When Giants Leave the Forest, the Trees Carry Their Songs: Clarence Fountain, Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Aretha Franklin

Abstract

The musical legacies of Aretha Franklin, Clarence Fountain, and Edwin and Walter Hawkins are essential subjects of study in American culture. They have in common the religious culture of Black working-class communities. Each in his or her own distinct way broke through the barriers of segregation to create music for a society “where everybody is somebody,” to borrow from the motto of Rev. James Cleveland’s Gospel Music Workshop of America. Fountain, the Hawkins brothers, and Franklin have departed, but they have left us with plenty to listen to and to learn from.