Search - Solomon Burke :: Don't Give Up on Me

This Bluesman still has Soul in him

Omer Belsky | Haifa, Israel | 04/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On the 31st of January 2003 I went to concert that double featured a seemingly very unusual combination - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (a hard rock band with over-the-top Blues mannerism) and Solomon Burke, a legendary Soul singer from the 60s. I came to see Jon Spencer - but I left with memories of Solomon Burke as one of the most amazing performers I've ever encountered. The deep, rich voice, the energetic personality (even though he sat on a chair and rarely got up during the entire show!) and most of all, Burke's showmanship, the way he cast his spell on the crowd, were simply unrivaled.This CD captures as much as possible of that magical spirit. It has Burke at his best - crispy clear, enthusiastic and focused. It has sharp, minimalist back up band (along with special guests such as 'The Blind Boys of Alabama' and Daniel Lenois). It doesn't hurt that it has some of today's finest songwriters contributing songs to it. I find it interesting that the target audience for Burke's latest is solidly the Rock/Alternative Rock crowd. Burke, a little like Hendrix, is now firmly in the predominantly white rock camp. I suspect there is an interesting social message in that - but let us get back to the music, for it is very nearly divine.The music rages from the brittle blues of the title track, through the folky Fast Train, ..., Jazz-Soul (Flesh and Blood) and something approaching Gospel (the sublime none of us are free).The only weak track here is from another 60s relic, Brian Wilson's Soul Searching, which proves that not everyone has a place in the comeback market - go back to the Beach Boys Reunion tours where you belong, Brian!Everything else varies between the very good and the sublime. Van Morrison contributes two tracks, both of which appear on his latest CD. The first one, Fast Train is particularly good. Joe Henry's Flesh and Blood is dark, slow and atmospheric. Both the Costello contribution and Lowe's song (The Other Side of the Coin) are good. I'd say Lowe is better - the lyrics seem fresher, and the music a little more catchy.Three songs deserve special attention. Tom Waits is one of the most versatile, thoughtful and clever songwriters of our time. 'Diamond in Your Mind' is one of his best songs - it keeps away from the over the top humor of songs like 'Better Not Married' and 'Goin' Out West' for the simple beautiful melody (a la Alice and I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You). Burke is truly into it - he performs with real passion, careful in the verses and explosive during the choruses, especially in the stunning ending ("one more time" Burke shouts, and the band launches into the chorus again).Bob Dylan is a man who needs no introduction. Stepchild is a song from the late 70s, which was sometimes performed with the grand band Dylan had during the 'Street Legal' tour. It has been abandoned after Dylan's conversion to Christianity, and like most of the late 70s pre-Jesus stuff, has not been played live since. It is nice to know Dylan hasn't forgotten this song, which is a funky-bluesy gem. Burke's interpretation is masterful (as usual) on this one - his references to Dylan ("Whatever you want you know I'm willin'/But I sure can't be Bob Dylan") perfectly capture the humorous I-got-knockdown-but-I'll-get-up feel of the song.Arguably the best song in the CD 'None of Us are Free' is one before last. It has a poetic social theme straight out of John Donne (None of us are free/If one of us is chained), a long with a powerful melody. This is a Gospel number, and appropriately that the Blind Boys of Alabama are featured as back up vocalist. The refrain is addictive and, as Burke says in the liner notes, he could've gone on with it all night.Interestingly, instead of ending in this epic note, the powers that be chose as final number the intimate 'Sit This One Out'. I probably would have preferred 'None of Us Are Free' as a last song, but I understand the decision - it is a personal statement from the fatherly Burke, in the best tradition of Soul and Gospel, that we can overcome, and that we will prevail. Amen."

R&B Record of the Year

Larry White | AdultPop.com | 11/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The best male R&B album of the year has recently been released and it is not by a fresh, new voice but by this 66 year-old member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Unless you are an R&B maven, chances are you, like us, are more familiar with Solomon Burke's name and reputation than you are with his work. He never had a Top 20 hit, thus never achieved the popularity of some of his contemporaries, say Percy Sledge or Clarence Carter. Nevertheless, when the roll of the great soul singers is called, his name is invariably among them. Burke sings with what the liner notes so accurately refer to as `passionate restraint'. Although his vocals display the same intensity as Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett, they seem much more effortless, as natural as a lion's roar. What makes this album so special and what we imagine will be the pinnacle of Burke's career is that nearly every song has been written especially for him by some of the great songwriters of our time. Dan Penn, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Joe Henry, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Nick Lowe, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil...that's a rock & roll hall of fame right there. And Burke puts his own inimitable stamp on each. Backed by a powerhouse band including Burke's church organist Rudy Copeland and inobtrusively produced by Joe Henry, this gives the whippersnappers something to shoot for."

Soul Music Is Alive And Well !

David Kinney | San Francisco, Ca. United States | 08/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The great Atlantic R n'B producer Jerry Wexler was once asked who he thought was the greatest of all the soul giants he had worked with.He answered "Solomon Burke, with a good band". Well Solomon's got a great band working with him here. Under the spare,sympathetic production of Joe Henry,this studio outfit smoulders under the slow burn genius of Solomon Burke. I'm not much given to hyperbole, but I truly believe that this CD can stand with any of the classic Stax or Atlantic masterpieces of the 60's you'd care to name. It's just that good.Right from the git go on Dan Penn's title tune, the Reverend Burke serves notice that he has lost none,none, of his power and charisma as a song stylist. From that first organ chord you are transplanted to a better place.If anything age has improved Solomon Burkes voice.He has lost none of the gospel melisma of his youth and employs it with panache on the two Van Morrison tracks "Fast Train", and "Only A Dream".But time has added a patina of grit and gruffness that enable Solomon to tackle Tom Wait's joyous "Diamond In Your Mind" with a Louis Armstrong growl and Joe Henry's "Flesh And Blood" like an uptown bluesman in the Jimmy Witherspoon mold,while still sounding like himself.Many great songsmith's contributed to this CD,so let's blast through with some instant grades for the composers.Solomon gets an A+ for his singing. Okay.... Dan Penn (and friends) get an A for the churchy title tune. Van gets two A's for his gospel songs. Waits gets an A, he's hilarious.Brian Wilson gets a B for his Doo-Woppy "Soul Searchin".Elvis Costello gets a C- for "The Judgement" cuz there's no tune there.The Dylan song is a C but why did the producer pick it in the first place? Nick Lowe 's "Other Side Of The Coin" is an A+.Just perfect.Mann-Weill's "None Of Us Are Free rates an A cuz it's like a Staples song you think you've missed.And finally an unknown Pick Purcell gets an A for the soulful "Sit This One Out".I'm hoping this CD is a financial success so that others like Wilson Pickett and William Bell might be inspired to come out with something this good. Soul music is alive and well and it's name is Solomon Burke."