Aretha Franklin is a giant of both soul and American popular music. Born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, to the Reverend CL Franklin, a Baptist preacher, and Barbara Siggers Franklin, a gospel singer, she had a daily exposure to the religious music which so influenced her career. Indeed, Aretha's first album, 'The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin', was recorded in 1956 when she was just 14