a fragment of celestial music

the best thing i’ve seen in a long time — smokey so sweet and smiley, aretha in soft focus, on soul train, 1979. from carina del valle schorske’s believer essay, “it’s not too late”:

Every detail in the Soul Train duet is worthy of study, but I like to run the clip back to a bit from the beginning—that first harmony—beauty so keen it even takes Aretha by surprise. She turns to Smokey, flirting:

“We should’ve been a duo!”

“I’m telling you, it’s not too late!”