On a November day in 1960, a young Philadelphia singer walked into Jerry Wexler's office at Atlantic Records and, by his own account, signed a contract within ten minutes. The singer was Solomon Burke, a former child preacher with a voice built in church, and the deal that day was sealed with nothing more than a handshake between Burke, Wexler, and label co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. It was a strange turn for a man who had been fired from his first record label just a few years earlier after a dispute over money. But Atlantic was desperate for hits, and Burke was about to give them plenty. He died on October 10, 2010.
From pulpit to recording studio
Burke had been performing since he was a child. Born in Philadelphia in 1940, he began preaching at the age of seven at the Temple of Solomon, the church run by his grandmother. His sermons were described as fierce and spellbinding, and by the time he was twelve he had become a pastor. The nickname that followed him, the Wonder Boy Preacher, captured the raw energy he brought to the pulpit. That same energy would later pour into his singing, but first he had to survive the music business.
His first break came in 1955, when he signed with Apollo Records and released a Christmas single called Christmas Presents. The label recorded nine singles with him over two years, but the relationship ended badly. Burke claimed that his manager at Apollo, Kae Williams, had him blackballed in the industry after a fight over fees. For a while, it looked like his recording career might be over before it really began. Then came the handshake at Atlantic.
Breakthrough hits at Atlantic
The second single Burke released on Atlantic, Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms), changed everything. It reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the R&B chart, and it became his first record to sell a million copies. Suddenly, Atlantic had a new star, and Burke had a new identity. After the 1962 hit Cry to Me, which climbed to number 5 on the R&B chart, he was one of the first singers to be called a soul artist. The gospel fire of his childhood had found a secular home.
Through the early 1960s, Burke's hits helped keep Atlantic Records afloat. He was crowned the King of Rock 'n' Soul at a ceremony in November 1963, a title that stuck for the rest of his life. Jerry Wexler, the man who had signed him in ten minutes, later called Burke the greatest male soul singer of all time. That was not just industry flattery; it was a recognition of the strange power Burke had, the ability to make a pop song sound like a prayer and a prayer sound like a hit.
Jerry Wexler, the man who had signed him in ten minutes, later called Burke the greatest male soul singer of all time.
The hits slowed as the decade wore on, but Burke never stopped working. He released dozens of albums on many labels, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a performer. Two years later, his album Don't Give Up on Me won a Grammy for best contemporary blues album. The boy preacher from Philadelphia had become an elder statesman of American music, still carrying the title he had earned in 1963.
Solomon Burke died on October 10, 2010, on a plane at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, after arriving from Washington. He was on his way to perform. The man who had once been fired and blackballed had spent half a century proving that a handshake and a voice could be enough. Sixteen years later, the title he wore, King of Rock 'n' Soul, still belongs to him alone.