Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke
Background information
Also known as	"The King of Rock 'N Soul," "Big Sol"
Born	March 21 1940 (1940-03-21) Philadelphia, U.S.
Genre(s)	Blues, Gospel, R&B, Soul
Occupation(s)	Preacher, singer,
Years active	1960s – 2008
Label(s)	Kenwood Records, Atlantic, Sequel, Fat Possum Records
Website	http://www.thekingsolomonburke.com

Solomon Burke (born March 21, 1940) is a American Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter. During the half-century that he has performed, Burke has drawn from his roots: gospel, soul, and blues, as well as developing his own style in a time when R&B and rock were still in their infancy. Burke is revered by some of the most respected big acts as a pioneer and member of the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In the 1950s, he began recording gospel and R&B on the Apollo label. When Burke signed with Atlantic in the 1960s, his career took place along more secular lines, like former gospel singers Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. He then had a string of R&B hits, including "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," "Just Out of Reach," "Cry to Me," "If You Need Me," "Got to Get You Off My Mind," "Tonight's the Night," and "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)." His music, however, did not cross over to the pop charts like Franklin and Picket. In the late 1960s, he left Atlantic and signed with several labels over the next decade. His biggest hit came in 1969: a rousing cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary."

Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Biography

According to his own testimony, Solomon Burke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 21, 1940, although some sources claim that he was born in 1936 or 1938. Before his teens, Burke was already preaching at his family's church in Philadelphia and hosting his own gospel-radio show. He began his adult life as a preacher in Philadelphia and soon moved on to hosting a gospel-radio show. In the 1960s, he signed with Atlantic Records and, like several other gospel singers of the era, began moving towards more secular music.

His first hit was "Just Out of Reach of My Open Arms," a cover of a country song. In 1964, he wrote and recorded "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," Burke's most prominent bid for an enduring soul standard. Almost immediately covered by The Rolling Stones the same year, other well-known versions include one by Wilson Pickett and another, a decade and a half later, in the 1980 film by The Blues Brothers.

Burke was well-received by both peers and critics, and scored several moderate pop and several major R&B hits. However, Burke was not able to break through into the mainstream as did Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, who covered Burke's "Down in the Valley" for 1965's Otis Blue.

In 1987, he appeared in the movie The Big Easy as Daddy Mention.

Burke has enjoyed a special relationship with the Catholic Church throughout his life and in 2000, he and his family were invited to perform at the Jubilee of the Family at the Vatican. Since then, he has been invited back to the Vatican by both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI for Vatican's Christmas celebration.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

His career was to some degree revived in 2002, with the release of Don't Give Up On Me on Fat Possum Records and produced by Joe Henry, where he sang songs written specifically for the album by various top-rank artists, including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits. Don't Give Up On Me won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

Burke is featured in the 2004 movie Lightning in a Bottle, singing "Turn on Your Love Light" and "Down in the Valley." In 2004, Solomon appeared on Junkie XL's album, Radio JXL: A Broadcast From the Computer Hell Cabin, performing "Catch Up To My Step." Also in 2004 he was featured on the song "I Pray On Christmas" from the Blind Boys Of Alabama album Go Tell It On The Mountain, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album.

In 2004, Burke also recorded a duet with Italian soul singer Zucchero. The two artists performed Zucchero's hit "Diavolo in me" (Devil in Me), on the duets album Zu & Co. Burke was also a guest at a London show in May 2004 in which Zucchero presented the album. This performance is included on Zucchero's DVD Zu & Co.—Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

In 2005, he appeared as a special guest with Jools Holland on his autumn tour of the United Kingdom, including two sell-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall.

In September 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with the release of a 14-track country album titled Nashville, produced by Buddy Miller. It included guest vocals from Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Patty Loveless. On Septmber 25, 2006, Burke was joined by a host of top country stars and backed by Buddy Miller and his Band at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, Tennessee for a one-off concert to celebrate the release of Nashville. The concert was filmed by HDNet and was released on DVD in Europe on September 17, 2007.

On September 28, 2006, Burke was among the several rock, soul, and country legends that sang along with Jerry Lee Lewis at the live concert "Last Man Standing" at the Sony Music Studio in New York. The two duets were "Who Will the Next Fool Be" and "Today I Started Lovin' You Again."

In February 2007, Burke performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and later on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The Tonight Show performance was accompanied by The Tonight Show Band members and bandleader Kevin Eubanks on lead guitar. On Late Night he performed with Buddy Miller "That's How I Got To Memphis," from Burke's album Nashville.

As of October 2007, Burke was the father of 21 children (14 daughters and seven sons), 89 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren. On July 15, 2008, Burke confirmed to his audience at the Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival in France that he would soon have 90 grandchildren. Several of his children and grandchildren have had successful careers in various facets of the music industry, though none are as renowned as their patriarch. One of his grandsons, Novel, released his first studio album in October 2008. His daughter, Candy Burke, was a backing singer for the first time at a Burke performance in the July 2008 Juan Les Pins concert, where she performed a rendition of "I Will Survive" to rapturous applause from the crowd.

As one of the early artists at Atlantic Records, in 2007 Burke honored Ahmet Ertegün, the co-founder of Atlantic Records and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Burke co-hosted the March 2007 celebration of Ertegun's life's work at Lincoln Center in New York, participated in the American Master's documentary Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built, and in December 2007, Burke performed at the private after-party for the Led Zeppelin reunion concert at The O₂ in Greenwich, London, along with Ben E. King, Percy Sledge, and Sam Moore.

In January 2008, Solomon went back to the recording studio to record with the producer/drummer Steve Jordan. The album titled Like A Fire has songs written specifically for Burke by Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Jesse Harris, Keb' Mo', Meegan Voss, and Steve Jordan and was released on June 10, 2008.

Burke joined Widespread Panic on stage for None of Us Are Free at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on June 20, 2008. He performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 15, 2008, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on June 22, 2008, and for the first time in his career at England's Glastonbury Festival on June 29, 2008. This was part of his European 2008 Summer Tour, and included concerts in Portugal, England, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Switzerland, Norway, Slovakia, and Sweden.

Legacy

Even though Solomon Burke never was considered a pop-hit maker—he never had a top-20 hit—he made his mark as an important early pioneer in soul music. While recording for Atlantic records in the 1960s, he infused a country sound into his R&B works, producing unique melodic ballads with sophisticated arrangements. His highly polished, emotional songs, which combined of gospel, pop, and country influences, set the pattern for successful, early soul music. Burke's music played a major role in influencing major artists like the Rolling Stones, who on their early albums covered Burke's "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love."

Soul legend Solomon Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Discography

• You Can Run But You Can't Hide - 1958 (Apollo)
• Solomon Burke - 1962 (Kenwood)
• Rock 'n' Soul - 1964 (Atlantic)
• The Rest of Solomon Burke - 1965 (Atlantic)
• I Wish I Knew - 1968 (Atlantic)
• King Solomon - 1968 (Sequel)
• Proud Mary - 1969
• King Heavy - 1972
• Electronic Magnetism - 1972
• I Have a Dream - 1974
• Back to My Roots - 1975
• Music to Make Love By - 1975
• Sidewalks, Fences & Walls - 1979
• Lord We Need a Miracle - 1979
• Get Up and Do Something - 1979
• King of Rock 'n' Soul - 1981
• Take Me, Shake Me [live] - 1983

• Soul Alive! - 1984
• A Change is Gonna Come - 1986
• Love Trap - 1987
• Into My Life You Came - 1990
• This is His - 1990
• Homeland - 1990
• Soul of the Blues - 1993
• Live at House of Blues - 1994
• Definition of Soul - 1997
• We Need a Miracle' - 1998
• Not By Water But Fire This Time - 1999
• Soulman - 2002
• Don't Give Up on Me - 2002
• The Incredible Solomon Burke at His Best - 2002
• The Apollo Album - 2003
• Make Do With What You Got - 2005
• Nashville - 2006
• Like a Fire - 2008

Other contributions

• Lifted: Songs of the Spirit - 2002 - "None of Us Are Free"

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Burke, Solomon, et. al. Darker Blues. Oxford, Miss.: Fat Possum Records, 2002.

ISBN 978-0972435208

• Burke, Solomon. Make Do with What You Got. Los Angeles: Shout! Factory, 2005. ISBN 978-0738930657
• DeRemer, Leigh Ann. Contemporary Musicians. Volume 36: Profiles of the People in Music. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group/Thomson Learning, 2002. ISBN 978-0787660260
• Findaway World, Llc. The Definitive Collection. Chagrin, Falls, Ohio: Findaway World, 2008. ISBN 978-1605145488
• George-Warren, Holly; Romanowski, Patricia; and Pareles, Jon. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. New York: Fireside, 2001. ISBN 978-0743201209
• Whitburn, Joel. Top R and B Singles, 1942-1999. Menomonee Falls, Wis.: Record Research Inc., 2000. ISBN 978-0898201369

External links

• Solomon Burke—official website.
• Solomon Burke discography at Discogs.
• Solomon Burke discography at Soul Express.
• Make Do With What You Got—TracksMusic review.
• Make Do With What You Got—The Music Box review.
• Solomon Burke photos at the Gospel Festival Chicago IL, 2005].
• Solomon Burke biography at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Solomon Burke page at AllMusic.
• Solomon Burke Gets His Due by Tim Newby, from HonestTune.com.

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