Solomon Burke -

Solomon Burke (March 21, 1940 – Oct. 10, 2010) was an American soul singer who issued a string of singles on Apollo during the late 1950s, culminating with a 1962 self-titled album. Signed to Atlantic, he issued dozens of singles and four albums during the 1960s, scoring hits with “Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms),” “If You Need Me,” and “Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye).” Switching to Bell and then MGM, he embraced soul-funk during the early 1970s, recording the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation crime-drama Cool Breeze.

Background

Solomon Burke was born James Solomon McDonald on March 21, 1940, in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Josephine Moore, was a musician and preacher, while grandmother Eleanor Moore led Solomon’s Temple: The House of God for All People from the family home on Mount Vernon Street. Josephine married Vincent Burke shortly before Solomon reached age three, and Burke grew up within the Moore and Burke household near his grandmother’s church. Eleanor exposed him to sacred and secular music through radio and church services and gave him an acoustic guitar in 1954. Burke preached his first sermon at age seven and later recalled a radio ministry on Philadelphia station WHAT-AM at age twelve. He graduated from John Bartram High School and led the gospel quartet the Gospel Cavaliers as a teenager.

Eleanor Moore died in 1954. Burke subsequently entered a local church talent contest as a solo performer after the Gospel Cavaliers declined to participate. Viola Williams heard Burke at the event and introduced him to her husband, Philadelphia disc jockey Kae Williams, who became Burke’s manager. Williams took the fifteen-year-old singer to New York and secured an audition with Apollo Records owner Bess Berman. Burke signed with Apollo and released “Christmas Presents” in December 1955 (b/w “When I’m All Alone”), a song he wrote in connection with his grandmother.

Burke issued nine Apollo singles through 1958. His late-1956 single “You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide” (b/w “A Picture of You”) led to a Jan. 4, 1957, appearance with former heavyweight champion Joe Louis on Steve Allen’s Tonight. Williams placed Burke on a Rock & Roll Revue with Little Richard and the Cadillacs early that year, followed by Williams’ Cavalcade of Stars that summer. A dispute over performance fees ended Burke’s management arrangement with Williams late in 1957. Burke subsequently attended Eckels College of Mortuary Science and worked as an apprentice mortician at Anna R. Barkley Funeral Home in West Philadelphia.

Burke briefly signed with Herb Abramson’s Triumph Records in the late 1950s while his Apollo contract remained active. Philadelphia businessman Marvin “Babe” Chivian became his manager in 1959 and secured a contract with Singular Records, a Philadelphia label operated by disc jockey Larry Brown and vocal coach Artie Singer. Burke released “Doodle Dee Doo” in June 1959 (b/w “It’s All Right”) and “This Little Ring” in July 1960 (b/w “I’m Not Afraid”).

Burke approached Atlantic Records in November 1960, where producer Jerry Wexler signed him to the label. Atlantic issued “Keep the Magic Working” in January 1961 (b/w “How Many Times”), followed in September by “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)” (b/w “Be Bop Grandma”), which reached No. 7 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the pop chart. Burke followed with “Cry to Me” in 1962 as his Atlantic profile expanded. Apollo responded to his renewed success by compiling twelve recordings from his 1950s sessions for the 1962 self-titled album Solomon Burke.

Discography: