Editing Aretha Franklin (section)

===1960–1966: Columbia years===
[[File:Today I Sing the Blues - Billboard ad 1960.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' ad for Franklin's debut single, "[[Today I Sing the Blues]]", November 21, 1960]] 
After turning 18, Franklin confided to her father that she aspired to follow Sam Cooke in recording pop music, and moved to New York.{{Sfn|Bracks|2012|p=365}} Serving as her manager, C. L. Franklin agreed to the move and helped to produce a two-song demo that soon was brought to the attention of [[Columbia Records]], who agreed to sign her in 1960, as a "five-percent artist".{{sfn|''Ebony''|1964|p=88}} During this period, Franklin would be coached by choreographer [[Cholly Atkins]] to prepare for her pop performances. Before signing with Columbia, Sam Cooke tried to persuade Franklin's father to sign her with his label, [[RCA Victor]], but she had already decided to go with Columbia.<ref name="auto2"/> [[Berry Gordy]] had also asked Franklin and her elder sister [[Erma Franklin|Erma]] to sign with his [[Motown Records|Tamla]] label, but C.L. Franklin turned Gordy down, as he felt Tamla was not yet an established label.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-11950661|title=Obituary: Aretha Franklin|work=BBC News|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> Franklin's first Columbia single, "[[Today I Sing the Blues]]",<ref name="pc52" /> was issued in September 1960 and later reached the top 10 of the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot R&B Sides]] chart.<ref>{{cite magazine |url = https://www.billboard.com/artist/279868/aretha+franklin/chart |title = Aretha Franklin – chart history |magazine = Billboard |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160918104610/https://www.billboard.com/artist/279868/aretha+franklin/chart |archive-date = September 18, 2016 }}</ref>

In January 1961, Columbia issued Franklin's first album, ''[[Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo]]''. The album featured her first single to chart the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, "[[Won't Be Long (Aretha Franklin song)|Won't Be Long]]", which also peaked at number 7 on the R&B chart.{{Sfn|Ritz|2014|pp=86–87}} Mostly produced by [[Clyde Otis]], Franklin's Columbia recordings saw her performing in diverse genres, such as [[standard (song)|standards]], [[vocal jazz]], [[blues]], [[doo-wop]] and [[rhythm and blues]]. Before the year was out, Franklin scored her first hit-single with her rendition of the standard "[[Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody]]".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBEEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Rock-a-Bye%22+%22aretha+franklin%22+chart&pg=PA22|title=Queen of Soul|magazine=Billboard|date=October 4, 2003|page=22}}</ref> By the end of 1961, Franklin was named as a "new-star female vocalist" in ''[[DownBeat]]'' magazine.{{sfn|''Ebony''|1964|p=85}} In 1962, Columbia issued two more albums, ''[[The Electrifying Aretha Franklin]]'' and ''[[The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-electrifying-aretha-franklin-mw0001879047 |title = The Electrifying Aretha Franklin |website = AllMusic |access-date = August 16, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-tender-the-moving-the-swinging-aretha-franklin-mw0000849065 |title = The Tender, The Moving, The Swinging Aretha Franklin |website = AllMusic |access-date = August 16, 2018 }}</ref> the latter of which reached number 69 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs – Monaural chart.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/exhibits/show/rock/franklin |title = Aretha Franklin |publisher = Clinton Presidential Library |access-date = August 16, 2018 }}</ref>

In the 1960s, during a performance at the [[Regal Theater, Chicago|Regal Theater]] in Chicago, [[WVON]] radio personality [[Pervis Spann]] announced that Franklin should be crowned "the Queen of Soul".<ref name=wendy/><ref name="Queen" /> Spann ceremonially placed a crown on her head.<ref>{{Cite news |url = https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/how-aretha-franklin-became-queen-soul-n901336 |title = This is the moment Aretha Franklin became the 'Queen of Soul' |last = Clark |first = Dartunorro |date = August 16, 2018 |publisher = NBC News |access-date = August 21, 2018 |language = en-US }}</ref> By 1964, Franklin began recording more pop music, reaching the top 10 on the R&B chart with the ballad "Runnin' Out of Fools", in early 1965. She had two R&B charted singles in 1965 and 1966, with the songs "[[One Step Ahead (Aretha Franklin song)|One Step Ahead]]" and "Cry Like a Baby", while also reaching the [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks|Easy Listening]] charts with the ballads "[[You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)|You Made Me Love You]]" and "(No, No) I'm Losing You". By the mid-1960s, Franklin was making $100,000 per year from countless performances in nightclubs and theaters.{{sfn|''Ebony''|1964|p=85}} Also during that period, she appeared on rock-and-roll shows, such as ''[[Hollywood a Go-Go]]'' and ''[[Shindig!]]'' However, she struggled with commercial success while at Columbia. Label executive [[John H. Hammond]] later said he felt Columbia did not understand Franklin's early gospel background and failed to bring that aspect out further during her period there.<ref name="pc52">{{Gilliland|https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19834/m1|Show 52 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 8&#93; : UNT Digital Library}}</ref>