Solomon Burke |
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Wed. January 15.2003 4:57 PM EST |
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Solomon Burke: Return of the KingCharismatic soul giant releases a critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated comeback disc with songs by Dylan, Costello, and Waits. by Gil Kaufman |
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Solomon Burke ( ) |
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You can call it a comeback. Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up On Me (Fat Possum) is a critic’s fave that has made loads of Best of 2002 lists (Mojo, New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone). The 63-year-old R&B legend is a
Burke is one of the great soul singers of all time and a 1960s R&B hit-maker known for passionate hits like “Cry To Me,” “Just Out of Reach,” and “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.” He’s been a mortician, a hot dog manufacturer, and is currently a bishop of his own L.A. church who boasts 63 grandchildren. Last year, thanks to the increased acclaim generated by the new disc, he shared live dates with the Rolling Stones, had July 19th named "Solomon Burke Day" by his native Philadelphia, opened for the Pope in Italy, and garnered a Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Blues Album category. As far as Burke’s concerned, it was divine intervention that drove Epitaph Records boss Andy Kaulkin to propose the preposterous: having some of the world’s greatest songwriters pen lyrics for a singer who hadn’t had a pop hit since 1969. Somehow Kaulkin did it, corralling tracks from Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and Nick Lowe. As producer, Kaulkin enlisted singer Joe Henry, who impressed Burke by ordering pork chops with gravy during their first breakfast meeting. The resulting album spotlights Burke’s rich voice and the daringly spare arrangements designed by the singer’s blind church organist and longtime friend, Rudy Copeland. Burke, who’s not averse to selling marked-up sandwiches to his band mates when their tour bus can’t find a market nearby, spoke to VH1 about his latest achievement, explaining why less can be more, why Jesus would be packing stadiums if he was still touring, and why Brian Wilson deserves a big bear hug. VH1: It’s been quite a while since you made a straight-ahead pop album. Solomon Burke: Absolutely, I would consider the last pop record I made to be a cover of "Proud Mary" [in 1969], which the label didn’t want. They sent me to Muscle Shoals to make an R&B record. VH1: How did you decide you were ready to come back out with a pop-soul disc after all this time? Burke: It wasn’t my decision. I met a young man at a concert in Portland, Oregon [Andy Kaulkin], who I thought was trying to get me to invest in a football team, or be a mascot or something. I had no idea what a Fat Possum was, except for the ones I’d seen in the fields. I said, ‘Oh, no. I don’t want to get in some fat possum outfit.’ Then we wound up on the plane flight and he said, ‘I’m Andy from Fat Possum and we have a great record company.’ And I said, ‘Oh, record company!’ He had seen our shows in Portland and within a month we made a deal. What got me was that he said he didn’t want to make a record like everybody else. He didn’t want to do the ‘greatest hits of the greatest hits.’ He said he wanted to get giants of the industry to write songs for me. They wouldn’t perform, they’d just write. He said his idea may or may not work, but he wanted to know if I’d be interested in that kind of an album. And I said, ‘In a heartbeat.’ I had no idea this guy would be able to come up with these people. Then I found out he was based in Jackson, Mississippi. ‘Oh God,’ I thought, ‘Where’s that check?’ I looked at the check, which was so colorful I wanted to frame it ... but I cashed it right away! VH1: There must have been more to it than the fact that the check was good. Burke: Then I found out that the master company was called Epitaph. Well, I'm an undertaker, so what label should I be with if not Epitaph? VH1: You still weren’t convinced he could deliver, though, right? Burke: No. A month later he said, ‘You gotta come to the office.’ I drove down there and I see guys with purple and green hair outside, and I said, ‘Oh, Jesus, I better call this guy before I go in there.’ I told Andy, ‘I’m sitting out here and I don’t want to come in there if you have a bunch of writers nobody's ever heard of. Some John Willie Booboo…’ He comes out with a mail container with all these FedEx tapes and CD’s. He said, ‘Go home and listen to them and pick the songs.’ I said, ‘No. You got these people, you get a hold of that Joe Henry guy -- because anyone who has pork chops with gravy for breakfast is my kind of man -- and you pick the songs and I’ll sing ‘em.’ I wanted it to be like Christmas, with every song a surprise. VH1: You were ready to go in and sing songs you’d never heard? Burke: Right. And, except for my organist, who we had to call in because Billy Preston was ill, I’d never met the band. If those guys were standing in front of me right now, I’d say, ‘And you are..?’ VH1: Even so, you cut the album in four days. Burke: You know how you go to a club and the band’s grooving and someone says, ‘Sing!,’ and you get up there and it just works? We had a good time. I would tell Rudy to follow me and the band would follow Rudy. It's live. Some songs only had one take. When God’s in the plan, it's a command. This became a command performance, which you can't duplicate. It was just a positive direction with a good connection. VH1: Were you surprised at the artists he delivered to the project? Burke: Are you kidding? I’m still blown away. I’m waiting for the lawsuits [laughs]. Elvis Costello came by on the third day and introduced himself and sang his song for us. It was unbelievable. He and his wife wrote the song "The Judgment" as if it was the sequel to a song I recorded years ago, "The Price." Where that one ends, "The Judgment" begins. The minute he said that to me, I could sing the song. Then you go to Brian Wilson’s song, which is a very personal song about his brother. He’s saying ‘I’m looking at my life and I'm soul searching.’ I listen to those stories and I get locked in. I love stories. I can take those words and interpret those stories. That’s why I’m a preacher. I found a lot of truth in these songs. Like, ‘always keep a diamond in your mind.’ That’s so positive! Here’s a woman who lost her right arm in a raid, was strapped to a windmill with some guy with three fingers named Dave. Now she’s 102, still kickin’ it! Drinkin’ mint juleps in the shade! She’s got a diamond in her mind, what’s your problem? [laughs] VH1: The title song seems to apply to both your life and your career. Burke: It is a theme song. Not only does it say, ‘Don’t give up on me.’ It says, ‘Don’t give up on you.’ If you feel you’ve fallen short, get up; there’s always tomorrow. If not tomorrow, tomorrow night. We're gonna make it. That's what life is about. As long as there’s another day, there’s another way. Every day above ground is a blessing and lesson. VH1: A lot of people look up to you. You’re in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but you never had that breakthrough success of an Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett. Burke: And I’m still selling sandwiches! Wilson and I talked about that not too long ago. We called ourselves the Soul Survivors. We’re the only two out there still performing and writing. VH1: Do you feel like it’s your duty to keep doing it? Burke: Absolutely. This is the gift that God has given me. It’s part of my ministry. People ask me, ‘How can you be a preacher and sing in night clubs?’ I say, ‘If Jesus was walking amongst us today, he would be at every big concert there is, because he would draw a big crowd and you’d have the Rolling Stones and other people added onto his gig. He would draw big crowds because people would be saying, ‘I need to pay my house payment, I need a cure for cancer!’ He would not sit up in a church or synagogue; he would be out there with the people. This is what we’re supposed to do. Once you get your church full of people and they’re all saved, get out of there! You’ve done your duty. All those people have tickets to heaven? Good! Get some new people in there who don't have tickets. VH1: When you heard Dan Penn’s title track, could you get with its sentiment right away? Burke: Absolutely. He is so in tune with myself and the Sam Cookes and Otis Reddings. I was attached to it immediately, and I’ll tell you a joke that’s sincere. I sent the demo to my landlord and said ‘Don’t give up on me, baby!’ [laughs] ‘I may fall a little short, but maybe tomorrow, or tomorrow night!’ VH1: The arrangements are so spare and simple. If you’re trying to reach a new, younger audience, why not put some beats on it, bring Puff Daddy in for a cameo? Burke: Here’s the secret: sometimes less is best. If we had had Puff Daddy do this, it wouldn't have been same record. The control that other producers would have demanded, Joe Henry did not. He sat back and said, ‘Let it flow. We’ll record and you sing. Wherever you’re going, they’re going to follow.’ That was the beauty of it. I’m sure he thought, ‘How do I produce a guy who’s lived two of my lifetimes?’ I’m sure the angels came to him and said, ‘Easy. Lay back. Let if flow.’ None of these guys could go back in the studio tomorrow and do this record again. Every one of these songs is ‘the moment.’ VH1: Besides Costello, did you get to meet any of the songwriters? Burke: I haven’t. I want to meet Brian Wilson and put my arms around him and hold him and tell him, ‘It’s okay.’ VH1: You’ve got to meet Tom Waits. Burke: I want HIM to give me the address to where this lady [in the song] is at. When we starting to change some of Tom’s lyrics, Andy came into the studio and said quietly, ‘Dr. Burke, no disrespect, but you just don't change Tom Waits’ lyrics. That message came from his office; I just wanted to let you know.’ They got Tom on the phone, and I don’t know what Andy said, but afterwards he came in and said, ‘You won’t believe this, but Tom said it’s okay!’ VH1: Van Morrison wrote "Fast Train" for his record, but the sentiment really seem to apply equally. Burke: I’ve been there, man. When you get on that fast train, you can't go back. The first thing you have to know is if you'll be able to get off, and what stop you get off at. It’s so powerful, a psychiatrist could have a field day with this album. He could say, ‘Yes, Solomon's crazy, we know that. Let's put him on bread and water ... now where’s the rest of these guys?’ VH1: When you listen to the Dylan’s “Stepchild”, what did you connect with? Burke: I’ll tell you about the heaviness of that song. I have 21 children, 14 daughters, 7 sons, 63 grandchildren and eight great-children. What we believe is that if you marry into a family, that’s your family. There’s no step child. That’s your child. When you stepchild a person, it’s almost like saying, ‘You’re not really mine.’ But, I’m saying, ‘Don’t accept me halfway. Accept me for who I am.’ VH1: Did it freak you out at all that all these people were able to tap into your life so deeply? Burke: That’s what was so phenomenal. I’m freaked out to this day to know that these people knew enough about me mentally and spiritually to say, ‘This song would fit him.’ |
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