Aretha does "AHINAH" on the upcoming Luther tribut

[GehVorbei]

"So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute To Luther Vandross." The album will be released Sept. 20 by J Records:

artists are...
 
Babyface  IF ONLY FOR ONE NIGHT
Beyonce` SO AMAZING
Mary J. Blige NEVER TOO MUCH
Celine Dion DANCE WITH MY FATHER
Fantasia TIL MY BABY COMES HOME
Jamie Foxx CREEPIN'
Aretha Franklin A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME
Wyclef Jean ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Elton John ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART (duet with Luther vocal)
Alicia Keys duet with Jermaine Paul IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE
Patti LaBelle HERE AND NOW
John Legend LOVE WON'T LET ME WAIT
Donna Summer THE POWER OF LOVE
Usher SUPERSTAR
 

[guest]

EITHER this is an incomplete list of participating artists OR there is a "glaring omission". It certainlly cannot be age discrimination since two of the named artists are in their 60's and I will not accept a "conflicting schedules excuse". For both personal and professional reasons - Dionne Warwick should be and hopefully will be included in this "Tribute" project (Clive Davis previously headed up Arista Records during Dionne's contract with that label and is now at the helm of J Records).

Anyone have any insight on this matter????

[Guest]

Unfortunately this seems to be the final list and Dionne apparantly is not part of this tribute. Nor is Diana Ross who was another one of Luthers alltime musical heroines. It is made even more absurd by the fact that both Diana and Dionne presently have no recording contract. And now Patti LaBelle is performing "Here And Now" a song Dionne´s son wrote. Go figure....

[Guest]

what the **** ? no Dionne ......how could they not include her !!!

i have always wanted to hear Dionne do HERE AND NOW.

[guest]

I just e-mailed Carlos Keyes @ Dionne's booking agency re: this apparent omission (carloskeyes@redentertainment.com).

Does anyone reading this have access to Clive Davis @ J Records??

[Guest]

It is a crime not to include Dionne, but remember this is being rushed to market to exploit Luther's death for all it is worth...this is not a well-thought-out meaningful tribute. Luther is probably revolving in his grave as we speak. Shame on all who are responsible!

[Guest]

Patti LaBelle? Love her but she is a legend in her own mind and such and EGO and was she THAT influential in Luther's life? Even poor Diana Ross (another down on her luck diva) who used to be great has much more credibility and influence than Patti. I've always kinda thought of Aretha, Dionne, and Diana as the top tier of your divadom and then there are your second tier divas like Donna Summer and Patti LaBelle. (Patti may have recorded with the BlueBelles in the 60s but she did not hit the big time until "Lady Marmalade" in 1974. Hell, by 1974 Dionne had already conquered the music world as probably, aside from Aretha, THE biggest female singer of the 1960s and had one comeback with Then Came You! Donna had not hit yet and Patti was not even well know at all until "Lady Marmalade." When did it become Aretha, Diana and PATTI? I heard Dennis Miller interview Patti and I got sick. Dennis Miller was actually GUSHING and mentioned Patti in the same breath with Aretha, and Diana. AHEM DENNIS-Patti may be close to Dionne and Aretha in age but she cut her teeth on Dionne, Diana and Aretha.

[GehVorbei]

To be frank, I cannot stand Patti´s voice or to be more precise her singing style. Strangely, while Dionne´s artistry is so much about control and Patti´s is so very much about losing it for me there is much more soul, much deeper emotion in Ms. Warwick´s voice than in LaBelle´s emty pyrotechnics. And then, what about their respective catalogues, while Dionne and Aretha and Diane have more than, what, 30 big, important records in their catalogue, Patti has maybe 4. Or does anybody think she owns "Over The Rainbow".

But having said all that, Luther loved the BlueBelles and he and Patti were very close personal friends and Patti is taking care of Luther´s mother Mary Ida. My issue is that by letting Patti record "Here and Now" - a song Dionne´s son wrote - and by having Aretha do "A House Is Not A Home" Dionne´s absence becomes blatant and the whole thing a slap in the face...And I´m sorry, if that´s a tacky thing to say, but in my humble opinion both Dionne´s and Luther´s face.

By-the-way: I loved Luther more than any other singer of his generation ever since his first Epic album came out. And for a long time I agreed with DW that after he recorded it, Luther "owned" "A House Is Not A Home"...But during the last couple of years everytime I heard Dionne do it in concert my feeling was: she has taken it back. Maybe that was actually the issue here - that in the context of Luther´s music and in the context of some of the BB/HD songs on this tribute Dionne still can outshine anybody...If you take Dionne´s take on "O Come All Ye Faithful" from last years Christmas album as an indicator "Here And Now" whould have been magnificent.

Greetings from Germany!

[GehVorbei]

By-the-way Dionne´s Semptember tour of the UK ist being filmed for dvd release and on the 20th she will perform a special live concert with the BBC Concert Orchestra for broadcast.

[guest]

Before adding anything else to this discussion - I wish to make it clear that I am assuming Dionne DID NOT reject an invitation to participate in this project. It's ironic that Dionne has been working for nearly 3 years to secure a contract for the release of her long anticipated "duets" project which she has referred to in every one of her recent concerts. It's pretty obvious that it will not be released in time for the forthcoming holiday season as last anticipated by Dionne herself. Isn't it interesting that a rush release is planned for September for the Luther tribute? The fact that it contains a recording of one of her classic songs (Anyone Who Had A Heart) with one of Dionne's announced duet partners - Elton John with Luther (similar to Natalie Cole's technological pairing with her late father - Nat King Cole?) borders on the unbelieveable.

On top of that - Aretha is awarded (A House Is Not A Home) which will probably be a terrific recording even though Dionne has reclaimed that as her own in recent years.

Beyonce will likely do a great version of "So Amazing" - but have you ever heard Dionne's interpretation included on her mid 80"s Luther Vandross produced album "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye?"?. It's slated for inclusion on Dionne's Legends 3 CD set being released in the UK later this month.

There's probably more to this than any of us will ever know!

I would still encourage anyone who might have access to Clive Davis at J Records to at least attempt to get an explanation for this "glaring omission"

[Guest]

I found this (p)review on the Aretha Franklin msn board:

"The absolute shock of this collection is Usher's amazing version of 'Superstar". This young hearthrob teeny bopper star comes of age on this cut and sinbgs his arse off. It is simply stunning as to the delivery. Not far behind is the disco/house version of "The Power Of Love" that Donna Summer turns in. She is in top vocal form - can anybody say comeback Queen of Disco.
Aretha Franklin choses to use her falsetto voice 90% of the time on her take on the Bacharch/David classic "A House Is Not A Home". She employs more riffs and runs than I have ever heard her use on any recording in her forty plus year career. The screaming, screeching and hollering that she does to this ballad may leave some scratching their head. I am left shaking mine,.
Never thought I'd live to see the day that Franklin was upstaged by Usher and Donna Summer."