Solomon�s music career spans four decades and he recently released his first all Country album, Nashville, produced by Buddy Miller and featuring guests like Dolly Parton, Gilliam Welch, Patty Loveless and Emmylou Harris.
Raised in West Philadelphia, Burke was exposed to a variety of music as a child.  A couple of his favorites were singing cowboys � Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.  How does a Philly kid get enamored with tales of the Old West and the singing cowboys that told them?
�First you�ve got to be blessed to have a big Philco radio in your house with the big knobs and be allowed to listen to your Country shows and things with the Top 40 on Saturday after you do all your chores, you know, you scrub your room and clean your clothes and get you stuff ready for school ,� Burke tells me, �Do all the things Grandma tells you to do.  And she would make some hoecakes or some tea biscuits for ya and you just sit down and listen to the radio.  Drink some Postem or some Ovaltine � she�d drink the Postem, you�d drink the Ovaltine- and you�d sit there and she�d sit in the rocking chair and we�d sit down and listen and she�d doze off.  Mr. Perry Como, Kate Smith, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, you know, and then you�d hear Gene Autry�s shows and stories and Roy Rogers, Batman and by that time it�s time to get up, eat and go to bed.  But that was a Saturday ritual, which was wonderful.  Even when the sun was shining, you wanted to stay and do that, because that was our music cultural time.�
This ritual was also a time when Burke gained knowledge and insight into performing.  �It was a time when my Grandmother would say, �Listen to the music, to his pronunciation, how he�s phrasing that.  You want to be a singer?�  My Uncle played the organ and played the piano� And she said, �See, listen to the music, he�s never too loud, it�s not overbearing.�  Those were her favorite words, �Its not overbearing.�  You know, what is overbearing?� he recalls with a hearty laugh that punctuates much of our conversation that day. �I guess that�s not too loud.  She�d say, �You�re accompanying the artist� she�d always tell my Uncle that, �You accompany him, you never play over him.�  And I�d always stick my chest out, right, �cause I�m a singer and I�d try to play my little guitar, try to do my little Roy Rogers, Gene Autry thing on my guitar, I could only play three chords.  But that was the love of it, being able to hear that.  Every week we heard that.

�Something that is very moving, a great experience coming from musical family with a history and culture of music and having that challenge of being able to hear a Paul Robeson, who was a family member, and listen to Marian Addison and Joe Mays and Nat King Cole sing and Count Basies� Orchestra and Dinah Washington and Al Hibler, all of these people, these incredible people sing and know that Ray Charles was up the street blasting away with �I Got A Woman Way Across Town� and Jimmy Reed.  But down at Grandma�s house�� he says, his words slowing engulfed in laughter, �The Devil music was up the street!  We had to pray for them people!�
Even with his Grandmas� disapproval, did he listen to the other music like was heard up the street?
�Yeah, �cause my Mother lived up the street!� he says with a laugh. �There was a time when my Grandmother gave me a note and said �Take this to you mother, quickly!�  And the little note said: turn down the music!�
And that�s how a conversation with Solomon Burke goes; story after story � and you never feel yourself being set up for the punchline.
With so many legendary stories (like the oft told Apollo theater/popcorn story) in his mind, Burke is currently working with author Peter Guralnick (along with two of his 21 children, James and Candy) on a book of his life slated to be released in 2008.  �Everybody�s trying to put this book together and every time I say �That�s it� they say �Oh no, one more chapter, put that in there.  If you gonna tell it, tell it.��
In addition to the book, he is also working on a movie of his life covering from early years to the Sam Cooke/Jackie Wilson era, one of the high points in Soul music�s popularity.
It was during that time that Burke took his love of Country music and mixed it with the Soul music he had been singing.  The first result was �Just Out of Reach,� a song that had been previously recorded by Patsy Cline, Faron Young and T. Texas Tyler.  Others had recorded it, but Burke owned it, putting his undeniable stamp on it and sending it up the charts to be an R&B and Pop hit.
Even after such a successful commingling of styles, Burke was not allowed to record the Country music album he longed to.  �I thought after that fight we went through for a year and a half getting �Just Out of Reach� played Atlantic would follow it up, but I understood financially and numbers-wise,� he recounts, �They were the #1 Rhythm and Blues label, not a Country label, they didn�t have the distribution or the set up for something, that they helped me pioneer, to get through the door, you know?  And it was a hard struggle for Atlantic.  I always credit Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler for that, but they just put their foot down and said �Solomon, it�s time for you to come in and start singing some of the stuff you�re supposed to.  Here�s Don Covay and here�s a nice little guy that just started writin� songs named Bert Berns.  So ya�ll just sit down and enjoy all the songs that you want, but this is what you�re going to start singing.�  And that�s the beginning of �Got To Get You Off My Mind,� �Cry To Me,� �Everybody Needs Somebody,� �The Price,� �You�re Good For Me,� �Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye),� �Just a Matter of Time� and all those other good things.  Thank God Ivory Joe Hunter sent �I Lost My Baby, I Almost Lost My Mind.�  A lot of great memories.�

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He didn�t get to do the Country album at that time, but he did record a few more Country songs such as �Down in the Valley,� �I Really Don�t Want to Know� and �He�ll Have to Go.�
I asked him, did some of his peers look at him askew when he began to cut the Country songs?
�No, they looked at me like, �Uh� Now that we know that you are out of your mind, we gonna go out here and get us a hit record,� he laughs, ��Cause you�re not going to be working no where.��
But he did continue to work � and very successfully.  �I grabbed a little guy out of Macon, Georgia (that I found on the corner at this little club) called Otis Redding.  And another guy that I grabbed out of Texas, called Joe Tex and a comedian by the name of Pigmeat Markum, put �em all on my bus with a little girl named �Sugar Pie� De Santo and we toured all through the South for like two and a half years with The Solomon Burke Show.  And I had Joe Tex singing Country & Western songs, Otis Redding singing songs that nobody knew what he was singing,� he says before singing, ��Low down misery on my soul, How many chickens have a stole? 10, 11, 12 or more, going back to �..Shamalamabama shoop do shoo�
�Pigmeat Markum coming out there going �Here come the Judge.�  And I had a midget!� he says through the laughter, �Come on, man.  The only thing missing was the elephant!  And I guess if I had been like this in those days they�da put a trunk on me!
�But the show lasted for almost three and a half years, I mean, we did more one nighters than any other artist in the business back in the late �50�s, early �60�s  and that was just remarkable.  Globe Posters in Baltimore constantly says in their book that we did more Solomon Burke posters with Joe Tex and Otis Redding and Pigmeat Markum than anybody else.  My only competition out there was James Brown who was everywhere.  I mean everywhere.  I remember if you didn�t play a town that James had been, you weren�t doing it.  And if he was there on the 1st, you get there on the 15th.  Don�t go in the same week as he�s in it. �Cause there�s no money� and no chicken.  Bring your own frying pan!�
And he often did bring his own frying pan.  Another story told on Burke is that he often sold popcorn, chicken, pork chop sandwiches and other things that he would make on the bus to band and crew members.  �Yeah, well, it�s called concessions.  It was really called make them expenses in case you didn�t get paid,� he chuckles, �The bus has to get gas.�
It has been a long road that also included his 2001 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he has finally produced the Country album he has dreamed of.
When appearing at the 2005 Americana Music Associations� Awards show, he met Buddy Miller, who was the bandleader for the shows house band.  Impressed by both personality and talent, Burke suggested that Miller produce his next album.  In a town where invitations such as that are tossed around as easily as business cards, Miller was optimistic, but cautious.
After several meetings between the two, the pairing became a reality. And

Miller, along with wife Julie, went to work picking the songs for the album and compiling a list for Burke that topped out at 100.
With the song selection made, Burke flew to Nashville for an eight day recording session at Miller�s home studio.  �I was so overwhelmed with just him and his wife, I mean, their kindness and their consideration of trying their best to make everything comfortable for me and easy for me, it was just like, you know, you�re a long lost member of the family, come on home and see what we�re going to do and we�re going to have a few folks come over and gonna sing a little bit, hum a little bit, and play a little bit, pick a little bit, eat a little bit and laugh a little bit and just see what happens,� he says.
�It was like, �what can we do to help you get through this?�  It was like a family.  �What can we do to help you in this, a very special moment in time in your life.  We want to let you know it�s just natural, it�s just normal, don�t worry about it.�  Everyone was telling me, it�s going to be okay, just sing.  And I�m saying, maybe I need not to sing so high, sing so low, you know, or sing too long.  �Cause I�m thinking all kinds of things and I just wanted it to be almost right.  I know, you may never reach perfection but you want to try.  This is why I love that song ��Til I Get it Right.�  And not just falling in love, it also meant the music.  So it had a double meaning for me, the last song on this album.  I loved and enjoyed every moment of it, it was very precious, memorable.  I hope that God allows me to do it again.
�It was like a dream, man.  You can�t believe� if you tell someone that all these people were just wonderful, they�re like, �Whoa, what were you all smokin�? Everybody couldn�t have been cool!�  Everybody was cool!  Nobody was smokin� nothin�.  I mean, nobody had to go out to the hallway.  The only time we had to go out into the hallway was to record! And that�s how we got to Memphis � in the hallway,� he recalls.
The first track, Tom T. Halls� �How I Got To Memphis� was, as he states, recorded just that way – in the hallway of Miller�s home.  ��Give me a mic, one mic, get the bass, just us, ya�ll be quiet over there, let me try something.�  Then he [Miller] sings a song to me and says, �Go ahead and sing it, see what it sounds like.�  I sing it and I say, �What do you think?�  �Okay, let�s go on to the next song.�  Go on to the next song?!   �We ain�t going to take that one again, I�m sorry.  That�s it.�  My engineer�s back there saying, thumbs up, �Yeah, that takes cool, man.�  What is this guy on?� he says laughing, �We don�t make records like that, we do them over and over.�
The relaxed atmosphere surrounding the recording can be glimpsed after the Bruce Springsteen song �Ain�t Got You.�  �Boy, that was a great moment,� he recalls with a laugh, �I�m still afraid to see Bruce Springsteen.  If he calls, he�ll get an answering service, �This is Solomon Burke, I�m not available, leave your message.�

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Another thing that took place during recording was the utilization of many of the songwriters on their respective tracks, an event that caught the unflappable Burke off guard.  �Yes, that was so incredible!  That�s something that doesn�t happen in New York or Hollywood or Atlanta or California, that doesn�t happen.  The writer�s going to show up? Are you kidding?  He�s got his check, he�s gone,� he jokes, �You know, on to the next artist.  The musician that wrote it is going to come up and play? No way.�
But in the Nashville of Miller and Burke, that is how it happens.  And that is the reason Burke fell in love.  �That�s what made the word �Nashville� stand out amongst any of the titles for this album.  You couldn�t have taken any of those songs and made the album title because it would have been too overpowering, but the most powerful word was where we were, how we did it and how we came to get to the place where the University of Country Music stands in the hearts and minds of the people.�
And Nashville was treated to a special concert on Oct. 2, at Belcourt Theater when Burke performed many of the songs from the album with several of the performers who appear on the album.  Burke hopes to air the concert on one of the music television stations and release it on DVD.  �I hope so, I hope so.  �Cause it was such a fun time.  I mean, it was such a great time and the audience was incredible.  The audience were just totally incredible, they were like � I could feel them saying, �go ahead, sing the next song, you can do it, go ahead.� You know how your parents� I don�t know if you�ve ever had the opportunity to be on stage as a kid or something, and they say go ahead out there, it�s ok.  I had that feeling, everybody was �Go ahead, sing the next song, it�ll be alright, go ahead.�
�I think the audience that I received, my second time, after singing at the Ryman and especially at the Theater, is that they�re just personal.  I mean, they�re there because they want to be there, they�re not there because somebody gave them a ticket.  Because they could have said, I don�t need to go to this, there�s other places I could go, you know.  It was because �I want to go, I want to see for myself� and you get the feeling that they�re rooting for you, you know, from their heart, that�s why they�re there.  I really get that feeling that they just didn�t come to dance.  They came to really see what your wares are.  Like back in the olden days, well it was before your time and your mothers� time,  when the Fuller brush man would come up and say, �Look what I got� yeah, that�s nice, but, no, I don�t need a brush, no, I don�t need a pot, you know, but let me look at it anyway.  Checking it out, seeing what you�ve got, seeing if you�ve improved upon it, see if you�ve made it any better.  And they kind of leave you like, �we�ve got eyes on ya,� you know, and that�s a good feeling to know that somebody else is watching and somebody else took the time to care.  And that�s just� I just fell in love with the whole Nashville scene just� years ago I had a very dear friend, who was my manager, his name was Buddy Lee and him and his wife just, you know, kept me in and out of things.  They first put me on stage with Charlie Daniels many years ago there in Nashville and Buddy really wanted me to do a lot of Country and this record, I kind of dedicated this album back to him and to his lovely wife and his family.  He was such a great, great man who managed Hank Williams, Sr. and booked him.  And I met Audrey Williams in my life, you know, those are things that stay in your mind.  Makes you really want to be a part of that scene, so I�m very grateful that I had this opportunity and I hope I get a chance to do it again.�
Are there similarities between the Country audience and the Soul audience, I ask him?
�Absolutely.  Both deep thinkers,� he answers quickly, �You don�t mess around with a Soul audience and you sure don�t mess around with a Country audience because they�re sincere and they came to hear what they came to hear and they�re listening to you and they�re watching.  You just gotta play it straight and that�s what I�m learning, and I�m still learning, I want to try my best to make good marks, you know, as much as I can, because someone else is coming after me, the Lord�s Will, and I want that person to not have to go down the same roads that I went down but be able to go down the paths without the holes and the lumps and the bumps, the potholes.�
Those that come after him include Robert Randolph and The Family Band: �That would be an incredible album,� he says, �I�d love to do something with them.�
At an age when many would retire, Burke still plans and dreams of future projects.  �You know, I just feel myself wanting to be part of, you know?  And I think that�s the secret, is not to be overbearing, not to be overwhelming, just to be part of.  You know how you come in and say �Hi, how are you doing� and it�s a good feeling and everybody�s glad to see you and you don�t wear your welcome out and you leave just in time?� he says with a laugh, ��That was a nice guy, I hope he comes back.� not �My God, when�s he leaving?�
�I would love to see that happen and that�s part of another dream.  Like I said I would like to do other things, I would like to branch out and do as much as I possibly can that connects with music from jazz to pop to reggae to classical, you know, I would love to do that.  I would love to do some great Country music with some of the great male Country stars, which to me would just be the ultimate.  I�ve had the privilege of singing with five of Country�s royalty, you know, and these ladies are royalty of Country music and it was incredible.  You know, how do you follow it up? How do you do the next one? That�s how amazing it was to me.�
Burke has always in his life kept himself busy with projects, both in and out of the music industry.  His plan is to continue.
�I just ask the Lord to keep me strong and keep me out there, keep holding me up, hold me up by his grace and His Will, and only by his Will, will I be able to do what I�m doing and continue to do better.�