Solomon Burke - Cry To Me

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Solomon Burke (March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most unfairly overlooked singer of soul's golden age".

Burke was "the founding father of what was defined as soul music in America in the 1960s", and "a major architect of 1960s soul, infusing post-World War II R&B with [his] gospel roots"and "a key transitional figure bridging R&B and soul", Burke's "sound was a bold merger of orchestrated sophistication and countryish, down-home grit, and his best singles built a Gothic sense of drama and heartbreak.

These tracks bridged the gap between the more mannered mainstream rhythm and blues of the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller songwriting team of the 1950s, as exemplified by the Coasters and Drifters, and the gruffer Southern styles of the later '60s, as heard on the Stax Records sides of Otis Redding and Sam & Dave.

Burke was "a singer whose smooth, powerful articulation and mingling of sacred and profane themes helped define soul music in the early 1960s».Artistically, Burke was influenced by the music of the church, as well as by Little Richard.

During the 55 years that he performed professionally, Burke released 38 studio albums on more than 17 record labels and had 35 songs that charted, including 26 songs that made the Billboard R&B charts, including "Got to Get You Off My Mind" that was #1 in the summer of the 1965, and an additional 9 songs that were only listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 1964's seminal “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”.

Burke had over 30 songs make the Cash Box R&B charts, with "Got to Get You Off My Mind" reaching #1, and 23 that charted on their pop chart hits, with seven making Cash Box's Top 40. In 2001, Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a performer. His album Don't Give Up on Me won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003.

By 2005 Burke was credited with selling 17 million albums. Rolling Stone ranked Burke as #89 on its 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

On December 6, 1961 Burke recorded one of his best known songs, "Cry to Me","an ode to loneliness and desire","one of the first songs to unify country, gospel and R&B in one package", that is considered "the paradigm for Southern soul ballads". "Cry to Me" was written (as Bert Russell) and produced by Bert Berns.

Released in 1962, "Cry to Me" b/w "I Almost Lost My Mind" (Atlantic 2131) became Burke's second entry in the US charts, peaking at #5 on the R&B charts (and #44 Pop). After "Cry to Me", Burke became one of the first performers to be called a soul artist.