Solomon Burke

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Solomon Burke (born March 21 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a soul and country music pioneer and member of the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1 Career
2 Trivia
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career

He began his adult life as a preacher in Philadelphia, and soon moved on to hosting a gospel radio show. In the 1960s, he signed with Atlantic Records and began moving towards more secular music. His first hit was "Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms", a cover of a country song. Though well-received by both peers and critics, and attaining a few moderate pop and several major R&B hits, Burke never could quite break through into the mainstream as did Sam Cooke or Otis Redding. Perhaps his best-known song -- while it was not a radio hit -- is the song "Cry to Me", used in the famous dance-and-seduction scene in the film, Dirty Dancing.

In 1964 he wrote and recorded "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," Burke's most prominent bid for an enduring soul standard. Almost immediately covered by The Rolling Stones the same year, other well-known versions include one by Wilson Pickett and another, a decade and a half later, in the 1980 film by The Blues Brothers.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

His career was to some degree revived in 2002, with the release of Don't Give Up On Me on Fat Possum Records and produced by Joe Henry. ^[1], where he sang songs written specifically for the album by various top-rank artists, including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits.

He is featured in the 2004 movie Lightning in a Bottle, singing "Turn on Your Love Light" and "Down in the Valley". Also in 2004, Solomon appeared on Junkie XL's album, Radio JXL: A Broadcast From the Computer Hell Cabin, performing "Catch Up To My Step". In 2004 he was featured on the song "I Pray On Christmas" from the Blind Boys Of Alabama album "Go Tell It On The Mountain," which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. In 2004, Burke also recorded a duet with Italian soul singer Zucchero. The two artists performed Zucchero's hit "Diavolo in me" (Devil in me) on the Italian's duetalbum "ZU & co". Burke was also a guest at a London show in May 2004 in which Zucchero presented the album. This performance is included on Zucchero's dvd "ZU & Co - live at the RAH".

In 2005, he appeared as a special guest with Jools Holland on his autumn tour of the United Kingdom, including two sell-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall.

In September 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with the release of a 14-track country album titled Nashville, produced by Buddy Miller. It included guest vocals from Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch and Patty Loveless.

Solomon was joined by a host of top country stars and backed by Buddy Miller and his Band at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville on September 25, 2006 for a one-off concert to celebrate the release of 'Nashville'. The concert was filmed by HDNet and was released on DVD in Europe on September 17, 2007.

On September 28, 2006, Burke was among the several rock, soul, and country legends that sang along with Jerry Lee Lewis at the live concert "Last Man Standing" at the Sony Music Studio in New York City. The two duets were "Who Will the Next Fool Be" and "Today I started Lovin' You Again".

In February 2007, Burke performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and later on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The Tonight Show performance was accompanied by The Tonight Show Band members and bandleader Kevin Eubanks on lead guitar. On Late Night he performed with Buddy Miller 'That's How I Got To Memphis' from Nashville.

As of September 2007, Burke was the father of twenty-one children (fourteen daughters and seven sons), 87 grandchildren.^[1] Several of his children and grandchildren have had successful careers in various facets of the music industry, though none are as renowned as their patriarch.

[edit] Trivia

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His song "Don't Give Up On Me" was performed in the first season episode, The Heights; and the second season episode The Power of Love; on the FOX television program, The O.C. In the second season episode, the song was also performed by one of main actors in The O.C., Peter Gallagher, earning Gallagher a recording contract from an onlooking fan in the music industry^{[citation needed]}.
His song, "None of Us Are Free", from the album Don't Give Up On Me, was featured on an episode of the TV Drama, House.
The HBO drama The Wire, used "Fast Train" from the album Don't Give Up On Me, in its closing montage for season 3.
Burke is one of the favorite musicians of protagonist Rob Fleming, in Nick Hornby's novel, High Fidelity.