George HaffendenThis October marks five years since the death of the King of Rock & Soul, Mr Solomon Burke. One of the creators of early R&B, Solomon Burke was quite literally a larger-than-life figure that possessed one of the most powerful, most gritty, soul voices of all time. Signed to Atlantic Records in the 1960s, Burke had several big hits to his name, most famously the classic ‘Everybody Needs Someone To Love’, which would later also be hit for Wilson Pickett and, of course, for The Blues Brothers. Burke was a renowned recording artist and performer, and over the course of his fifty-plus year career recorded soul, blues, R&B and gospel, performing to sold-out crowds across the world right up until his death – indeed, he was on his way to perform in Amsterdam to perform with the group De Dijk, with whom he had just recorded an album with.
While many of his contemporises stuck to performing their old hits, Burke spent the first decade of the new millennium teaming up with new writers and producers, creating some of the best music of his long career. His “comeback” album, 2002’s Don’t Give Up On Me, is arguably one of the best albums of his career. Produced by Joe Henry and recorded in little under a week, the album is Burke at his best, sounding as good as he did back in the ‘60s, his phrasing and delivery simply majestic.
One of the highlights on the album is the inclusion of the song ‘Soul Searching’, a song co-written by Andy Paley and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Wilson recorded the song on his 1996 ‘Getting’ In Over My Head’, and it featured the last recorded vocals of his late brother Carl Wilson before his untimely death of cancer that same year. The Wilson brothers’ version is fine, but in the soulful grasp of Burke it becomes a piece of wonder, a true soul delight. Burke’s vocals are impeccable, taking great care over every word sung, drenching the song in that emotion so prevalent in his classic recordings. Henry’s stripped back, bare production allows Burke to lay his heart out on the record, providing the raw emotion that the Wilson’s so desperately lacked on their version of the song.
The rest of the album is a real treat too, particularly the guest appearance by the Blind Boys of Alabama on ‘None of Us Are Free’. Buoyed by this success, Burke would go on to record several more albums before his death in 2010, including the country-inspired album Nashville that featured a pretty good duet with none other than Dolly Parton. Burke’s death in 2010 at the age of 70 hit the R&B and soul community pretty hard considering that, even weighing upwards of 400 pounds, he had been committed to a full touring and recording schedule. Today it seems that Burke gets a little bit forgotten about, which is a crying shame for Solomon Burke created some incredible R&B and soul music right up until his death. ‘Soul Searching’ is a testament to Burke’s unrivalled ability to reimagine a song, and to craft an irresistible vocal.