June 2005
While I enjoyed Joe Henrys production on Burkes previous disc, Dont Give Up On Me (2002), some of his choices were obvious attempts to bring the singer up to date, such as the arrangement on Bob Dylans "Stepchild," patterned after the sound of Time Out Of Mind. Don Was produced this time around, and he has assembled a tight band that gives Burke the southern soul funk he needs. Organist Rudy Copeland holds everything together, as he did on the earlier disc, and he and the other players keep things simple and uncluttered. Burke himself is in strong voice, and Was lets him go his own way. This time, the Dylan tune ("What Good Am I?") is given a more traditional soul treatment, and Burke goes right to its core. Now that Solomon Burke and Al Green have returned with two strong and popular discs, I wonder if it is too much to hope for a return to traditional soul singing. It would be a pleasure to see the American Idol-ization of soul music pass away. GO BACK TO: |