On 10th October 2010 the world lost yet another legend when Solomon Burke was discovered dead by shocked air stewards on a flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. He had been on route to play a sold-out show and is reported to have died from natural causes.
When debating the greatest soul singers in history, Solomon Burke is often overshadowed by the fame of artists such as Otis Redding, James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Whilst the aforementioned are all undeniable contenders for the soul throne, it is Burke’s understated genius that in my view made his music all the more intensely powerful on a personal level. The singer himself once said, ‘If the message is meaningful in the beginning, it will reach across the waters and come back across time. If only one person is reached and touched by my songs, then the message through me is being heard, received and believed’.
Burke, who never relied on a set list during live performances, preferring instead to respond to requests and vibes from his fans, often described the thrill of sharing his music as a deeply spiritual experience. Philadelphia born Solomon explosively broke onto the music scene back in 1961 when his gospel roots led him to experiment with soul and blues. He was in fact creating a genre of his own when rock’n’roll had only just begun to erode the mainstream.
Burke reigned the 60s with velvety yet emotionally raw hymns to the soul that included ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’, famously covered by The Rolling Stones, and ‘Cry To Me’. The latter is well-known for featuring in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing (it plays during the sex scene in Patrick Swayze’s bedroom, naturally). Having racked up seventeen million record sales worldwide, Burke was awarded a place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001 and later went on to win a Grammy award in 2002 which helped re-introduce his music to our generation.
Having taken the meaning of ‘go forth and multiply’ a little too literally, 70 year old Solomon leaves behind a family of twenty one children, ninety grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren. His legacy has had an astounding influence upon songwriters throughout the decades so if you’ve never given the big guy with an even bigger voice a chance, do yourself a favour and look him up. At the very least, watch that Dirty Dancing scene.
'Cry To Me' plays in Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray
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