Rev. C.L. Franklin
b. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, 22 January 1915, Sunflower County, Mississippi, USA, d. 24 July 1984. Although his own career was eclipsed by that of his daughter, Aretha Franklin, the Rev. C.L. Franklin was a popular religious recordings artist in his own right. Franklin began singing in church at the age of 12 and began preaching two years later. He attended college and received a ministerial degree, preaching in Mississippi, New York and Tennessee before being named pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1946. He began recording 78s featuring his sermons, for the J-V-B label in 1953, some of which were leased to Chess Records for more widespread distribution. He recorded over a dozen singles for the label. Each summer, daughter Aretha would accompany her father on the road, where he participated in gospel revues; much of her exposure to the gospel singing style came from those tours. In the '60s the Rev. Franklin became active in the civil rights movement and helped organize the 1963 March on Washington at which Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. Also the father of Erma Franklinand Carolyn Franklin, the Rev. Franklin was shot by burglars entering his home in 1979. He lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered.