Carolyn Ann Franklin (May 13, 1944 – April 25, 1988) was an American singer-songwriter. Besides her own musical success, Franklin was best known as the daughter of prominent Detroit preacher and civil rights activist

C. L. Franklin Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (Birth name, ''né'' Walker; January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984) was an American Baptist Churches USA, American Baptist Minister (Christianity), minister and civil rights, civil rights activist. Known as the man with t ...

and the younger sister of American singer/musician Aretha Franklin.

Biography

Franklin was born in Memphis, to Barbara (née Siggers) and Reverend

. The youngest of the minister's six children, she moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, shortly after her birth. Around 1946, the Franklin family settled in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, where Carolyn would begin singing at her father's New Bethel Baptist Church. Inspired by her sisters' successes in the secular music field in the early 1960s, Carolyn followed Erma and Aretha into a secular music career, first recording in 1963. Carolyn began recording for

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in 1969 and remained with the label until retiring from the music industry in 1976. Like Erma's, Carolyn's modest success in the industry did not match Aretha's blockbuster breakthrough in the late 1960s. While struggling to release a hit, she began to work behind the scenes as a songwriter, mainly for sister Aretha's work. Aretha and Carolyn's bond led to several collaborations between the two, and Carolyn came up with several compositions that became classic hits, including "

Ain't No Way "Ain't No Way" is a song written by singer-songwriter Carolyn Franklin and sung by her elder sister Aretha Franklin as the B-side to her 1968 hit, "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone". This song should not be confused with a different son ...

", recorded in 1968. The ballad single was the B-side to Aretha's #1 R&B/Top Five Pop triumph, "

(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" is a song by singer Aretha Franklin. Released from her '' Lady Soul'' album in 1968, the song was successful, debuting at number 31 and peaking at number 5 on the Hot 100 for five weeks, and spending th ...

". The song was strong enough to hit the R&B Top 10 and also went Top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Carolyn's next hit for her sister was the 1973 ballad "

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

", which also featured Carolyn and eldest sister

Erma Franklin Erma Vernice Franklin (March 13, 1938 – September 7, 2002) was an American gospel and soul singer. Franklin was the elder sister of American singer/musician Aretha Franklin. Franklin's best known recording was the original version of " Piece of ...

in background voices advising Aretha. Aretha mentioned her sister's name in the beginning of the song in a monologue, describing how Carolyn came up with the song. Another track Carolyn contributed was 1970's "Pullin'" with

Jimmy Radcliffe James Radcliffe (November 18, 1936 – July 27, 1973) was an American soul singer, composer, arranger, conductor and record producer. Biography James Radcliffe was born in New York City. He released such singles as "My Ship is Coming In", a so ...

. Carolyn also wrote songs for Franklin's 1970 album ''

Spirit in the Dark ''Spirit in the Dark'' is the seventeenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on August 24, 1970, by Atlantic Records. It received critical acclaim, but was met with middling sales, despite having two hit singles, " Don't ...

'' and her failed 1975 platter, ''

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

''. Franklin retired from the music industry in 1976, though she occasionally continued to sing with Aretha. Franklin appeared as one of Aretha's background singers in the 1980 movie ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

'', and was a backing vocalist on Paul King's 1987 album ''

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

''. Franklin died of metastatic

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

at Aretha's Scenic Court home in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

, on April 25, 1988, and – like other deceased family members – is interred at Detroit's historic Woodlawn Cemetery on North Woodward Avenue.

Discography

*''Baby Dynamite'' – 1969 *''Chain Reaction'' – 1970 *''The First Time I Cried'' – 1970 *''I'd Rather Be Lonely'' – 1973 *'' If You Want Me'' – 1976 *''Sister Soul: The Best Of The RCA Years 1969–1976'' – 2006

References

External links

*
Carolyn Franklin's discography
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Carolyn 1944 births 1988 deaths American soul singers Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in Michigan Marygrove College alumni People from Detroit Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit) Singers from Detroit African-American women singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American women singers Singer-songwriters from Michigan