A piano and tambourine set the beat, a brisk stomp. The bass comes in, then handclaps. "Come and go to that land where I'm bound, " the Soul Stirrers sing. The congregation stands up and sways in unison. Women throw their heads back and raise their arms.
After the song, the worshippers sit down and fan themselves. The minister, a round-face, handsome man, thanks the singers and shouts words of praise and hope. He brings the audience to the same pitch of frenzy as the vocal group did. The sanctuary fills with joyful noise.
Such was a typical Sunday morning at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church in the mid-1950s, when Clarence LaVaughan Franklin preached and achieved nationwide fame. New Bethel often hosted well-known gospel acts such as Chicago's Soul Stirrers, whose Cook would later add an "e" to his name and become a pop idol. The Clara Ward Singers were Franklin's good friends and guests at his home as well as his church. James Cleveland was an important figure in New Bethel's music program.
At the height of his celebrity, Franklin put his sermons on LP and licensed them to Chess Records. They sold well among black Christians throughout the country.
He was originally from the Mississippi delta. He attended LeMoyne College in Memphis and served as minister at Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York before moving to Detroit in 1944. He was a highly effective fundraiser. Shortly after his arrival at New Bethel, he spearheaded the move from a bowling alley into a spacious facility at 4210 Hastings Street.
The Detroit of Franklin's heyday was a major center of black entertainment. Jazz figures such as Tommy Flanagan, bluesmen such as John Lee Hooker, and vocal groups like The Four Tops were cutting their teeth. Little Willie John was cutting hot r&b for the King label. Jackie Wilson was having national success with the songs of Berry Gordy, Jr. The Flame Showbar, the Twenty Grand and other nightclubs featured the best of local and national talent. It was in this milieu that Franklin raised his three daughters, Aretha, Erma and Carolyn.
He had celebrity friends from secular music as well as the gospel field. The Franklin sisters remember seeing Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington and Berry, Anna and Gwen Gordy at their home as youngsters.
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