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Today's artist never had a big crossover hit, "the King of Rock and Soul" is not as widely known as others from the golden age of soul music. But his dramatic, sonorous voice — seasoned by his days as a boy preacher — is unrivaled in its ability to move effortlessly between R&B, pop, country and gospel. "My grandmother made sure that we listened to a variety of music, and that always stayed with me,". Recently, he's picked up a Grammy and long-overdue recognition, and tracks such as "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" are now part of the soul canon. "He is Solomon the Resonator," Tom Waits has said, "the golden voice of heart, wisdom, soul and experience."  . ..... N'joy

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He was proclaimed the “King of Rock and Soul” in 1964 and has also been anointed “the Bishop of Soul.” No less an authority than Jerry Wexler, the legendary Atlantic Records producer, has proclaimed, “The best soul singer of all time is Solomon Burke.”

Burke’s versatile, force-of-nature voice combines gospel fervor, country gentility and R&B grit. He can swing from a satiny croon to gruff soul shout to a deep, caressing baritone. From 1961 to 1968, Burke released 32 memorable singles on Atlantic. These included six Top 10 R&B hits, four of which crossed over to the pop Top 40: “Cry to Me” (Number Five R&B), “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)” (Number Seven R&B, Number 24 pop), “Got to Get You Off of My Mind” (Number One R&B, Number 22 pop), “You’re Good for Me” (Number Eight R&B), “Tonight’s the Night” (Number Two R&B, Number 28 pop) and “If You Need Me” (Number Two R&B, Number 37 pop).

Many more of Burke’s singles cracked both the R&B Top 40 and the Top Pop 100 charts. Yet his lasting
significance as a recording artist and performer goes beyond numbers. Burke was a consummate showman who adopted the role of “King of Rock ‘n’ Soul” onstage by adorning himself in a regal robe of velvet and ermine. One of the greatest vocalists of the soul era, Burke has been credited for helping to keep Atlantic Records solvent from 1961 to 1964 with his steady run of hit records. Jerry Wexler pronounced Burke a “vocalist of rare prowess and remarkable range. His voice is an instrument of exquisite sensitivity.” He is also a colorful and even eccentric figure - one of the true characters in the world of popular music.

Burke was born in Philadelphia and gravitated to the church through the influence of his grandmother, preaching his first sermon at age seven. He was broadly exposed to music, absorbing the varied likes of jazz-pop vocalist Nat King Cole, cowboy singers Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, bluesmen Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, gospel queen Clara Ward, and R&B kingpins Ray Charles and Big Joe Turner. This accounts for Burke’s stylistic breadth as a soul singer. He recorded for the New York-based Apollo Records from 1955-1958, where he scored a minor hit with “You Can Run (But You Can’t Hide),” a song whose authorship was co-credited to Burke and boxer Joe Louis

In 1960, Burke signed to Atlantic Records, where it was believed that his flexible voice and roots in gospel and country would earn him a wide, bi-racial audience. His first hit for the label was the uptempo “Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)” in the fall of 1961. Burke’s first single to cross over from R&B to pop was a soulful cover of the country song “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms).” Burke wrote or cowrote much of his material, and he also recorded songs by soul singers Wilson Pickett (“If You Need Me’) and Don Covay (“You’re Good for Me”). Burke and Covay cowrote one of his biggest hits, “Tonight’s the Night.” Burke’s signature song, “Got to Get You Off of My Mind,” stands as one of the premier soul hits of the Sixties. “Got to Get You Off of My Mind” and “Tonight’s the Night” appeared in 1965, Burke’s biggest year, and hit Number One and Number Two on the R&B charts, respectively.

In 1968, Burke teamed with fellow Atlantic artists Don Covay, Ben E. King, Arthur Conley and Joe Tex to record a single ("Soul Meeting") as the Soul Clan, an expression of solidarity and mutual support by five pillars of soul music. “We wanted to interlock ourselves as a group, to express to the younger people how strong we should be and to help one another, work with one another and support one another,” Burke has said of the Soul Clan’s lone single.

After leaving Atlantic, Burke signed with Bell Records where he released five singles in the next eighteen months. In 1969 he had a small hit with his second release for Bell, a reworking of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" b/w "What Am I Living For" (Bell 783). This was co-produced by Tamiko Jones, who was being rehabilitated after a bout of polio, and was at the time Burke's manager. Burke recorded a cover of "Proud Mary" prior to Ike & Tina Turner's version, and according to Burke was the one who convinced the duo to record it. The song became a brief hit reaching #15 R&B and #45 pop. All but four of the tracks Burke recorded during an 18-month stay with Bell Records were packaged on the Proud Mary LP. After this album and the two following singles - his own "Generation of Revelations", and the Mac Davis song "In the Ghetto", which had previously been a hit for Elvis Presley - failed to chart, his contract was not renewed.

Through the efforts of his manager, Buddy Glee, by November 1970 Burke signed with Mike Curb's MGM label, and formed MBM Productions, his own production company. Burke's record debut for MGM, "Lookin' Out My Back Door", another Creedence Clearwater Revival song, had disappointing sales. His first MGM album, Electronic Magnetism, also failed to chart. In 1972 Burke had a #13 R&B hit for MGM with "Love Street and Fool's Road" (MGM 14353).[13] In 1972, he recorded the soundtrack to two films, Cool Breeze and Hammer. He left MGM for ABC-Dunhill Records in 1974, recording the album, I Have a Dream, which produced the #14 R&B hit, "Midnight and You". By 1975 Burke was signed to Chess Records. He recorded two albums for Chess: Music to Make Love By and Back to My Roots, and had a top 20 R&B hit in 1975 with "You And Your Baby Blues". However, his follow-up single "Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You" only reached #72 on the R&B chart. In 1978 Burke released an album Please Don't Say Goodbye To Me, which was produced by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, though Amherst Records.[78] On September 23, 1978, Burke charted for the 31st and last time when "Please Don't Say Goodbye to Me" reached #91 on the R&B chart. He released the album Sidewalks, Fences and Walls on Infinity Records in 1979 (reissued as Let Your Love Flow in 1993 by Shanachie Records).

Between 1979 and 1984, Burke recorded four gospel albums for Savoy Records, starting with the album, Lord I Need a Miracle Right Now. He was nominated for his first Grammy in the Best Male Gospel Soul category for his rendition of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand", but complained later that he did not receive royalties from his Savoy work. He then recorded for smaller labels such as Rounder, MCI/Isis, Bizarre/Straight, Black Top, Point Blank and GTR Records. Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 19, 2001 in New York City by Mary J. Blige, after eight previous nominations since 1986.

In 2002, Burke signed with Fat Possum Records and released the album, Don't Give Up on Me. The album became critically acclaimed and later resulted in Burke's first Grammy Award win. Burke later signed with Shout! Factory to release the album, Make Do With What You Got, which became another critically acclaimed success. In 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with the album, Nashville. In 2008, he received another Grammy nomination for the album, Like a Fire. That same year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Burke as #89 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2010, Burke came out with the Willie Mitchell-produced Nothing's Impossible for E1 Entertainment. Later in 2010, he released his final album, Hold on Tight, a collaboration album with De Dijk, a Dutch band.


A lifelong entrepreneur, Burke also owned a string of mortuaries and attended to a lifelong ministry from his home in Beverly Hills, California, up until his death in Amsterdam in 2010. Burke was married four times. In total Burke fathered at least 14 children (9 daughters and 5 sons), including at least two fathered outside any of his marriages. He had 7 step children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren at the time of his death
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This blast from the past by Solomon Burke appeared on Frank Zappa's Bizarre/Straight Records label and is issued by Rhino. The sound levels are mixed in that early 90s mode that makes it drop out a bit compared to newer CDs whose sound levels are louder. However, musically, Burke was hot here. The opener "Baby Please Don't Cry" has some classic aching soul with Burke's velvet voice, "Girl I told you that I didn't mean to make you cry & that I didn't know the reason why & I told you that I wasn't going to hurt you no more; so baby please don't cry." "Try A Little Tenderness" is one of those songs with numerous interpretations from Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra & Michael Buble to soul greats Aretha Franklin & Otis Redding to Three Dog Night. In Solomon's Burke's hands he works the melody into a pumping rave that builds joyfully. "Make It Up to You" has a real sweet lighthearted groove. The title track is a rousing anthem that asks for racial tolerance, "This is my home land where color should not divide." "I'll Be There" penned by Earl Thomas cuts a classic soul groove with Burke swearing steadfast loyalty to a lost lover. "Love Ain't No Easy Place to Be" is another brilliant soul groove. "You're Gonna Love Me" hits a throbbing bass line with Burke hitting the uptempo groove on this flashy soul stirrer. The set closer "What I've Got to Do" is another midtempo charmer, "I know you belong to someone else, Oh, but I want you for myself." "Homeland" is an excellent set from 1991 that still sounds fresh like great classic soul.

Solomon Burke - Homeland    (flac  242mb)

01 Baby Please Don't Cry 4:30
02 Try A Little Tenderness 4:10
03 I Don't Need Nobody 4:35
04 Make It Up To You 4:02
05 Stayin' Away 3:55
06 Home Land 4:51
07 I'll Be There 4:49
08 Love Ain't No Easy Place To Be 3:45
09 You're Gonna Love Me 3:45
10 What I've Got To Do 4:15

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Solomon Burke could probably sing the want ads from last week's paper and make them sound powerfully soulful, but he had an easier task on this album, in which he adapted a dozen classic blues numbers to his epic-scale R&B style. Burke would probably have preferred livelier material than much of what he gets on Soul of the Blues, especially "Sufferin' Mind" and "Candy," which almost give the man a bit more room to stretch out than he needs, and while the arrangements on this set are ambitious and full-bodied, they're also founded on a lot of contemporary blues clichés and sometimes lack the drama and punch Burke deserves. But no one has ever accused Burke of not knowing how to sell a song, and the man is in typically superb form here; he sounds nothing less than joyous as he rolls through "Good Rockin' Tonight," he brings a potent and powerful gospel undertow to "Letter from My Darling," and he all but steals "Pledging My Love" away from Johnny Ace. Soul of the Blues captures the sound of Solomon Burke dipping his toes in a traditional blues style with the passion and conviction he always brings to his music, and it's a fascinating side trip for one of soul's greatest voices; if there are minor flaws in the production and arrangements, that has nothing to do with the glory of Burke's voice.

Solomon Burke - Soul Of The Blues    (flac 303mb)

01 My Babe 5:13
02 Good Rockin' Tonight 5:30
03 Sufferin' Mind 3:55
04 Letter From My Darling 5:00
05 Don't Deceive Me 3:35
06 Candy 4:10
07 Crawdad Hole 2:57
08 Along About Midnight 4:02
09 Pledging My Love 4:23
10 Lonesome Highway 4:50
11 Street Walking Woman 5:41
12 No Nights By Myself 7:10

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The big, brassy band that backs Solomon Burke on this live set enhances, but never overshadows, his powerful vocals and God-given charisma. Opening with "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," he gets the crowd in a festive mood before slinking into a strong three-song medley comprising "If You Need Me"/"Tonight's the Night"/"I Almost Lost My Mind." He displays his preaching skills on "Cruel World," and you can almost see the collection plate being passed. "Candy/Candy Rap" begins with a big band arrangement, the sound is bold and brassy, but then lightens with Burke's "Candy Rap." He excels on "Got to Get You Off My Mind," another one of his hits from back-in-the-day. In fact, the only glaring omission from his King Solomon era is the bewitching "Somebody's Watching You." On the three or so blues tunes he does, if you close your eyes, you'll think it was a female singing, as he sings in a higher key on blues tunes. Burke, a true character, closes this enjoyable performance with Roy Brown's classic "Good Rockin' Tonight."

Solomon Burke - Live At The House Of Blues     (flac 404mb)

01 Introduction: Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 2:38
02 If You Need Me/Tonight's The Night/I Almost Lost My Mind 7:49
03 Cruel World 8:52
04 Cry To Me 1:59
05 Candy/ Candy Rap 12:09
06 Got To Get You Off My Mind 7:47
07 No More Nights By Myself 6:42
08 Ain't Nobody's Business 4:54
09 Down In The Valley 3:43
10 I Want A Little Girl 4:08
11 Beautiful Brown Eyes/Just A Matter Of Time 5:26
12 Good Rockin' Tonight 5:16

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On this comeback effort, the 60-ish soul giant has his son Selassie alongside him in the producer's chair, and it finds him putting a '90s spin on his classic sound. Definition of Soul ranges from contemporary R&B a la Peabo Bryson to a seven-minute dance track ("Sweet Spirit"). Burke easily shifts from the seductive, Barry White-inspired croon of "Use Me, But Leave My Mind Alone" to a raucous duet with Little Richard on the slickly-produced "Everybody's Got A Game." Gritty soul remains Burke's forte, and he proves it every chance he gets. "You're The One," a strolling ballad juiced along by Holmes Brothers-like harmonies, finds him bouncing between a sweet tenor and a growl. Longtime producer Jerry Wexler came out of retirement to oversee "Your Turn To Cry," and it's another classic you can add to the Solomon Burke canon.

Solomon Burke - The Definition of Soul     (flac 351mb)

01 Why Can't We Come Together 4:41
02 Your Time To Cry 3:49
03 Sweet Spirit 7:01
04 You're The One 3:37
05 Just For You 4:50
06 Oooooo You 4:05
07 Everybody's Got A Game (with Little Richard) 5:22
08 Today Is Your Birthday 3:51
09 Use Me, But Leave My Mind Alone 4:10
10 It's So Hard 5:34
11 Nobody But You 5:49

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