There are few people that Aretha Franklin would ever bow to, but on Wednesday night, she did exactly that for her mentor Clive Davis at Radio City Music Hall.
The Queen of Soul was on hand to honor the music mogul at the world premiere of the new documentary "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives," which opened this year's Tribeca Film Festival.
Despite not being in the best of health, the 75-year-old Franklin was determined to pay tribute to Davis — who signed her to his Arista label in 1980, helping reinvigorate her career — as part of a post-screening live performance.
"I've been fighting an upper respiratory viral infection," she told the crowd. "So you'll forgive me if I miss a few notes."
Rocking a white dress and gamely shimmying across the stage, she dished out solid if unspectacular versions of "You Make me Feel Like a (Natural Woman)" and "Freeway of Love," and saluted Davis' influence on the music world.
"He's not only a chieftain who sits in the executive office and takes care of all of the business, he takes care of his artists as well," she added of 85-year-old Davis, whose career in the industry began in the mid-'60s.
The night's bill of artists featured a string of Davis' many finds and signings. First up was Barry Manilow, who opened the show with a medley of hits including "Copacabana," "Mandy," and "Can't Smile Without You."
Earth, Wind and Fire also ran through some R&B classics, including "The Way You Move" (assisted by easy-listening legend Kenny G), while Dionne Warwick added some soft soul with "I'll Never Love This Way Again," and "That's What Friends are For."
Davis' most famous discovery, Whitney Houston, was also acknowledged by way of a medley sung by Jennifer Hudson. The former American Idol contestant performed a mash-up of "I'm Every Woman," "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" — and ran into the Radio City crowd to coax Davis into a brief jig.
The weirdest moment of the night came from Carly Simon, who melded her 1986 hit "Coming Around Again" with an extended version of the nursery rhyme "Itsy Bitsy Spider," backed with a group of children. Simon has actually performed this unlikely combo live for years, but the bemused crowd had clearly hoped to hear her '70s hits such as "You're So Vain" and "Nobody Does it Better."
The documentary covers everything from Davis' early life growing up in Brooklyn to how he helped launch the careers of mighty names such as Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Aerosmith (and some not so-mighty acts, like Milli Vanilli and Velvet Revolver). It has been acquired by Apple, and will soon be available to Apple Music subscribers.
Source: www.bing.com
