan do?
JONATHAN: Freeze.
My brother, George, is
locked up for no good reason.
ARETHA: He smuggles guns
into a courthouse demanding
justice and gets killed.
Other folks were killed, too.
What good is freedom? ♪
If we haven't learned ♪♪
ARETHA: Change is not going
to come, it's already here.
Angela was trying to help
the Soledad Brothers and
now I'm trying to help Angela.
She was charged with murder,
kidnapping, and conspiracy.
And I'm here in support
of inmate number 02G0964.
You know her as Professor Angela Davis.
REPORTER: You're joining
her legal defense team?
ARETHA: I'm offering to post her bail.
REPORTER: You'll contribute
to her legal fund?
ARETHA (OVER PA): I'll
do anything I can to help.
REPORTER: Do you believe in communism?
REPORTER 2: Are you suggesting
we riot against the establishment?
ARETHA (OVER PA): I believe in freedom.
And I believe in the right of
black people to assert their rights.
Angela Davis must go free.
Black people will be free.
You got to disturb the peace
when you can't get no peace.
I'm going to see her free
if this court system has any
justice at all.
Not because I believe in
communism but because she is a
black woman who believes in
the freedom of black people.
I intend to use all my money
and power that my people have
given to me to free Angela.
REPORTER: Are you afraid
of alienating your fans?
REPORTER 2: Are you advocating violence
against the establishment?
ARETHA (OVER PA): I have
said all I need to say.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE).
CL: How the hell can you do this to me?
ARETHA: Cause it ain't about you,
it's about doing what's right.
CL: You support a communist
who buys guns for criminals.
ARETHA: Angela didn't mean
for them to get her guns.
CL: You believe that?
ARETHA: George Jackson was
not supposed to be in jail
in the first place.
He was wrongfully incarcerated.
CL: Well, the newspapers
are saying something.
ARETHA: I'm doing what
you taught me to do,
to stand up for our people.
CL: I never stood up for no criminals.
ARETHA: Except for those
hot heads that walked in the
church with guns and
shot out with the police.
CL: And you raked me over
the coals for that and for
involving you in that.
ARETHA: I'm involved in
this because I want to be,
not because of you.
I get to support who
I want to on my terms.
CL: But you make me
look bad in the process.
ARETHA: You can do that all by yourself.
CL: You know, you talk about
black empowerment but when I
suggest you use one of my
sermons in my protest record,
you turn your nose up.
Now, I've been protesting
since before you were born.
Carolyn asked you to write
the liner notes in her
new record and you ain't
got the time to empower her.
When you heard Erma was
recording "Preacher Man",
you went and released
your own version to
undercut her chance.
ARETHA: How much help
do ya'll need from me?
CL: You just got to
flaunt your power, don't you?
ARETHA: Yes, maybe I do.
Because I'm my mother's daughter.
CL: Don't you start about your mother.
ARETHA: And she waited too
long to stand up for herself
and it killed her, and I
refuse to let that be me.
So, yes, even if it makes you look bad.
KEN: Fighting the power
begins at home, huh?
Still glad you brought
me here to meet him.
ARETHA: Seems like we
fighting all the time.
Maybe wanting to help Angela
is not the smartest move.
KEN: Hey, standing up
for what you believe in is
always the right call.
Now, I may not be royalty
like you, but I can help.
CL: My daughter and I
don't always see eye to eye.
But I'm glad you visiting with us.
KEN: I thank you for that
welcome, Reverend Franklin.
CL: Bless you.
You have a good evening.
- ARETHA: Bye, Daddy.
- CL: Mm-hmm.
ARETHA: I'm performing
at the Fillmore West.
KEN: Huh, are you now?
ARETHA: Coming?
KEN: Yes, indeed. I will be there.
This is beautiful.
ARETHA: It's all right.
KEN: So are you, come here.
ARETHA: I
KEN: What?
What's wrong?
ARETHA: I don't know how to.
KEN: I love you.
(THUNDER)
(PIANO).
♪
BARBARA: What's the matter, sunshine?
ARETHA: It's just that this
time tomorrow our bus will be
headed back to Detroit.
BARBARA: But you've
enjoyed your visit, right?
ARETHA: Me and Erma
and Cecil and Carolyn,
we all want to stay here with you.
BARBARA: Your daddy's going
to let you visit this summer.
ARETHA: For the whole summer?
BARBARA: We'll have to see.
ARETHA: When we're at home, we miss you.
What's the matter?
BARBARA: I'm just tired.
I miss you all too.
Let's play make it up as we go.
ARETHA: Okay.
(PIANO).
(HUMMING).
(PHONE RINGING).
CL: Hello?
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Momma!
ERMA: Re?
ARETHA: No, no.
(CRYING).
ERMA: I know.
(CRYING).
(CRYING).
(CRYING).
SISTER HELEN: Do you want
something to eat, honey?
ARETHA: No, Sister Helen.
SISTER HELEN: Your mother
loved her children more than
anything else in this world.
Your mother's in a better place now.
She's with the Lord, child.
ARETHA: You don't need to talk to me.
SISTER HELEN: I'm sure your
daddy gave your momma a
beautiful home going speech.
ARETHA: Daddy didn't
go to Momma's funeral.
We buried her in Buffalo,
and he wasn't even there.
You best leave me be.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE).
ARETHA (OVER PA): Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to say before we leave that
you have been much more than
I could have ever expected.
I'd like to leave you saying
Reach out and touch somebody's hand ♪
Make this a better world, if you can ♪
We love you ♪
Reach out and touch ♪
Somebody's hand ♪
Why don't you make it a better world ♪
If you can ♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): Turn around
and touch your brother,
touch your sister.
Reach out and touch.
Extend your hand.
Somebody's hand ♪
Make this a better world ♪
If you can ♪
Reach out and touch ♪
Somebody's hand ♪
Make this a better world ♪♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): Need I say more, no.
If you can ♪♪
ARETHA (OVER PA): Reach out and touch.
Reach out and touch ♪
Grab hold of somebody's hand ♪
Go on make it a better world ♪
I know you ♪
♪
JERRY: She really does
bring people together.
RUTH: She's at her best out there.
ARETHA (OVER PA): I love you
and I love you.
Call me the mother you didn't have.
I love you.
KING CURTIS: I love you.
Go on and reach out ♪♪
♪
Wo ♪
Woo-oo-oo-oo ♪
Ahhh-oh ♪
Reach out and reach out and ♪
Yeah ♪
Reach out ♪
Reach out ♪
Reach out and touch somebody's hand ♪♪
(MUSIC PLAYS THROUGH CREDITS)