Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Solomon Burke Edition

Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler, a man who knew a thing or two about soul music said that this man was “the greatest male soul singer of all time.” He may very well have been the king, as he took the stage and sat on a throne. Today is Solomon Burke’s birthday. Burke had a voice that could summon up the sweetness of Sam Cooke or the fury of Otis Redding and many colors in between. The Philadelphia native began his path to legend as so many soul singers singing in church. Moreover, by the time he was 12, he was preaching too. Yep, Solomon lived at an accelerated pace, fathering his first child at 14. One year later, he entered a talent contest which led to a bidding war to sign him. It wasn’t until he turned 21 that his records began to chart, and then waxed classics like “Cry to Me”, “If You Need Me” and “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, among others. But Burke never ascended to the level of stardom equal to his talent. Nevertheless, he endured, he preached, he became a father and grandfather many times over, and was recognized as a major influence on so many acts. In 2002, an all-star collection of songwriters provided the material for Don’t Give Up on Me, a Grammy Award winning album that put the spotlight back on Burke, where it belonged. His voice may have lost some top end, but it gained so much in character that he may have been better than ever. In honor of Solomon Burke, please grab your iPod or MP3 player, hit shuffle and share the first 10 songs that come up.

1. Redd Kross – Debbie & Kim (Third Eye): On this album, Redd Kross morphed fully into a power pop band with strong ‘60s and hard rock influences. This is a sunshiney rocker that mixes cotton candy melodies with some deceptively hard riffs.
2. Neko Case – Vengeance Is Sleeping (Middle Cyclone): A beautiful mix of acoustic guitars float in and Neko’s strong voice carries the melody. On this song, as she does often, she will quickly drop her voice down a bit, which always gets to me. This is yet another example of how Neko is really her own genre.
3. The Shazam – Where Do We Go (The Shazam): This is jangly concotion with a heavy Move-like bottom from this great Nashville area power pop band. While I often compare them to Cheap Trick, this song has some Faces in it and something else I can’t put my finger on. It’s a shame that they didn’t break through, as this would sound great on any album rock station.
4. Bob Dylan & The Band – Yazoo Street Scandal (The Basement Tapes): I think this is Robbie Robertson singing on this bluesy shuffle (he wrote it), though he throws in some very Dylan-ish inflections at times. This is rawer than what The Band’s own records sounded like, and I wish some of their material had this feel to it.
5. Sloan – If It Feels Good Do It (Pretty Together): Fantastic riff-rocker that sounds like a great lost April Wine track. By this point, Sloan had so fully embraced the ‘70s they had perfected the decade on this terrific album.
6. The Hollies – You Need Love (Evolution): This song is all about building up in the verses to a chorus that unleashes harmonies like water rushing out of breaking dam. Yes, this was a patented Hollies formula, executed so very well on this track.
7. Marshall Crenshaw – Blues Is King (Downtown): This may have come up on a previous shuffle, so forgive me if I repeat myself, but this is one of my all-time favorite songs. A simply soaring melody, the song heads to the stratosphere early and manages to ascend higher with perhaps Crenshaw’s best vocal.
8. Pete & The Pirates – United (One Thousand Pictures): Pete & The Pirates are in line with lots of terrific quirky pop-rock bands from Britain, from The Soft Boys to The Only Ones to XTC and so on. The song starts out of some slinky percussion and some slight dissonance, and out of this comes a wonderful chorus with a gigantic hook.
9. Title Tracks – Cain and the Twigs (In Blank): A fine indie power pop band from the former member of Georgie James. This sounds like it could have come out on Stiff Records in 1980.
10. The Paybacks – Black Girl (Knock Loud): A ferocious rocker from the Detroit band led by Wendy Case, who has one of those raspy voices that is just made for this type of rock. Maybe garage rock isn’t the best categorization, as they have a lot of ‘70s hard rock in them. Joan Jett should do this song, though she wouldn’t sound as good as Wendy doing it.