Solomon Burke was born on March 21, 1940, in an upstairs room of a Philadelphia church. The singer/songwriter went on to become known as the King of Rock and Soul. He began singing country recordings before moving on to gospel, blues, jazz and soul. When he was only 14 years-old, Burke signed with Apollo Records and recorded under the label for a few years. By the time he was 17, he found himself on hard times without a recording contract and much of his profits.
“I had to go through being a bum on the street, living in abandoned cars, eating pork and beans out of the can, begging for nickels and dimes on the corner,” Burke recalled. “God wanted me to go through those trials and tribulations, so I could understand having and wanting, and knowing how to show compassion, and help others as well as myself.”
Atlantic Records had their eye on young Solomon for quite some time, and after Ray Charles had left the label, Solomon was signed. When he showed up for his first recording session at Atlantic, he was given a country song to sing. The song, “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)”, which had already been recorded by Patsy Cline, among others, was released the following year and became the first hit of Solomon’s for Atlantic. He followed suit with “Cry to Me” and “Down in the Valley”. He would have his biggest smash with the #1 R&B hit “Got to Get You Off My Mind” in 1965.
By the 1970s, however, Burke had receded from the spotlight and had begun working as a mortician and undertaker in Los Angeles. He was also ordained a minister and preached part-time for the rest of his life. His music career enjoyed mediocre success with his continuous release albums, and in 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But his career was revived with the release of Don’t Give Up on Me in 2002, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contempory Blues Album and whose title track gained popularity and introduced Burke to a new generation of music lovers. The song also became a staple of his live performances (see below).
In 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with Nashville. The album release was celebrated with a concert with a number of country stars. It was followed by Like a Fire, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2008. That same year, Burke performed at a number of music festivals, tours and concerts and began work on what would be his last solo album, Nothing’s Impossible, which was released April 6, 2010. Burke toured Japan for the first time in May of this year and began his “Year of the Dream Love Tour” across Europe in July.
Solomon Burke died early Sunday, October 10th of natural causes on a plane that had just landed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. He was scheduled to perform a sellout show on Tuesday in Amsterdam to celebrate the release of what is his final work, a collaboration album entitled Hold On Tight written by Dutch pop/soul band De Dijk. He is survived by 21 children (14 daughters and 7 sons), 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. The Burke Family issued a statement saying: “Although our hearts and lives will never be the same, his love, life and music will continue to live within us forever.”
0 Comments:
Post a Comment