10 years ago one of the greatest voices in music left us, today we want to pay tribute from Smooth Hot Jazz to the great Solomon Burke.
Born on March 21, 1940 and died on October 10, 2010. Solomon Burke was the youngest of seven children. He was raised by his grandmother Elanor, who educated him in evangelism and ended up putting his grandson as a priest of his own congregation. At the age of seven, Burke was already offering sermons in church and was known as “the wonder boy preacher”. At the age of 12 he was already directing the gospel choir and running a radio program called “the Temple of Solomon.”
His luck changed in 1959 when Atlantic Records was looking for vocalists after the departure of its stars, Ray Charles and Bobby Darin. In the first test Burke signed for what was the largest independent music producer of the 20th century. His style evolved from gospel to soul and shortly afterwards, in 1961, he triumphed on the R&B charts and little with Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms).
He set style precedents with Cry to me, which years later would once again become a hit as the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing.
And his maximum fame came with Everybody Needs Somebody To Love with versions of even the Rolling Stones themselves.
He earned the title of King of Rock’n’Soul. After meeting Martin Luther King in person, he released the album I Have A Dream, started the race-conscious supergroup Soul Clan, along with Wilson Pickett, Don Covay, Ben E. King, Otis Redding and Joe Tex, and recorded on the legendary Chess label with Jerry Swamp Dogg.
The explosion of Funk isolated this genius during the 70s, and he did not resurrect until 2002 reappearing with Don’t Give Up On Me, with which he came on tour to Spain.
Everyone who knew him highlighted his sense of humor and his simplicity. Solomon Burke leaves a biological legacy of 21 children, 69 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. His spiritual legacy is a church built around him. And his musical legacy leaves an unforgettable voice that we wanted to honor today.
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