Aretha Franklin, meet Jennifer Hudson.
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Jennifer Hudson, meet Aretha Franklin.
When Homewood’s Fred Nelson III started working with Hudson as her musical director, he saw similarities in both Hudson and the woman known as the Queen of Soul. Nelson was also Franklin’s musical director from 2011 until her death in 2018.
He thought it might be a good idea for the legend and the up-and-coming superstar from Chicago to converse.
“I kind of connected them,” he said. “After they talked, Aretha called me and said ‘I like that Jennifer. I want her to play me in the movie.”’
Franklin had been working with Hollywood bosses on a movie about her life for years before her death. The result is “Respect: Find Out What it Means,” out for general release Friday with Hudson playing Franklin.
“Aretha’s hands were all over this movie,” Nelson said. “She was selective on what she wanted and who she wanted to do what. But she did say to Jennifer ‘I want you to play me in the movie’ and that’s what has finally come to fruition.”
Nelson’s long and impressive resume includes being the minister of music at the New Faith Baptist Church in Matteson and art director work for Matteson Elementary District 162. He has used his talents in putting on productions for Southland College Preparatory Charter High School for the past eight years.
According to Nelson’s biography, when he was 6 he was an opening act for Ray Charles.
He has done work for another famous Jennifer — Jennifer Holiday — as well as Celine Dion, Neil Diamond and others.
Hudson has been using Nelson as a go-to guy on several occasions over the years using the four magic words, “Fred I need help,” he said.
The latest Fred-I-need-help project has been massive. He is accompanying Hudson on piano, appeared with her Wednesday on “Good Morning America” and was scheduled to appear on the “Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert” Thursday.
There is also a show at the Apollo Theater Aug. 19 and a concert Aug. 21 in Central Park in New York, that includes Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon, that could draw 60,000 people.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called it a “once-in-a-lifetime” concert when he announced it at a news conference in June, calling it the biggest concert in the history of Central Park.
The Homewood resident said he enjoyed having a career that included working closely with both Franklin and Hudson.
“Both are consummate professionals,” Nelson said. “Both of them work very hard. Both of them live and eat what they do. When Jennifer took this on, I’m sure she has read every book and studied every nuance vocally. She has energy like you wouldn’t believe. Aretha was the same way. Toward the end of her career, I went past her dressing room, and you would hear Aretha warming up vocally.”
Trying to pick a favorite Aretha Franklin song is tough for Nelson.
“Because I’m an arranger by trade and a producer, I lean toward more orchestrated stuff,” he said. “One of my favorites is ‘Until You Come Back to Me,’ which was written by Stevie Wonder. I loved it when I was much younger because of the orchestration. If there is another, I don’t know what it would be. It’s hard to pick a favorite from that catalog.”
Before Franklin died, Nelson said he was going to produce an album with her and laid down all of the instrumental tracks of what he described as an eclectic album. She was too ill to do the vocal tracks so the project was never released.
Nelson said he did have a hand in bringing in some of Franklin’s former musicians and played on some of the songs that appeared in the movie to give the songs what he called “a sweeter sound.”
Critics have mixed reviews on the film, but they are mostly favorable as it scored a 70 out of 100 from 47 reviewers on the Rotten Tomatoes website.
Nelson and Hudson were invited by Franklin’s family to a premiere in Detroit Aug. 1 and he came away impressed.
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“It’s fabulous,” he said. “It’s an amazing piece and I’m very proud of it.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.