"When she came down to sing we'd hang out," says Judy Slater.
Real sad the Big Mama of soul Aretha Franklin died three days ago. Oowee, the way she threw her head back in the throes of some mysterious climax; the electricity she poured through our spines.
Ain’t surprising she dead, though.
Can’t weigh two hundred and figgits pounds your whole adult life and think nothing bad’s gonna happen.
Now, a Florida newspaper has revealed that Kelly Slater’s mother, Judy, was pals with Aretha back in the sixties when the Queen of Soul was hitting dive bars all along the east coast.
Barefooted and underage, Judy Slater would find a nice, quiet seat inside the Vanguard bar in Cocoa Beach back in the mid-’60s, rubbing elbows with astronauts and surfers, to see a young Aretha Franklin belt out a few melodies each night.
“It was a crummy little bar, but everyone went there,” Slater said Thursday, just hours after the legendary singer passed away at her home in Detroit at the age of 76, reportedly from pancreatic cancer.
Who knew “The Queen of Soul” had close ties to the mom of Kelly Slater, “The King of Surfing?
Judy Slater (now Judy Slater Lane) had just moved to the area in 1966 from Bethesda, Maryland, rooming with three others in a townhouse. The Vanguard bar, located at the end of SR 520, often played rock ‘n roll, but owner Nort Kurlan also saw something special in the melodic lyrics of a budding superstar who spent vacations in the Cocoa Beach area.
“She was just my friend,” Slater said. “When she came down, we’d hang out, and we became friends with the owners, Nort and Laura. We even spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at their house. She (Aretha) and I really didn’t have any place to go.”
In 1968, Slater was seven months pregnant with her first son, Sean, who also became a world-class surfer.
“We were up in that area (of Maryland) and saw where she was performing at Constitution Hall in Washington,” Slater said. “Well, we got tickets, sat in the fourth row and it was so loud. I really thought I’d never see her again (because of being so famous). But she was great.”
When news came Thursday of her death, Slater was saddened.
“I felt bad, but she had quite a life and I really admired her,” said Slater, who loved the song “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” the most.
“When I knew her, she was just a young girl who had a dream,” Slater said, “and she went for it. I’ll never forget her.”
Read the remnants of the story here!
“Ain’t surprising she dead, though.” What kind of shit is that? She was 76 and died of pancreatic cancer. Sounds like an average life span to me. What kind of grimy little weasel takes a shot at a dead woman and an icon in the world of music? An Australian surf “journalist” does. Shame
I thought the tone of the article was a little insensitive even for Beach Grit. She’s a respected cultural icon in and out of music. You can disRESPECT Kelly’s mom and the GOAT all you want but leave the Queen out of it.
She’s a mortal human like Kelly and his mom, that’s it. Just because you’ve made her to be your queen, doesn’t mean she’s that to the rest of us.
Real talk. She dead. She don’t care. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
3…2…1…cue Kelly Slater upstaging his mum by posting to IG that he was nicknamed “Willie” after Willie Nelson, including a pic of Kelly and Willie proving they are friends.
It’s a little known fact that Aretha was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar until she met Kelly!
Human League or World Surf League ?
Touché!
Dick at eleven? Daddy the same age too. Another era.
Like a scene from Forrest Gump . The Queen of Soul meets the Mother of the Goat ?