DAVE'S DIARY - 16 JANUARY 2007 - SOLOMON BURKE CD REVIEW
SOLOMON BURKE - THE MORTICIAN AND BISHOP
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Solomon
Burke, the king of soul and rock & roll and now a country high
priest, was born on March 21, 1940 in Philadelphia. A few singles on the Singular label landed Burke a deal with Atlantic Records. |
He ended
up recording Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms), cut by several
country acts including Faron Young and Patsy Cline, but never made much
of a dent.
That was until Burke got his voice on it.
The song became a big hit in 1961 on the R&B charts and making the
top 40 of the pop charts.
Burke's mainstream success faded after the English music invasion in the
sixties but he kept recording and performing after being dumped by Atlantic
in 1968.
After leaving Atlantic, he signed with Bell and recorded a minor classic,
1969's Proud Mary and
I Can't Stop before recording for MGM in the early seventies.
Burke struggled to make ends meet during the lean years after suffering
a plethora of disastrous recording, publishing and management deals.
Although he long ago broadened his gospel to embrace soul he's still a
bishop in the Church Of The House Of God For All People in Los Angeles.
But he kept the wolves from the door with his many sidelines - a mortuary
business connected to his church, helped him keep him going.
"We're the first ones to pick you up and the last ones to let you
down," he quips.
BLUES BROTHERS AND DIRTY DANCING
| John
Belushi and Dan Aykroyd performed Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,
the 1964 hit Burke co-wrote, in the original Blues Brothers movie
in 1980. Then the Bishop got one of his biggest breaks in 1987. The film Dirty Dancing plucked his heartbreaking Cry to Me for its hugely successful soundtrack This enabled the singer to buy his palatial home on a hillside above Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley where an assistant greets visitors in a tuxedo. Next to that front door is a sign alerting visitors: "Beyond this point, no shoes, no swearing, no weapons, no gum chewing. God bless you." |
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After a career
filled with rhythm and blues Burke was awarded membership in the Rock
& Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
The singer also chose country songs by Van Morrison and Hank Williams
on recent discs.
Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Morrison were among songwriters who contributed
to Burke's stellar 2002 release, Don't Give Up on Me, on Fat Possum
Records.
It was on his Grammy award winning 2003 album, Make Do With What You've
Got, he cut Hank's tune Wealth Won't Save Your Soul.
Burke referred to it as "one of Hank's great gospel songs, which
people weren't familiar with."
The late Waylon Jennings pedal steel guitarist Robby Turner - who toured
here with The Highwaymen and Dixie Chicks - and guitarist Reggie Young
played on Morrison tune At The Crossroads.
CD REVIEW - 2006
SOLOMON BURKE
NASHVILLE (SHOUT FACTORY-SHOCK)
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It's
no shock soul supremo Solomon Burke reverted to country 46 years after
debut hit Just Out of Reach Of My Two Open Arms - cut by Faron
Young and Patsy Cline. But the musical mortician doesn't bury his aching vocals in the strings that strangled the passion of some country peers. Instead he cut this amazing disc in a magical, mystery tour of the funky sonic canyons of producer Buddy Miller's East Nashville home. "Buddy knows where to move each song," Burke, 66 and father of 21, confessed of a 10 day session that produced more than 20 tunes. |
"We started on the front porch recording. To the living room, from
the living room to dining room, from the dining room to kitchen. We ended
up on the back porch and the album was over."
It started with acoustic Tom T Hall ballad That's How I Got To Memphis
- also cut by Miller - and ends with an evocative finale - the Larry Henley-Red
Lane hit Til I Get It Right, replete with strings.
The Bishop stretches out on rollicking Jim Lauderdale tune Seems Like
You're Gonna Take Me Back and Kevin Welch's triumphant Millionaire.
| He
ignites gender reversal in Buddy-Julie Miller cheating tune Does
My Ring Burn Your Finger - a hit for Lee Ann Womack. Emmylou Harris plays a joyous Tammy in We're Gonna Hold On - the George Jones-Earl Montgomery chart topper for Jones and Wynette. Miller's superb song sequencing ensure the mood swings and tempo tides recede and wash across 14 tunes with little quicksand. And the other Coalminer's daughter Patty Loveless fuels temptation tryst You're The Kind Of Trouble - penned by Emmylou's ex singing spouse Paul Kennerley and Alan Jackson's nephew Adam Wright and wife Shannon. |
 Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke & Buddy Miller |
Kennerley and Barry Tashian wrote Honey Where's The Money Gone,
adorned with Mickey Raphael's harmonica and Al Perkins lap steel, and
followed by Don Williams hurting heat seeker Atta Way To Go.
Sam Bush's fiddle, Perkins dobro and Phil Madeira's accordion are a bluegrass
foil to Burke's ebullience in Springsteen's Ain't Got You - entree
to Gillian Welch's Valley Of Tears.
Dolly Parton and Patty Griffin join Burke on originals Tomorrow Is
Forever and Up To The Mountain on a disc set for longevity
despite minimal airplay.