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Solomon Burke
offical website
"It’s the music — country, pop, jazz, rock, classical. It’s all magic, it’s a gift from the angels."
"This is what you want the show to be. Not just a show but a gathering of people’s spirit and soul. See them participate. I don’t want people to just come to my show, I want all of us to do the show together."
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6.18.04
Solomon Burke: The King of Rock & Soul Returns to the Throne
by Dave Gil de Rubio
Solomon Burke is a man of large appetites. A man of God who began his long preaching career at the age of nine for his family’s Philadelphia church, the House of God for All People, Burke is best known as the King of Rock & Soul. Proclaimed by legendary producer Jerry Wexler as the "greatest soul singer of them all," Solomon Burke is the owner of 19 chart hits, numerous funeral homes, a limo service, and a concession stand supply company. With 21 children, though, it’s not surprising that this Philly native was always hustling up different ways to make a buck. It’s hard to believe Burke — such a larger-than-life figure — was off the pop culture radar until his 2001 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2002, Epitaph president Andy Kaulkin approached the legendary vocalist about going into the studio to cut what would eventually become Don’t Give Up On Me. Like the late Johnny Cash’s Rick Rubin-produced projects, Kaulkin presented the preaching soulman material from famous names like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Tom Waits. Musictoday recently caught up with Minister Burke, who's currently on the road but was between gigs at his home in California, where the conversation included talk of music, family, and where to get the best corned beef and pastrami in New York City.
Musictoday: I saw you recently in New York and was happy to see you coming out to our neck of the woods.
Solomon Burke: I love coming to New York. I love New York for so many great reasons. Number one, the people are incredible. Totally incredible. Every time I’ve ever played New York, it’s always been an exciting moment. And then there are the greatest corned beef and pastrami sandwiches in the world. [laughs]
Mt: Where do you go for that?
SB: A little place on Broadway that I go. It’s right across from my hotel where I like to stay. I don’t like to plug anybody, but I think they’re just fantastic. I’ve been to the Stage Deli, I’ve been to all those other great places. There are so many great places in New York, my God. You can get in a cab and ask where you can get the greatest corned beef and pastrami sandwich and the cab driver will be like, "Let me take you to Brooklyn." It’s because the people just have a certain sense of taste and direction of what they’re doing. The greatest Italian food in the world is in New York. You go to Little Italy and you start speaking Italian. The greatest Chinese food is in New York, it’s incredible. You want a good steak? You get a good steak right off of Broadway. Some of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life have been in New York City. That’s why people get locked into New York and can’t leave. Anything you want, you can get into a cab and be there in 15 minutes.
Mt: And it’s open all the time.
SB: The only thing I worry about is parking. [laughs]
Mt: I love your most recent record. How was it making Don’t Give Up On Me versus anything you’ve recorded before?
SB: I think this record is a historical one for me. It was something that was a gift from God and not from man. The gift came from God to the record president of the company, who said to me, "I sat and watched your show for two days and I came up with an idea and I want to know if you can cut this record for me." I thought this guy was incredibly crazy but I said, "What a heck of an idea." He said, "If we could pull it off, it could be incredible. It just came to me. I don’t know if I can do it or not." I said, if we could do it, I was with him. And that’s what we did it on. We did it on the strength of a dream and an idea that we had for this great, fantastic idea that God had given him. I said, "Andy, this is incredible. I don’t believe you, but I’m willing to try it." As soon as he gave me the check and it cleared, I knew it was getting good. After that, everything went like clockwork. Like a miracle. We did this album in four days; in four days and they had studio time booked for two weeks. We went in and it was boom, boom, boom. I never saw the songs or looked at them until we walked into the studio and we just did them one after the other. On the third day, Elvis Costello walks into the studio unannounced and we hadn’t even done his song yet. He said he heard we were going to do his song and he was hoping he could hear it. They ran into the studio, handed me the music and said, "Mr. Costello, we’re getting ready to play it for him now." He was like, "Play it for him now?" He looked at them like they were crazy and with a look that was like, "Are you out of your mind? You mean to tell me you never played the song for the man?" [laughs] He said, "You never heard it?" I said, "No sir, but we’re working on it right now." They started the track and he told them to stop and insisted on singing it for me. He sang it for me and we did it right there with him sitting there. It was incredible. The whole session was incredible. Then, on the last day, the Five Blind Boys came in. They had just won their Grammys. They came in as my surprise guests and said, "Let’s sing baby." We did that song in 35 minutes, it was a blessing.
Mt: Had you met them before?
SB: I tell you, if I didn’t see good, I’d be one of the Blind Boys. [laughs] I’ve known the Blind Boys too long. They’re all teenagers. You know that, right? They’re incredible. When I was a little boy, they were having hit records in Philadelphia, which is why this is so remarkable. For me to have the opportunity to record with them and for them to record with me was like history. You want to run and go tell somebody, but all the people you want to run and go tell are all dead. I wanted to call my mother and grandmother because this is legendary. These guys are incredible. We did a video together, it’s just a remarkable time. So when you speak of this album, there’s nothing that can compare to this album. This was a total gift from God that said, "This is for you at this time." I’m honored to be the person that was chosen to do this album. This man could have chosen someone else to do this. I’m sure it would have been a greater record, but I’m very grateful that I had this opportunity to do it and to do all these fantastic songs. When you do the songs in person live, it’s incredible because the people know the writers and the songs and you just get a chill. It’s like everytime you do it, it’s like a new song. Songs like "Diamond In Your Mind" or "Don’t Give Up On Me." It’s been like a healer. You look at my website and people are like, "I’ve got your t-shirt and I’m suffering from cancer and now my cancer’s cured." And I’m like, "C’mon please." Thank God. If this helps in any way, send out some more t-shirts. Let’s keep singing the song until you can’t sing it anymore, 'cause this is what you want. Anything that helps the mind, helps the spirit, helps the soul, helps the body... And music is a magic healer. Even down to the rap music. It’s a healer for some young person out there who’s lost and wants to rob a grocery store. Maybe they hear someone and think they can rap better than that person, so I ain’t gonna rob that grocery store. I’m gonna rap. That’s what we have today that’s something like a gift. It’s the music — country, pop, jazz, rock, classical. It’s all magic, it’s a gift from the angels. The gods are pleased because the angels sing upon their harps, pleasing the gods and calming them down. When the raging winds want to blow and earthquakes and tornadoes come, the gods must be pleased by the heavenly music. This is what I feel, it’s something that’s so magic. It tells the story of love, it tells the story of pain, hurt, disappointment, suspicion, solution, confusion.
Mt: Music is food for the soul.
SB: You’re absolutely right. You’re incredible, that should be the name of my next album. I like that. Can I use that? You’ll allow me to use that?
Mt: Absolutely. Run with that. I’d be honored.
SB: Food for the soul. That’s fantastic. I want to send a special prayer out for Luther Vandross. Wasn’t it wonderful? He got four Grammys. I’m so blessed and proud of him that God is just keeping up with him. He’s going to be healed. He’s going to get better. He’s going to get back on that stage because he’s a fighter and he’s a winner. When we believe, we receive. It’s just so wonderful. I’m excited.
Mt: All the songs on Don’t Give Up On Me are great, but is there one song on the album that really resonates for you?
SB: Every one of those songs has a meaning for me that is special and living with them today is something that’s incredible. Every time you sing one of those songs whether it’s "The Other Side of the Coin" or "Flesh and Blood," you want to hear yourself do that again. It’s like feasting on something special. You ever been to a great buffet? You’re holding the plate and wonder what you put on the plate because everything looks so good. This is what this album is, it’s like a buffet. You don’t know which song to sample first. It’s incredible, it’s so hard to say you like one song better than the other. I can’t. I don’t have a choice, I just voice the choice by singing the song.
Mt: I understand that some of the songs were written specifically for you.
SB: Bob Dylan sang "Stepchild" in shows and concerts and never recorded it. When he was asked for a song, he said this was perfect for Solomon and his words were, "Good luck Solomon, kill ‘em." This is incredible.
Mt: How has this record changed your life?
SB: I’m dealing with five generations of music and three generations of fans. My audience is mom, grandmom, and the kids. The kids are singing the song and grandma wants to know how they know the song. So mom is like, "You used to sing it to me." So it goes on and on and on. This is why I keep a certain medley that goes back to the special times. The Soul Clan and the Little Richards, the Wilson Picketts, the Ben E. Kings, the Otis Reddings. All these people who are important that meant so much to me as my personal friends. Keep that spirit alive in the show so we can never lose that moment of specialness that’s so precious and so tender. Even to do a slow song that people haven’t heard in ten or twenty years, it just becomes magic. This is what you want the show to be. Not just a show but a gathering of people’s spirit and soul. See them participate. I don’t want people to just come to my show, I want all of us to do the show together. Let’s have fun because this is what it’s about.
Mt: Was Andy Kaulkin the man who signed you to Fat Possum?
SB: Yes, it was Andy Kaulkin, an angel of a man. He’s so cool that he admitted that he doesn’t think he could repeat what we did with Don’t Give Up On Me. He said it was a gift for both of us.
Mt: Did he oversee the whole thing and bring all those people in?
SB: The whole thing. He did the whole thing, it was his thing. I said, "You do it." I dealt personally with him, nobody else. We were like two buddies at a Jewish deli eating lox, eggs, and bagels for every meeting. I met Joe Henry at the same deli. He comes in, we’re being cool sitting at Solley’s Deli, at the corner of Van Nuys in Los Angeles. We’re ordering the best lox, eggs, and bagels that you can get — the whole works, cream cheese — 'cause you know, I’m on a diet as long as Philadelphia cream cheese is not fattening. He orders hash browns with lots of onions and two grilled pork chops [laughs], and he asked if they could put a little brown gravy on the side. At that point, I knew this guy was the producer.
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