The Queen of Soul surprised even Carole King at the recent Kennedy Center Honors concert when she sat down and accompanied herself on the piano singing King’s “Natural Woman.” King wasn’t alone in her reaction; indeed, the web is ablaze with comments by fans who didn’t know the Queen could play like that or had only seen her sing.
SoulTrackers of a “certain age” of course know better. Particularly at the start of her secular music career, Aretha Franklin often also played piano, and oh my what a skilled pianist she is. Here she is at age 22 playing “It Won’t Be Long,” her first single to crack the Billboard Hot 100, on live television in 1964. And it’s said she learned to play by ear!
By Robb Patryk
