WHAT’S IT ABOUT
January 1972, Aretha Franklin made her legendary album Amazing Grace with the Southern California Community Choir and Reverend James Cleveland in the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. At the height of her fame, she made the decision to return to where she began, to the world of gospel music. Recorded [across] two days, this live album was to become the most successful gospel record of all time.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Amazing Grace is only one time in history that proves why Aretha Franklin is considered a legend. Filmed in 1972 over two days, Amazing Grace is a virtual time machine of American history. Sadly, I don’t think any of the people in this film ever saw this film because of all the complications regarding syncing the audio with the video. Lawsuits prevented earlier releases in 2011 and 2015. Finally, in 2018 permission was given after her death by her family and now the world gets to see what a large portion had already heard since 1972. This documentary takes place in the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Recorded live with seasoned session players Chuck Rainey, Cornell Dupree, and Bernard Purdie along with James Cleveland and his Southern California Community Choir. As for Ms. Franklin, she came in, she sat down, and she sang her tail off. This performance was in front of the luckiest congregation in music history, including Aretha’s father, Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger – yes, that Mick Jagger. Other than the music, the most noticeable thing was the absence of security. It was the seventies, in the city, in a church. Back then being in a church meant something. It was a safe haven and a universal place of peace, unity, and family. Personally, the main thing most people miss about the seventies would be the lack of fear. This was before 9/11 before Reagan was shot before Lennon was shot, and four years after Martin Luther King was assassinated. So by American logic, no one important (White) had been hurt yet, so no need to change to way things were done. Therefore it was no surprise to see any star, no matter how famous, walking around without security waiting to pounce anyone that came within five feet. At the time of this recording, Aretha had multiple studio and live albums, and had been nominated/won multiple awards. So saying she was famous was an understatement. Amazing Grace took her back to familiar roots and goes without question why the album became and still is the highest-selling gospel album of all time.
OUR RATING – AN AMAZING 9
MEDIA
- Genre – Documentary
- Street date
- Digital/DVD – August 6th 2019
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 1.78:1
- Sound – English: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles – English, Spanish, French
Extras
- none