One of Aretha Franklin's signature anthems was 1967's "Respect," but despite the song's ubiquity, there was disagreement about some of the lyrics for decades.
In 1998 Times staff writer Roy Rivenburg decided to solve the mystery once and for all.
Initially Rivenburg had believed the lyrics in question were:
"R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take out, TCP"
These lyrics were ones Franklin had added to the original, written and recorded by Otis Redding in 1965, completely transforming the story and its message.
Nobody knew what "TCP" actually meant. But it turns out the words weren't "Take out, TCP" at all.
After hitting a wall in his search, Rivenburg finally called up Franklin's publicist at the time, Barbara Shelley, to get an answer from the "Queen of Soul" herself.
A few days later, Franklin returned the call and left a voicemail for Rivenburg.
"Hello, this is Aretha Franklin. Barbara Shelley told me what's been going on out there. It's 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care of T-C-B,' as in taking care of business," she said.
