Solomon Burke, "King of Rock and Soul" and a giant of a songwriter, has died at age seventy. He died early Sunday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
He was a big man with a soul to match. He gave us music of joy and love "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"and "A Change Is Going To Come" and countless more unforgettable songs. His voice was velvet and while many artists have done his songs, hearing him sing them is amazing.
Listen to him here again.
Rest in peace.
From his bio on Wikipedia:
Solomon Burke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some sources claim that he was born in 1936, others say 1938, but in a 2002 interview with Philadelphia Weekly Burke stated that he was born in 1940.[1] He began his adult life as a preacher in Philadelphia, and soon moved on to hosting a gospel radio show. He met fellow preacher Martin Luther King, Jr. several times.[2]
In the 1960s, he signed with Atlantic Records and began moving towards more secular music. His first hit was "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)", a cover of a country song. Though well-received by both peers and critics, and attaining a few moderate pop and several major R&B hits, Burke never could quite break through into the mainstream as did Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, who covered Burke's "Down in the Valley" for 1965's Otis Blue.