Gospel pianist Herbert Pickard (favorite pianist of Aretha's father, CL Franklin)

I thought Amazing Grace was nice, but she had moved from her roots to way out there. Let me just say I liked it, I’m glad she got a chance to do it. But I was a little prejudiced because she waited to late to try to make us think she was on a gospel kick…Back in the day, we had a fine line and it was going to be either/or. There wasn’t going to be an in between. And it became an in between that left me a little wondering what’s going on around here. She had left gospel music as far as I was concerned. Now here she comes with a gospel album. But it probably did a lot of good simply because she did it. There were some, I’m sure, who heard gospel music because it was Aretha and might not have listened to it had it not been Aretha. So for that I give her credit. As far as I was concerned, she was supposed to be doing the other kind of music. Yeah [older gospel songs], but she wasn’t ours anymore. She came back by, just stopping by. She wasn’t as committed to gospel as many others were, so she lost a few points because of it. But she sang it well. You know she sang the hell out of the album, it was done well.
	Right, there you go, you got it (after I mention Marion Williams, Dorothy Love Coates as never having left the chruch). That’s only because when I came through, life was different. We had requirements. I’m glad she made it on her own. Had to leave the church and make it on her own. I remember at first when you said “Aretha,” you had to say, “She’s Rev. Franklin’s daughter.” And then in a few years, it was who’s Rev. Franklin? It had turned around. He was Aretha’s daddy. Because she had come into her own. She did a good thing for gospel by doing that album, but I wouldn’t be the one to say I was happy about it. It was too late.