Lynn Goldsmith – Aretha Franklin & Eurythmics Arm Wrestling, 1985

Aretha Franklin and Eurythmics.
“I went with Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart to Detroit for a recording session with Aretha Franklin of a song they’d written. ‘Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves.”
Annie had just started practicing meditation, was a vegetarian, and was terrified about singing with the Queen of Soul. When we arrived, Aretha was eating chicken and smoking. She offered Annie some of the chicken, and I think her refusal was the first step in a number of concerns Aretha developed about singing with her. Annie, in awe of Aretha, and protective of her throat from the smoke, tried to stay back a bit. Aretha read through the lyrics and was not happy. She didn’t know much about the Eurythmics, and after seeing Annie’s close-cropped hair and men’s suit, Aretha assumed the song was a gay anthem. The vibe in the room was not good. Dave Stewart to the rescue. He put up the multitrack and the atmosphere changed. As soon as Annie started singing you could see Aretha take on a newfound respect for her and then she started to wail. It was Magic.”

Lynn Goldsmith’s imagery is in numerous collections: The Smithsonian, The Polaroid Collection, The Kodak Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography, and the permanent collection of Museum Folkwang. She is a multi-awarded portrait photographer whose work has appeared on and between the covers of Life, Newsweek, Time, Rollingstone, Sports Illustrated, People, Elle, Interview, The New Yorker, etc. Her subjects have varied from entertainment personalities to sports stars, from film directors to authors, from the extra-ordinary to the ordinary man on the street.

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