Aretha sang like Mahalia Jackson probably more than anybody...young Etta James as well...Etta James "At last" is pure perfection. Betty Carter as well was an influence
I'm only 30 and I've been listening to ToP for a lot of my life! Love them. They actually just released a new album. Check this single out: Also, RIP Aretha. She was amazing.
I've seen them probably 20 times live....performed several of their songs in my bands for decades...What is hip....Soul Vaccination...one of my favorite bands of all times....when they played with Little Feat on Waiting for Columbus it was glorious....Willie Fulton was one of my favorite funk guitarists
You have great appreciation for true musicianship!!!!!! TOP, LF, Doobies, Los Lobos, Huey Lewis & News,,,,,,,Some of my top tier favorites. TOP horns backed up HL&N in a concert tour. One concert featured some 49ers from a championship team where Will Clark sang a solo and Joe Montana was one of the background singers. They all blended smoothly with the TOP horn section. I saw TOP 3 times and loved every minute of them. Lenny Williams, Larry Braggs and the "new guy" are/were top grade singers. Absolutely Larry Braggs is my favorite. I hope Rocco Precia faired well with his cancer problem. No better bassist and no better rhythm section than Rocco and Garibaldi!!!!!!!