Have you ever heard a minister's sermon in church? Aside from solemn Catholic, Baptist's way of preaching a sermon is very musical. I think you might have much time to meet with Martin Luther King's voice, and you can find the part of I Have a Dream, appeared on the compilation CD of excerpts from his speeches "In Search of Freedom" , told like a rhymed song. The sermons of Aretha Franklin's father C.L. Franklin in his CDs like "Legendary Sermons" are wonderful in his musically resonant voice. The words are punctuated impressively by the full-of-life and vivid voice of a man. The audience makes responses such as "That's right" or "Amen". At last the minister sings up every word like a howler. The asthmatically breathing notes are served raw on the mike and they cause the effect just like taking rhythm. He lifts the audience higher like an instigator. The Buddhist priest's homily or the comic storyteller's human story in Japan may be in common with the sermon in the content, but not in the musical groove of starting singin' just after talkin'. In the U.S., the land of deeper connection between religion and music which Japanese can hardly imagine, it is quite natural that some of gospel singers should turn to secular ones. It is said that before in his teens Solomon Burke began preaching as 'The Wonderboy Preacher' in his family's church of Philadelphia and had his own gospel radio program. I don't know how his sermon was delivered, however, I can suppose it might be inspiring like C.L. Franklin since his voice which came from the north has a fervor of the southern soul.
The first secular recordings of Solomon were done at Apollo records in the mid-50s. If you listen to his compilation of the time "This is It", you should find his gospel only in Christmas Presents, which turned out to be the dedication to his grandmother, and you should find his ballads such as You Can Run But You Can't Hide, written after the heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis; the resonance of those tone is slightly influenced in gospel just like Roy Hamilton or Ivory Joe Hunter. Despite it, you can hear his flexible voice moving free between the high and the low tones.
"Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974" was my first experience with Solomon Burke, and then came his Atlantic years' two disc compilation "Home in Your Heart", whose disc-one reminds me of him as a pioneer who stood just before soul became popular in general in the latter '60s. While he was conscious of Ray Charles, who made a breakthrough with the rendition of country tunes, on his early sweet side Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms), Solomon Burke in his prime raised the listeners with his speaking-to-the-melody preaching style, backed by Atlantic rock'n'soul which put emphasis on choir and rhythm with Latin influences under the production of Bert Berns. Not to mention his delivery ranging from ballad to rocker appeared on Words, If You Need Me, The Price, Got to Get You off My Mind, Home in Your Heart, you cannot miss the song-writing team. Not only Don Covay's I'm Hanging up My Heart for You and Tonight's the Night but also Bert Berns (Russel)'s Down in The Valley, Cry to Me, Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) and Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, which also appears in the film "Blues Brothers", should take you in touch with the essence of blue and church-warming New York soul.
The disc two of "Home in Your Heart" contains some sides in the period when Atlantic sought Memphis sounds in the south, so he spoke and sang fine tunes like I Wish I Knew, accompanied by country-tinged, loose and tight southern soul. However, I feel it plainer and tamer than the sides in his heyday. This is a great contrast to the label mates like Aretha Franklin or Wilson Pickett, who gained the southern sound and swam with the tide and made a crossover success. Solomon Burke's unrefined style is so deeply connected with the church sound that it might have been popular among blacks in the south or deep-soul lovers but not in the general public. No matter what may sound you should find him no less than in his heyday, when you hear those albums "King Solomon" and "I Wish I Knew" his persuasive preaching and grimly intensive reading appeared on Keep a Light in the Window.
After leaving Atlantic and joining Bell at first, he had the wonderful interpretation of CCR's Proud Mary featuring his preacher talking. His Muslce Shoals recordings compilation "Proud Mary" contains the full cream of southern soul renditions like That Lucky Old Sun, not sounds like Ray Charles' weeper. After those substantial works he moved from label to label. Even in his MGM pop soul ones "That's Heavy Baby" or his mediocre Chess disco "The Chess Collection", we sometimes hear his superb gospel soul. On the compilation "Let Your Love Flow" produced by the cult soulster the Swamp Dogg, Solomon put his good soulful voice and preaching on disco tracks such as Please Don't Say Goodbye to Me, and there are also fine ballads like Sidewalks, Fences and Walls. In the '80s he cut albums from a New Orleans label Rounder such as somewhat adult-oriented "A Change is Gonna Come" or his greatest hits live "Soul Alive!" supported by the simple pieces but sang just in his prime. In the '90s he released pretty ones from New Orleans Black Top, such as his bunch of old guitar bules and jazz blues "Soul of the Blues" or " Live at House of Blues", the live in his reign with the big band.
Solomon Burke still live a vigorous life of a singer along with his ministry and his string of mortuaries. His rotund and dignified figure seems to suggest that he should have no time to bother about the conflict between the sacred and the secular. Described as the coronation of "the king of rock'n'soul" and attired with a crown and a cape, he worked up interesting live acts. You can imagine his performances when you listen to such live albums as "Soul Alive!" or " Live at House of Blues". His recent work "Don't Give up on Me" from Fat Possum label is very excellent thanks to his ripe vocal and Joe Henry's simple and blue and careful production. Besides his heart-rending delivery on the title track which he had not had in his younger preaching style, I cannot resist the most tasty selection of tunes written by Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and so on. Nick Lowe's The Other Side of the Coin was said to be written about the complications which a man of God who is also a secular soul singer holds. I think, however, it should be soul that he is strong enough to recall and forget, "I may be the one like you say". And then he has us hear his ripe voice on the albums of Shout imprints; "Make Do with What You Got" produced by Don Was or "Nashville" including some duets with female country or roots rock singers or "Like a Fire" featuring acoustic guitars and Eric Clapton's composition. As Peter Gularnick wrote the chaptor about Solomon Burke in "Sweet Soul Music", the description including his own talks is so charming. A man who moves his own life between sincerity and craftiness, between seriousness and jokes, between the sacred and the secular, just like his voice; his story is so thick that it puts down all success stories of mere singers. I guess those who have once touched his energy stuffed in that huge belly should have met somewhat auspicious and very pleasant scenes.
As many of you have already known, he passed away on the 10th of October, 2010. I wish him rest in peace. His last album of the time when he still lived, "Nothing's Impossible" , was produced by Willie Mitchel who passed away in the same year. This is a fantastic present with the combination of Al Green's Hi sound and Solomon's voice. He recently came to Japan for the first time. All I can utter is the sound of asthonishment and greif. (2005/10/23)(2009/03/11)(2010/10/13)