Solomon Burke, 1940-!010: The Power of Stone And Soul

Solomon Burke was a child star if measured exclusively by chart success, he had 5 top 40 hits in the early 1960s for Atlantic and largely fell into obscurity thereafter, bouncing from label to label throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s. He too had one of the stranger resumes among those inducted into the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a preacher, an undertaker, a businessman and host of a gospel radio appearance on top of existence the unquestioned King of Stone and Individual for about five decades.

He held the book for most rejections before induction, too.1986, the 1st class. Overlooked in favour of Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, James Brown, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis.1987, the 2nd class. Overlooked in favour of Aretha Franklin, B. B. King, Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison, Smokey Robinson (without the Miracles) and Marvin Gaye.1989, the fourth class. Overlooked in favour of The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding.1990, the 5th class. Overlooked in favour of Bobby Darin, Simon and Garfunkel and The Who.1996, the eleventh class. Overlooked in favour of David Bowie, Pink Floyd and The Velvet Underground.1997, the twelfth class. Overlooked in favour of The Bee Gees, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell and The Jackson 5.1998, the thirteenth class. Overlooked in favour of Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Gene Vincent and Lloyd Price.1999, the fourteenth class. Overlooked in favour of Billy Joel, Curtis Mayfield, Del Shannon and Paul McCartney.2000, the fifteenth class. Overlooked in favour of Eric Clapton, Earth, Wind and Can and James Taylor.2001, the sixteenth class, the 10th time up. The 10th time up was the charm.Not that induction into the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame was so or is now the singular statement on the immensity of an artist or group but clearly Philadelphia's own Power of Stone and Soul deserved an earlier induction. You could hear traces of Burke in any amount of his admirers from Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett to Mick Jagger and John Fogerty, all of whom preceded him. Luckily for Burke, his belated induction helped to jump-start a calling that had been lagging stateside. Burke never went by but proper soul music by and heavy had mostly fallen by the roadside in favour of a plastic alternative. 2002 brought the Joe Henry-produced Don't Hold Up On Me on Fat Possum, unique in its inclusion of songs donated by admirers such as Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Nick Lowe and Tom Waits, many of which the songwriters themselves had yet to release.