Post by Rob Durkee on Oct 10, 2010 23:24:32 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Solomon Burke, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer who gained more fame on the R&B chart than the pop chart, died Sunday, October 10, 2010. He was 70. According to the Associated Press, Burke died on an airplane that had landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. He'd been scheduled to perform with Dijk, a local Dutch band, at an Amsterdam church that had been converted to a concert hall.
Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. A year later, he won a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy Award for "Don't Give Up On Me."
Burke had 23 Cash Box pop chart hits, with seven making the Top 40. However, none of his top 40 hits made the upper half of the 40. His biggest pop hit was the #21-peaking "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)" in the fall of 1961. He had over 30 songs make the R&B chart with one of them, "Got to Get You Off My Mind," reaching #1 on that chart (and #22 on the Cash Box pop chart).
Two of Burke's songs became famous in prominent movies. "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" only reached #62 on the pop chart in 1964 but about 15 years later, the song was part of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd movie, "The Blues Brothers." His second pop chart hit, "Cry To Me," barely made the Top 40 in 1962, peaking at #38. Twenty five years later, though, the song became famous as the dance song that the late Patrick Swayze would dance to along with Jennifer Grey in 1987's blockbuster movie, "Dirty Dancing."
"He was the best soul singer of all time," opined Jerry Wexler, the legendary Atlantic Records producer.
"Popular music wouldn't be where it is without Solomon Burke," said Andy Kaulkin, President of Anti- Records, the label that produced Burke's comeback hit, "Don't Give Up On Me." Kaulkin added, "I feel like his music is where it came all together. And when we think of 60's soul music, it all started with Solomon Burke."
Burke, who weighed between 300 and 400 pounds, is survived by 21 children, 90 grandchldren and 19 great-grandchildren.
At a recent performance in London, Burke said, "Loving people is what I do."
Solomon Burke, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer who gained more fame on the R&B chart than the pop chart, died Sunday, October 10, 2010. He was 70. According to the Associated Press, Burke died on an airplane that had landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. He'd been scheduled to perform with Dijk, a local Dutch band, at an Amsterdam church that had been converted to a concert hall.
Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. A year later, he won a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy Award for "Don't Give Up On Me."
Burke had 23 Cash Box pop chart hits, with seven making the Top 40. However, none of his top 40 hits made the upper half of the 40. His biggest pop hit was the #21-peaking "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)" in the fall of 1961. He had over 30 songs make the R&B chart with one of them, "Got to Get You Off My Mind," reaching #1 on that chart (and #22 on the Cash Box pop chart).
Two of Burke's songs became famous in prominent movies. "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" only reached #62 on the pop chart in 1964 but about 15 years later, the song was part of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd movie, "The Blues Brothers." His second pop chart hit, "Cry To Me," barely made the Top 40 in 1962, peaking at #38. Twenty five years later, though, the song became famous as the dance song that the late Patrick Swayze would dance to along with Jennifer Grey in 1987's blockbuster movie, "Dirty Dancing."
"He was the best soul singer of all time," opined Jerry Wexler, the legendary Atlantic Records producer.
"Popular music wouldn't be where it is without Solomon Burke," said Andy Kaulkin, President of Anti- Records, the label that produced Burke's comeback hit, "Don't Give Up On Me." Kaulkin added, "I feel like his music is where it came all together. And when we think of 60's soul music, it all started with Solomon Burke."
Burke, who weighed between 300 and 400 pounds, is survived by 21 children, 90 grandchldren and 19 great-grandchildren.
At a recent performance in London, Burke said, "Loving people is what I do."
