Every time I hear Aretha sing Amazing Grace, the tears well up in my eyes. Also, the reason the piano is so good is the pianist is the late great Rev. James Cleveland. He was a master at the piano. On this song, He had perfect timing and phrasing with just the right chords and arpeggios. He tutored Aretha's piano playing when she was young.
I gave this a thumbs up before I even watched it. I've seen this and know that Aretha tears this up AND down...and that your reaction would show your deep appreciation for the Queen of Soul and her completely insane vocal abilities! Her voice was P-U-R-E.
What can you say about the Queen of Soul except when God created her ,he must have said I’m going to give you a voice above all voices and the world 🌍 will know this❤❤❤👑🙏
PRAISE GOD. GLORY TO GOD! Thank you so much for this reaction video. PRAISE HIM! PRAISE HIM! This is such an incredible live performance. No tweeking or auto tune. Just her powerful vocal. I love that she was not "performing: but you cold feel the Spirit of the Lord as she sang. She was singing and sharing her TESTimony! Aretha went through a lot. As a Christian, I watch Christian movies and a few secular ones that have a real message and that does NOT contain things that are spiritually dark and displeasing to GOD. The same goes for music. I really only listen to gospel and worship music. But, I have watched many of your reaction videos because I love to see the gifts that God has bestowed upon people, especially upcoming talent. So I check in to see your reactions, such as H.E.R. singing The Lord Is Coming. Yolanda singing, I Believe I Can Fly, Sarah Vaughn and many more. AMAZING GRACE (the album) is the greatest selling gospel live album of all time. I cannot tell you how many times I actually bought it. I was 16 the first time I purchased it when it came out in 1972. It was vinyl. When it scratched, I bought it a second time. When cassette tapes came out, I bought the tape. And Guess what? When it came out on CD, I purchased it at least 2 times because I had young people who listened to it as well and were not so careful. Believe it or not, I purchased it on I Tunes and have it on my phone. And finally, (lol), I purchased this live taping on Amazon. So, now I can watch it anytime I desire. I purchased it so many times, it's hard to believe. There are certain songs like Amazing Grace, Wholly Holy (a cover of Marvin Gaye's song), Precious Memories, How I Got Over and more. We could see Mick Jagger as she sings the Old Landmark and see him standing in the back clapping as she sings Climbing Higher Mountain. I love the entire album, but still have my favorites. Also, that was James Cleveland that was playing the playing the piano. He was so overcome, he had to sit down and weep before getting back up to direct the choir and stand behind Aretha and hold her. I loved your response and your comments. Thanks so much for this reaction. Continued Blessings.
The man on piano is the late Rev. James Cleveland...Aretha was 30 yrs. young when this was recorded...Aretha was a smoker, but at this stage there was no damage to her vocals...As she grew older, you could hear the difference in her voice...Heavy/raspy...She had stop smoking, but unfortunately damage was already done to her vocals...Sister could still bring it, but just in a different tone...May our Queen of Soul, Sleep in Eternal Peace...
Thank you so much for reacting! This performance is always there when I need it. Masterclass in expression, the conviction! (I actually think she was struggling with those highest notes at this point in the ceremony. Her voice was generally in peak condition during this time and she made this one of the most memorable performances in history anyway)
That was the late Reverend James Cleveland on the piano! Aretha credits him for teaching her piano (big chords) back home in Detroit! Apparently James was a family friend who stayed at their home before he went to Los Angeles and Chicago!
Yesss, that was wonderful, and by the way, that was the legendary James Cleveland, minister, singer, songwriter on the piano, he and Aretha Franklin were dear friends.
The Great Josephine Howard from the Caravans is in the Choir.....and If you look close in the Audience you will see a Young Miki Howard in PigTails watching the Great Aretha Amazing
Great reaction as always Adam! You should also check out her performance of "Precious Lord" from Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral! Now that was transcendent, even through her tears!
❤❤One of my favorite songs on the album. I love the entire album. I remember when my aunt bought this album. She was so excited, rushed to put it on the record player and she played it day after day for weeks. I love ‘Mary Don’t You Weep’also especially when the background singers are harmonizing, hmmmm hmmmm hmmmm… or however it’s spelled.
This is the short version. This song is over 15 minutes long. This song and Never Grow Old should be studied because she sang them with everything in her.
