Aretha Franklin is going to live forever.
Not literally, of course. But centuries from now, some people somewhere on Earth will know who she is. They will be listening to and talking about Aretha Franklin. Not only is she a significant figure in the history of 20th century popular music, but she’s recognized as such by just about everybody who knows who she is.
Many more centuries in the future, there will come a time when the aliens visit our completely destroyed planet and start to rummage through our cultural remains in order to retrieve artifacts for some kind of museum on their home planet. Whether they know enough of the larger context to make informed and discerning decisions or not, who knows. What I do know is that if they stumble across any of the following recordings, they just might name another woman “queen of soul.”
The following five songs are recorded by women who made some of the most amazing blues, R&B, and soul music of the last century…and they’re not named Aretha.
5. Irma Thomas, “Time Is On My Side” (1964)
Both Thomas and the Rolling Stones covered this song in 1964. It was originally written by Jerry Ragovoy (the man behind “The Hit Factory” recording studio) and recorded by jazz musician Kai Winding in 1963. Irma Thomas covered it before the Stones. The original was light on lyrics (“Time is on my side” and “You’ll come running back” were the only lyrics in Ragovoy’s version) and so songwriter Jimmy Norman expanded the song for Thomas’ recording. In a sense, the Rolling Stones covered her.
4. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, “Humble Me” (2006)
Born in 1956 in Augusta, Georgia, and raised primarily in New York City, Sharon Jones grew up listening to some of the best music ever made. While she tried to break into the music industry for most of her life, it wasn’t until she was 40 years old that it ended up working out for her. Known for her stupendous live performances, Jones passed away from cancer in 2016. She was only 60. She leaves us with 20 years of records crafted in the sound style of the best of the 60s and 70s, and made all the better by her talent. This song, a play on the Otis Redding sound, is among my favorites.
3. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, “Strange Things Happening Every Day” (1945)
She was the first bonafide gospel recording star who climbed to fame during the Depression. Her fame was the product of her moving voice but even more moving rhythm guitar. She is often hailed as one of the most influential people of modern US music, one of a small group most responsible for giving birth to rock n’ roll. This 1945 hit of hers–featuring her electric guitar play–is some of the best evidence of that.
2. Ruth Brown, “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” (1952)
I love Ruth Brown. Aside from her music (some of her songs I knew though I knew not who she was), I first came to know her through “The History of Rock n’ Roll,” a 1995 PBS series. She was one of the stand out interviewees in the series, not only because of who she was but because she was there, through it all. I’m never disappointed when I put on her music, a constant source of new “discoveries” and growing appreciation for her timeless classics. This was the first pop hit for this habitual maker of R&B greatness.
1. Big Maybelle, “Candy” (1956)
Mabel Louise Smith only lived 47 years on this planet. A gospel singer by upbringing (as were most), she struggled here and there in her recording career, achieving her greatest success in the 50s, when she changed her name to Big Maybelle and began recording for Okeh Records. “Candy” is perhaps her most well-regarded hit (it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999). She’s also known as the original performer of the song “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” a song she recorded before Jerry Lee Lewis made it famous.
LATINO LIKE ME 
Great choices. I wonder if, in that long-away future, people will understand why Sister Rosetta is so miraculous. Oh, her talent will shine through, no doubt. But I get the feeling that if I played her today for someone who didn’t know her, they would be dumbfounded that she existed and the listener didn’t know her. It’s how most of us respond to her, I think. It’s the guitar playing … the spirit with which she plays is as much of an affront to tradition as Little Richard. And maybe in a few hundred years, all of the music will blend together, and Sister Rosetta will be recognized as a great without noting that she was also a trend-setter.
I always think the same thing about her, that I would have to explain why she is so great to my students, for example. But then I hear stuff like this and I think she grooves, so hard, like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, making her own case.