Product Description

Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Van Morrison--the stellar list of songwriting contributors on this comeback effort by '60s soul legend Solomon Burke goes on and on. Did we mention Brian Wilson, Nick Lowe, and even his highness Bob Dylan also donating tunes? Burke came to prominence when soul music was astaple on AM radio as performed by himself and peers Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Aretha Franklin. Contemporary R&B singers from the endlessly melismatic school could learn a thing or two from Burke's passionate restraint. As producer, thesinger-songwriter Joe Henry takes a page from the Daniel Lanois (Dylan, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris) school favouring natural sounds, deep resonance, and subtly spectral reverb. There is much reverence to the past in this relatively stripped down approach, but it is also perfectly evident upon close inspection that this is a contemporary album.
Burke hadrecently been active singing in church, and on this effort he shows that he hasn't forgotten where he came from, bringing along his parish's tasty organist, Brother Rudy Copeland.The tone throughout is primarily serious, occasionally solemn, and then along comes the straight-ahead blues by Dylan to inject the proceedings with playful self-pity and -mockeryon "Stepchild" (as in "You treat me like a"). Honourable mention goes to Fat Possum Records for having the foresight and inspiration to re-introduce an overlooked American gem to a mainstream audience.

Track Listing

1. Don't Give Up On Me
2. Fast Train
3. Diamond In Your Mind
4. Flesh and Blood
5. Soul Searchin'
6. Only A Dream
7. The Judgement
8. Stepchild
9. The Other Side of the Coin
10. None of Us Are Free
11. Sit This One Out

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24942 in Music
• Released on: 2002-07-22
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

****1/2 - an amazing comeback record from Solomon Burke
Nicknamed "The Deacon" and "The King of Rock & Soul", Solomon Burke was one of the important early soul pioneers of the 60s before vanishing from the charts. He still played hundreds of concerts, though, his strengths largely intact, and in February 2002 he stepped into the studio to record this fascinating album.

"Don't Give Up On Me" features original songwriting contributions from several very well-known artists including Van Morrison (two songs) Bob Dylan, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, Tom Waits, and producer Joe Henry himself. It's not really soul, or R&B, rather it's a hybrid of sorts, blending folk, blues, soul, R&B, rock n' roll and a touch of gospel. Burke delivers everything with panache and a voice full of soul, though, and every one of these performances are filled with power and intensity.

"Don't Give Up On Me" is remarkable for its sparse sound and low-key production, no big bands or string orchestras, just bass, percussion, a guitar, an organ and the occational piano. It is reminicent of Johnny Cash's "American Recordings" in that respect, and there are some terrific songs here. The title track is the best, a gritty, dramatic deep soul tune with a huge hook and a lot of passion, but there are plenty of other highlights. It's actually a bit funny how much the slow swagger Tom Waits' and Kathleen Brennan's "Diamond In Your Mind" sounds like a Tom Waits song, even though it's Burke singing it, and "Stepchild" sounds almost as much like the Bob Dylan song that it is.

Brian Wilson's "Soul Searchin'" is another highlight, as is Van Morrison's swampy "Fast Train", and Nick Lowe's slow "The Other Side Of The Coin", another genuine soul number.
If I am to complain a little bit I'll say that the relatively unvaried tempo and similar arrangements wear a little bit thin towards the end; a couple of up-tempo songs would have been nice. But there is an awful lot of amazing performances here, and you can only wish that Burke would have stayed with this lean, muscular sound on his next album.

Good - except...
I'm coming at this record from a different angle to most people - I've never heard anything by Solomon Burke before, or listened to much soul music. But I'm a big fan of Tom Waits and Bob Dylan etc., so I thought I'd check it out.
And it's great. Really good. The songs are by and large top-notch, except for Van Morrison's contributions, which is a shame. Also, I found the much-vaunted organ contributions of organist Rudy Copeland annoying.
But that's the bad. The good? Fantastic voice, gorgeous, lush sound (it's a definite headphones record), and definitely worthwhile.

Get the throne ready
The "King of Rock & Soul" ascends his throne in all his glory with this tremendously refreshing comeback album. It's refreshing in every sense of the word. It's sound is refreshing and intimate. It's refreshing that a soul album on a soul artist, legendary or not, (But in particular a legendary one) is just that, soulful. Recorded live in the studio with a great cast of musicians, this album should bring deserved attention to the small Fat Possum record label in Oxford, MS. The songs on this album were all proudly contributed to Burke by some of the most respected people in the business. Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Brian Wilson are just the most famous of the lot. Morrison's songs are two of the better ones on the album, particularly "Fast Train". Both have Morrison written all over them, and in fact, he's using them on his upcoming outing. Like Morrison, Waits's, Wilson's, and Costello's songs are also instantly recognizable as theirs. Bob Dylan submits what is probably the most generic song on the album. Another highlight is the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Brenda Russell written "None Of Us Are Free". The two aforementioned titles, as well as the rest of the album, are graced by a superlative organ player in Rudy Copeland. Copeland, who is blind, is the organist at the church where Burke pastors. The title cut is written by songwriting cohorts Dan Penn and Carson Whitsett, along with Hoy Lindsey. Penn wanted to write an Otis Redding type ballad and had wanted to use the title "Don't Give Up On Me". Whitsett sat down and started laying down Otis like chord changes and the result, in my opinion, is a song that sounds like a classic '60s country soul hit. Copeland's playful interplay with Burke is uniquely splendid. To say Burke sounds great would be an understatement. His voice is smooth and strong. The Joe Henry produced ensemble deliver a package that should be titled "Don't Give Up On Music."