This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected.
That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's get real about skincancer.com. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa. Witness an MMA Legends final fight.
Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title. One last time. Unforgettable and got you marginal.
To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Indeed Sponsored Jobs gets you quality candidates when you need them most. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes.
Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed.com/slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire?
This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Whether it's helped with hormone therapy, weight management, or sexual health. Every woman should have access to affordable prescription medication and personalized care that understands the whole woman. Join me, Dr. Doug Lucas, Clinical Lead of Hormone Optimization and Longevity at LifeMD.
along with other leading experts on the podcast. Here's something good on women's health and longevity. To learn more, go to lifeemd.com slash iHeart. Ah I'm freedom. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.
Coming to you from the city where the West begins, Fort Worth, Texas. We love to tell stories about songs, about music. and this may be one of our best. It's the story of a song you all know. And it's the story of a song you love.
A natural woman. By Aretha Franklin. But the story of how it came to be and its writers, Carol King and Jerry Goffin.
Well, you're about to hear it. They came from very different worlds. The couple that wrote one of Aretha Franklin's greatest songs never met the singer who would turn the composition into a classic. Carol Klein, later to become Carol King, was born in Manhattan and raised in a middle-class Brooklyn neighborhood. She married the song's co-writer, Jerry Goffin, born to working-class New York City parents.
when she was a mere seventeen. Both were white. Both were Jewish. The woman who breathed life into a natural woman, Aretha Franklin, was born to church royalty. and spent most of her childhood in Detroit.
Her father's sermons were so powerful, he had a record deal with chess records. One of his sermons was so popular, it was added to the National Recording Registry. in the Library of Congress. Young Aretha would meet visitors to the Franklin home from every walk of life. Including some of the great rhythm and blues artists of the day, Jackie Wilson and Sam Cook among them.
And of course, she would meet and get to know the Reverend Martin Luther King. King and Goffin started writing songs while working part-time jobs in New York City. She would write the music, he would write the lyrics, in short order. Their talents were rewarded as they penned some of the biggest pop hits of the 1960s, including Chains. later recorded by Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and The Locomotion.
Recorded by Little Eva. By the mid-1960s, they were cranking out hits like Up on the Roof for the Drifters and One Fine Day for the Chiffons. Franklin's musical career started in her father's church, singing the great gospel hymns of the day. She found herself in the recording booth by the age of 14. and traveled the gospel music circuit.
By age eighteen major labels came calling. But Franklin's early time at Columbia Records proved to be a cultural and a musical mismatch. They would release her five years later. It would take a Bronx-born son of a German Jewish father and Russian Jewish mother former music journalist turned record producer Jerry Wexler. to bring out the best in Franklin.
unleashing her voice and her talents in ways that no one, even Franklin, could have imagined. her move to Atlantic Records would propel Franklin's career to international fame. Her first top ten single I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You was recorded in the unlikeliest of places. Muscle Shoals, Alabama. with an unlikely studio house band known as the Swampers.
most of whom were young white local musicians. One of the house band's members, David Hood, once told a journalist, We look like guys that worked at the local supermarket. Like all record executives, Wexler understood that his star was only as good as the song she sang.
So he approached King and Goffin and gave them an idea for the title song for Franklin's upcoming record, Lady Soul. I'm looking for a really big hit for Aretha, he told him. How about writing a song called A Natural Woman?
Well after putting their kids to bed that night, the couple put in a long night of work. and emerged the next day with the words and music to the song title Wexler had suggested. a song written specifically for Franklin. and no one else. The song starts simply and beautifully.
Looking out. On the morning rain Um I used to feel So I'd inspire Yeah. And when I knew I had to face another day. Oh Lord, it made me feel so tired. It is a perfect opening verse to a perfect song.
Note here how Goffin, again, a Jewish man, a Understood the relevance and the reason to include the word Lord in that opening verse. The beautiful first verse was followed by what is arguably one of the finest verses King and Goffin or anyone else. has ever written. Win my show Was in the lost and found. You came along.
to claim it. Tell me. I didn't know just what was wrong with me. Until your kiss Help me name it.
Now I'm no longer doubtful. Of what I'm living for. And if I make you happy, I don't need to do more. Recorded by Franklin in New York City in 1967 with the Swampers. Aretha's singing transformed the song.
which became an instant success. The song would become a defining part of Franklin's repertoire, and life story. Many artists have covered this song since, including Peggy Lee, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and Carol King herself. but Franklin's version tops them all, ranked number ninety in the all-time greatest songs by Rolling Stone.
The story of Natural Woman is one that could have happened only in America. Thanks to the miracle of intellectual property, free enterprise, and the prompting of a brilliant record executive, This unlikely collaboration brought together artists and professionals from every walk of life. shattering geographic, racial, and faith boundaries. They produced a work of art that made all of them, and the record label, a lot of money. And may the world A more beautiful place.
Would you make it? You Make me feel you make me feel like an entire woman. The story. of you make me feel like a natural woman. Here.
On our American stories. Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or want to hear again can be found there daily. Again, please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these great American stories coming.
Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs.
Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's get real about skincancer.com. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title.
One last time. Unforgettable and an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Upgrade to Elite Checking from America's Christian Credit Union and earn up to 4% APY, plus everyday perks and access to your paycheck up to two days early with early pay.
Don't settle. Choose checking that rewards you and aligns with your values. Visit America's ChristianCU.com forward slash iHeart. Minimum balance of one cent required to earn advertised APY. Early pay not guaranteed.
APY equals annual percentage yield. Membership eligibility required. And CUA insured. Working forest professionals in the U.S. plant more than they harvest, while also caring for water, wildlife, and more.
It's how we grow a sustainable future. Learn more at WorkingForestsInitiative.com. Uh
