Track Listing

1. Like A Fire
2. We Don't Need It
3. Fall
4. Minute To Rest And A Second To Pray
5. Ain't That Something
6. What Makes Me Think I Was Right
7. Understanding
8. You And Me
9. Thank You
10. If I Give My Heart To You

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75322 in Music
• Released on: 2008-06-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: .17 pounds

CD Description
Though Solomon Burke was undeniably one of the very finest soul singers of the 1960s, he spent far too many years in the wilderness until 2002's DON'T GIVE UP ON ME started his comeback train rolling. The rest of the decade found him turning out new albums at a steady clip, and 2008's LIKE A FIRE finds a 68-year-old Burke still fully capable of wringing tear-jerking emotion from his voice. While his 2006 album, NASHVILLE, saw him reinterpreting country tunes, LIKE A FIRE is more akin to DON'T GIVE UP ON ME, as Burke tackles new songswritten for him by the likes of Eric Clapton, Keb' Mo', andBen Harper, who also add their considerable instrumental talents to the proceedings. While some of the material is a bit smoother than that of his last few efforts, Burke's indomitable voice is as commanding and powerful as ever, immediately demanding the listener's attention, and rewarding that attention with emotionally complex, nuanced performances on every single track.

Customer Reviews

Another outing to Burke's country.
Solomon Burke's latest CD is a personal and understated if not sparse affair. For most of his career the man from Philadelphia has been switching between country and soul, often choosing songs from the (white) country tradition but singing them with (black) preacher type phrasing. Until recently Burke's accompaniment also stuck to traditional soul patterns. Nothing wrong with that! Now, once again, there is not a sax or trumpet in sight. If anything this CD is even more introspective than its predecessor. Is it good? Yes, but I'm beginning to believe it's not as good as the three preceding ones, Don't give up on Me, Make do with what you've got and Nashville. My ideal verdict would be three and a half stars but that is not possible.
The two collaborations with Eric Clapton are the highlights of the album.
Like a Fire, the album's opener and title track is a brooding song. I do wonder though whether perhaps Burke should have taken more time before finally recording it. I have now heard three versions of this song. At the Glastonbury festival on June 29 the big man seemed to have difficulty remembering the lyrics, four days later at London's Barbican he gave a superb impassioned rendition of the song, obviously having familiarised himself with it in the mean time. The Barbican version was in my opinion superior to the one on this CD.
Thank you, co-written with Clapton is upbeat and light of touch with one of those lovely down home spoken bits in the middle of a song, Burke can do so well.
Other highlights are We don't need it, a tale of a man who loses his job and A Minute to Rest, although I could have done without the heavenly choir at the start there!
The final track, If I give my Heart to You seems to indicate a possible new avenue : Lounge Music, and I do not mean that in a negative sense! Listening to his phrasing here and the wonderful way in which he modulates his voice, I wondered if perhaps an album of standards such as Nat King Cole's Let there be Love or Howard Keel's Oh what a beautiful Morning might not be a good step forward.

Like a Fire, Solomon Burke - Intimate feeling soul album
One thing with Solomon Burke is that you never know what you're going to get. One minute he's belting out some great soul, the next minute finds him going all country. And he manages a variety of moods - foot stomping through to intimate soul baring - with great adeptness.

His recent run of critically acclaimed albums ("don't give up on me", "make do with what you've got" and "Nashville", all worth checking out) has found him find a new audience by combining all these talents and utilising some great new material written for him by some big names (Dylan and Van Morrison to name a couple).

Here he attempts the same formula, with material provided by Eric Clapton and Ben Harper among others, but the style through out is of intimate soul, with little variety. This is no bad thing, Burke is a past master at this, and does an excellent job. It is also good that all the guest stars do not dominate the album, this really is Burke's all the way through.

My only real trouble was the material. It's OK, but not really strong enough for Burke to really get his teeth into. He does his best, and the result it quite listenable, it just doesn't quite have the vital spark that made "don't give up on me" a smash. Nothing here really grabs your attention and lodges in your memory.

All in all a decent, workman like album with a nice cosy feel, but it didn't work as well for me as his other recent albums, so only three stars.

Brilliant Solomon and guests
What a great album, I love it. Don't listen to the other downbeat reviews as it is FUNKY soul