Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's Deep Soul Treasures

The boundaries between blues and soul is a fluid one especially today. A variety of releases illustrate the continuing appeal of performers who can straddle both worlds. Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham are among those who helped the development and evolution of soul music as songwriters, and in Oldham’s case as a member of some great studio bands.

Think of James & Bobby Purify’s I’m Your Puppet, The BoxTops Cry Like a Baby, and Solomon Burke’s Out of Left Field, and you have some of the classics the duo wrote along with other great songs like It Tears Me Up, A Woman Left Lonely and You Left the Water Running. And Penn with Chips Woman wrote Do Right Woman, Do Right Man for Aretha and the James Carr deep soul classic, The Dark End of the Street.

Proper American has just issued Moments From the Theatre, a collection of live performances from 1997 when they opened for Nick Lowe in England and Ireland triumphs red. Oldham’s Wurlitzer piano and Penn’s acoustic guitar provide the backing for Penn’s soulfully rendered vocals on the previously enumerated classic songs and others. The intimacy and sparse backing highlights Penn’s delivery of the lyrics that stand out even more than on so many classic recordings. Penn may not quite take us to church but he certainly does deliver the goods (Oldham sings one song) and this is quite a welcome release.


This review originally ran in the December 2005-January 2006 DC Blues Calendar, which was then the DC Blues Society’s newsletter. I received my review copy from a publicist. 

McClain and Reierstud Colloborate on Soulful Blues

Mighty Sam McClain has come someway from the chitlin circuit and 45s on small independent labels. Often thought of as a blues and soul vocalist in the Bobby Bland, listening to him singing from the opening moments of “Life,” the first track of his collaboration with Norwegian guitarist Knut Reiersrud, One Drop Is Plenty (Valley Vue) one hears echoes of the late Solomon Burke mixed with some of Bobby Bland’s choked leaps.

McClain’s sounds deeper here perhaps than I remember him, but he sounds so comfortable while Reiersrud is a fine guitar whether laying down single note modern blues guitar runs, or playing slide guitar in a manner suggestive of the of Derek Trucks and the sacred steel players. His slide playing here is supportive of the vocals and not in the jam band mode of Trucks. And the way McClain delivers his vocal accentuates the message of the lyric as he asks the lady does she believe in love on Can You Stand The Test Of Love.

There is a nice Memphis feel to You Don't Know Nothing About Love, with McClain as he sings about the nighttime, tears fall like rain, starting again in the morning and pray that she will never go away, and if you don’t know what he is talking about, one knows nothing about love with nice guitar riffs and fills. Learn How To Love You Again is a country waltz with Reiersrud evoking a dobro at times. On Long Time Running, McClain sings about asking for forgiveness as he has turned things around and “would you still love me if I failed once more, would you deny me the chance to touch your soul … .” The similarity to King Solomon is evident on I Don't Feel Noways Tired, with its religious message, “Nobody told him the road would be easy, I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me,” with some churchy organ from David Wallumrød on this striking performance.

Much can be said about the production and the splendid Norwegian musicians on this. The musicianship is impeccable and the restraint in the spare accompaniments on these performances keep the listener’s focus on McClain who is singing as well as he ever has. It perhaps was fortuitous chance that McClain and Reiersrud met collaborating on the recording Scent of Reunion, by Iranian artist Mahsa Vahdat. One consequence of this meeting is this exceptional recording that one would hope might help Mighty Sam reach a level of recognition and acclaim his talents deserve, and hopefully a chance to hear him and guitarist Reiersrud here in North America.

My review was from downloads provided by a publicist for Valley Vue and it can be obtained from Valley Vue along with some of Mighty Sam's earlier recordings.

New Huey Lewis CD is Memphis Soul Tribute

For the first release in several years, Huey Lewis and the News, have produced a tribute to the classic Memphis soul sound an Stax Records on the aptly titled “Soulsville” (Wow Records). Reunited with producer Jim Gaines, they recorded this CD at Ardent Studios and a collection of songs mostly associated with Stax, although some from the recently departed Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett who were on Atlantic Records, which had a distribution deal with Stax for a number of years.

Lewis and his band is an affable band and do an earnest job on handling a pretty wide range of material including a nice rendition of The Staples’ “Respect Yourself” which has a singer sounding much like Mavis Staples joining Huey on the vocal. Certainly the groove is there as he redoes “Got to Get You Off My MInd,” or the Wilson Pickett burner “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You.” The playing is idiomatic and the overall effect is a very good blue-eyed soul cover band with a good singer who obviously loves the material. However, well-intentioned this tribute is, comparisons to original recordings is inevitable and these suffer in comparison.

The review CD was sent by a publicity firm for the release.

Remembering Solomon Burke

2009-0430 NOJazzFest Day 4-1617, originally uploaded by NoVARon.

A number of media including bloggers have shown their appreciation of the great Solomon Burke. So to supplement my blog entry of a couple days past, here are some links and quotes for you. This is only a small sample of what is out there.



Ben Sisario drafted the obituary for New York Times: "In a genre known for outsize personalities and flamboyant showmanship, Mr. Burke stood out for his sheer boldness and eccentricity. A radio D.J. crowned him the King of Rock and Soul in 1964, and Mr. Burke took the coronation to heart. For the rest of his career, he often performed in full royal habit — crown, scepter and robe — and sat on a golden throne onstage. Wide-shaped in his youth, he grew into Henry VIII-like corpulence, and in his later years had to be wheeled to his throne."


Terence McArdle wrote the Washington Post Obituary:


"Anointed "King Solomon" by promoters and disc jockeys, Mr. Burke was known for his outsized personality, regal bearing - he often wore a crown and carried a scepter - and above all, his rich baritone voice.

With his contemporaries Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, Mr. Burke brought the enduring influences of gospel and country music to bear on rhythm-and-blues - a combination much copied by other soul singers throughout the 1960s.

My friend Bret Littlehales blogged on him.

"Mr. Guralnick [in his book "Sweet Soul Music"] provides insight into the tightrope walk between the sacred and the profane that Solomon Burke had mastered from his early days onward. Part man of the cloth, part hustler, all genius and possessed with one of the three or four greatest voices in the history of the idiom, Burke divided his time between the church and the stage, selling his blessings backstage at the Apollo during breaks from performing his great hits, like Cry to Me and Got to Get You Off My Mind."

Music historian Bill Dahl has an extended appreciation:

"Everything about Solomon Burke was bigger than life. Way bigger.

Burke’s profoundly regal bearing, underscored by his insistence on performing while seated on a red throne with a crown adorning his head, came to him entirely naturally. Baltimore deejay Rockin’ Robin christened him the King of Rock ‘n’ Soul in 1964 amidst great hoopla, and Solomon took that gala coronation literally. As one of the greatest of all ‘60s soul singers (Jerry Wexler, his former producer at Atlantic Records, deemed him the absolute best), Burke was one of the top R&B hitmakers of that decade. Burke managed to remain contemporary as the decades progressed; the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer won a 1992 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, and his 2010 disc Nothing’s Impossible, produced by recently departed Memphis icon Willie Mitchell, won widespread acclaim."


Here is Kit O'Toole of blogcritics.com with an appreciation..


"What makes a great soul singer? Thinking about legends like Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Mavis Staples, just to name a few, one quality immediately comes to mind: sincerity. Each of these singers possessed the ability to sing with utter conviction, making the listener feel every heartache, each moment of joy, or even anger. 1960's soul man Solomon Burke, who passed away October 10 at 70, had this unique skill; his bluesy, sometimes husky, voice acted out emotions expressed in lyrics, demanding that the audience hear—and consider—every word in a song. While he may never have cracked the Top 20, Burke's brand of R&B influenced the Rolling Stones and helped usher in a golden age of soul music."


Writer-musician Ted Drozdowski's blog from The Boston Phoenix's website:


"Soul music powerhouse Solomon Burke’s life was filled with great performances — from tent revival meetings to sweltering nights in southern roadhouses to concerts at the Apollo, the Montreux Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, and even a Ku Klux Klan rally.


But one of the most memorable, at least for the few in attendance, was in 1994 at the Original House of Blues in Cambridge, where Burke — after two sold-out nights playing a catalog of hits reaching back to 1961 — donned the raiment he wore as bishop of the House of God for All People church and sang gospel to an audience of roughly 30 sitting rapt at his feet as he perched on the lip of the stage. Occasionally he moved the microphone away from his mouth to let his voice carry naturally, casting a spell with its absolute clarity, complex tones, and uncanny ability to move from gravel-dappled lows to falsetto without skipping a note."

Solomon Burke RIP

2009-0430_NOJazzFest_Day_4-1593, originally uploaded by NoVARon.

Word was just received that the great Solomon Burke has passed, dying in Amsterdam at the age of 70. Burke, known as the King of Rock'n'Soul was scheduled to perform in the Dutch City. The Philadelphia born Burke was a major soul artist of the sixties and seventies after having made his debut recordings as a gospel artist while very young. When he signed to Atlantic in 1960 he began a series of pioneering recordings such as "Down in the Valley," "Everybody Need Somebody", "Tonight's the Night," and "Cry to Me." The legendary Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler once referred to Burke as "the best soul singer of all time." He may never have achieved the popularity of Marvin Gaye or James Brown but he truly was a great singer and many of his songs have become staples of modern music.

Here is a clip of him singing "Down in the Valley.

In an interview with this writer, he was proud that "Down in the Valley" was one of the earliest soul renditions of country music. At the interview as he regaled me of his days as a child gospel singer, selling box lunches and the great days sharing the stages with so many other folks who were his peers, and also musical giants. He had a presence (charisma) about him that one felt when talking with him.

He also was a positive person and when discussing others like the great Big Maybelle (whose song "Candy" he recorded for the early 1990s Black Top album "Soul of the Blues"), he didn't discuss her problems but recalled her as a great performer. He recalled for me a performance at Chicago's Regal Theatre, as she somehow made it down the steps to the stage with folks wondering if she would. But once she was on stage, it was like nothing was wrong as she belted out her songs. Then she somehow made it back upstairs to the dressing room.

Here he sings "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love"

In live performance, he did more than simply introduce songs and sing them. One of the recordings that this writer would recommend was "Soul Alive" on Rounder where his preaching background was most evident in his medley of his recordings for which he would weave a lesson in living for us. One the stands in my mind was when he preached about "The Woman of Today," and how men have to learn new ways to love and cherish them.

In the eighties and nineties,Rounder Records and Black Top Records issued superb recordings by Burke, that was followed by recordings produced by Joe Henry which presented Burke in different contexts and singing different material and all these introduced him to new audiences while reintroducing him to older audiences.

I only saw him perform once, at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and he still had the voice as he sat on his crown and mesmerized the Congo Square stage audience. It was one of that year's JazzFest highpoints.

Here are some suggested recordings by him:

Very Best of Solomon Burke

Home In Your Heart: The Best Of Solomon Burke (a double CD collection)

Soul Alive

Soul of the Blues

Don't Give Up On Me