Solomon Burkes Dont Give Up on Me was released on July 23, 2002. Its a sad irony that in the 1980s and 90s, many of the great artists of soul and R&B suffered musically at the hands of those who professed to love them the most. After soul had dropped off the major-label radar in favor of hip-hop and new jack sounds, a number of smaller companies stepped forward to record veteran artists who were still giving their all on the road, but for every truly inspired release from labels such as Malaco, Bullseye, or Alligator, there were a dozen others which featured rote, generic production and arrangements which attempted to recapture the thrilling sound of souls glory days without coming within driving distance of conjuring their ineffable magic. Solomon Burke was one of the greatest talents of 60s soul, whose strong, burnished voice resonated with a churchy fervor that could speak volumes about either triumph or hurt, but while he continued to record regularly through the 70s, 80s and 90s and always sounded splendid, the records themselves often werent much to write home about, with Burke using his gifts to prop up second-rate material or re-record tunes hed performed definitively in the past. So its good news indeed to report that Burkes new album, Dont Give Up on Me, is nothing short of revelatory, a superb set which presents the King of Rock and Soul at the very top of his form. Singer and songwriter Joe Henry produced the set, and rather than trying to replicate the sound of a vintage Jerry Wexler session, hes taken a very different approach, going for a spare and open sound, with nothing but a subdued rhythm section, a guitar, and an organ (the latter played by Rudy Copeland, who performs the same honors at the church where Burke preaches) accompanying Burke on most of these 11 songs. Henry also put out a call for material worthy of Burkes gifts, and a number of his better-known fans responded, including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and Nick Lowe, all of whom contributed songs to the project. But for all the songwriting starpower on deck, the focus is squarely on Solomon Burke throughout, and he proves hes lost none of the power, force, or dramatic intensity of his glory days. Henrys low-key production captures the nooks and crannies of Burkes voice, and he delivers a performance worthy of a great actor on each cut, from the deep soul of Dont Give Up on Me and the blues-based swagger of Stepchild to the inspired tall tales of Diamond in Your Mind and the near-operatic passion of The Judgement. His voice is in superb shape, too, sounding no less powerful at age 66 than he did in his glory days, and with a depth of emotion and gift for phrasing thats only grown with the passage of time. In many ways, Dont Give Up on Me most closely resembles Johnny Cashs superb American Recordings, in that the spare simplicity of the albums presentation reveals the rich complexities of the singers gifts as theyve rarely been allowed in the past; while its a very different kettle of fish from his classic sides for Atlantic in the 1960s, Dont Give Up on Me leaves no doubt that Solomon Burke is still one of the finest voices of his time, and anyone who has ever been moved by the power of soul music needs to hear this album. Review by Mark Deming
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 09:56:47 +0000
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