Sweet Soul Music - Dan Penn, Donnie Fritts, Eddie Hinton, Muscle Shoals sound in general, etc - C or C?

ANTI- RECORDS TO RELEASE 20th ANNIVERSARY RE-ISSUE OF SOUL LEGEND SOLOMON BURKE’S 2002 ALBUM
‘DON’T GIVE UP ON ME’

OUT NOVEMBER 18

Solomon Burke, the King of Rock & Soul, the Bishop, was a big man with an even bigger talent and a revered vocalist whose mastery is unmatched by any other proponent of the style he largely originated. Burke embodied deep soul with a fifty-plus year career that produced a series of records consistently profound in emotional, artistic and spiritual gravity. Today ANTI- Records is announcing a 20th anniversary re-issue of his 2002 album ’Don’t Give Up On Me’ which features an all-star roster of song contributors including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Tom Waits and Joe Henry. The re-issued vinyl will be available on November 18 in black and a limited edition opaque red and a clear version in Europe.

Pre-order it here: https://solomonburke.ffm.to/dontgiveuponme

In 2002 music critic Peter Guralnick noted, ”Burke has served far too long as "The King In Exile"; despite a towering reputation among peers and fans alike, and his 2001 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the singer remains somewhat of a mystifyingly under-appreciated figure. With the release of ’Don't Give Up On Me’ the widely acknowledged King of Rock & Soul is liable to ascend to a height equal to his glorious 1960s reign at Atlantic Records.”

In addition to the contributors listed above, legendary veteran writers like Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil all contributed commercially unreleased original compositions, either specifically custom tailored to, or innately suited for the interpretive genius of this unrivaled singer. Never before has such a cross-section of revered pop talent enthusiastically converged on one album, but there are precious few vocalists on the aerie artistic level of Solomon Burke.

‘Don't Give Up On Me’ was recorded live in the studio over a four-day period, with an ensemble anchored by Burke's church organist Brother Rudy Copeland. Produced by Joe Henry, the record also features contributions from Daniel Lanois and revered gospel outfit The Blind Boys of Alabama.

On working with Burke producing this record, Joe Henry wrote: “I was simply a facilitator. And I say this not to diminish my contributions to the man’s story, nor his ultimate appreciation of them; but I can see as well that though many of the songs written for him and offered up to the project ––and by historically significant songwriters–– hung and clung, at first blush, like ill-fitting clothes...he was like Matisse: the subject ––be that a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit; a reclining nude I Need A Holiday –– was of little consequence; for he would use them regardless to speak exactly as he meant to, transfiguring their familiar forms beyond architecture and into something with far more ethereal and spiritual implications.”

Burke's vocals, power undiminished and tempered by decades of performing and recording experience, is nothing less than a force of nature. With a healthy dose of honky-tonk weeper psychology and the clinical reality of his training as a mortician (a business he was still active in at the time), Burke has unique philosophical and physiological insights into the human condition, that infuse the delivery of his songs.

"The entire album was very exciting, and it was heartrending to think all these writers, the Bob Dylans, Elvis Costello's, would even think of me,” Burke said. “I would characterize these as art, pieces of art, songs that were designed in some way with me in mind, in each one of these writers’ minds--all of them are beautiful. I wanted each piece of that art to hang in my own palace. To me, they all belong in a special place. It was remarkable."

1. Don’t Give Up On Me
2. Fast Train
3. Diamond In Your Mind
4. Flesh And Blood
5. Soul Searchin’
6. Only A Dream
7. The Judgement
8. Stepchild
9. The Other Side Of The Coin
10. None Of Us Are Free
11. Sit This One Out

For More Info on Solomon Burke, Contact:
Kelly Kettering | ANTI- Records Publicity |kelly at epitaph dot com

I really wanted to like this album, and I gave it another try after discovering his two Rounder albums from the '80s, Soul Alive! and A Change Is Gonna Come (both recommended), but it hasn't connected. I feel like his singing lost too much command, and unfortunately the record's built around his voice. There are singers like Billie Holiday who made something great from their disintegrating voices, but Burke's phrasing was never that inventive - with him, it was much more about presence, and he sounds too diminished here compared to his earlier recordings.

Too bad because there are some interesting song choices here like Dylan's "Stepchild" (an otherwise unreleased song from his short but bizarre Vegas-style tour) and two underrated Van Morrison gems ("Only a Dream," "Fast Train") from his 2002 album Down the Road.

Is it this one? Good track from a good alb, there's also a suitable live version by JLL somewhere, but not seeing it today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBeqPCPNQfU

I haven't heard the Burke, just passing along the news.

Yes, that's the one! Jerry Lee Lewis and Solomon Burke recorded different versions of that song though, and I'm not sure how much of Burke's may have been rewritten for him or rewritten by himself (IIRC he seems to ad lib on the fly, name-dropping Dylan.)

FWIW, Dylan changed the lyrics a few times on that 1978 tour, which you can see here: https://dylanchords.info/00_misc/am_I_your_stepchild.htm

Anyway, people should still check out the album if they like Burke because quite a few DID like it when it came out. It even placed at #12 on that year's Pazz & Jop poll.

Stax Records Founder Jim Stewart, Who Introduced Soul Legends, Dies at 92

RIP

The social media posts coming from the Stax Museum have been moving, particularly their retelling of his first public appearance there, when he donated his fiddle and surviving members of the Stax label (artists and staff alike) paid tribute. He really was a good guy who got into the business for the right reasons, and it sucks that Atlantic and then CBS screwed him and Stax over.

Bob Mehr's obit is really good:

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/12/06/jim-stewart-obituary-stax-records-rock-n-roll-hall-of-fame-memphis-music-history/69702156007/

(Also speaking of Atlantic, apparently Ahmet Ertegun is being investigated for sexual assault against two different women.

Speaking of Stax, did yall see this? Posted by unperson on Rolling Reissues:

Stax Records and Craft Recordings are proud to announce the release of multiple new titles paying homage to the iconic Wattstax Benefit Concert which took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20th, 1972. Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection, Wattstax: The Complete Concert, and The Best of Wattstax, plus 2-LP reissues of the original soundtrack albums Wattstax: The Living Word and The Living Word: Wattstax 2 will all be released on February 24 and are available for pre-order today.
In celebration of the 1973 Columbia Pictures music documentary, Sony Pictures will re-release Wattstax at participating Alamo Drafthouse locations throughout the U.S. from February 24.

Created in conjunction with the annual Watts Summer Festival to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts uprising in Los Angeles, the Wattstax benefit concert was attended by more than 100,000 people. It featured performances from Stax Records’ most popular artists of the time, including, but not limited to, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas and The Bar-Kays. These releases are the first complete audio collections of what Wattstax creator and then-President of Stax Records, Al Bell calls the “most jubilant celebration of African American music, culture, and values in American history.”

Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection is a 12-CD box set featuring the complete 1972 L.A. Memorial Coliseum concert plus recordings from the Summit Club, including 31 previously unreleased tracks across the collection. These recordings are housed in a folio with a 76-page, full-color book featuring an introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, and new essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway. A previously unreleased version of the iconic soul funk anthem “Theme From Shaft” by the legendary Isaac Hayes from his headline set at Wattstax is available to stream and download here today.

Wattstax: The Complete Concert includes the full L.A. Memorial Coliseum concert and is available on both 6-CD and 10-LP formats. In addition to musical performances, it features all the speeches and other stage banter from the event, including event MC, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s often referenced “I Am Somebody” speech. Both formats of this collection include the full-color book with introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, and essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway that is also included in Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection.

A 1-CD title, The Best of Wattstax, brings together a handpicked selection of twenty of the best musical performances from the Wattstax concert. Including performances by Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, Kim Weston, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Eddie Floyd and more, and serves as a great introduction to the event and the many iconic artists that it featured.

Newly cut from the original analog tapes, reissues of the two original soundtrack albums Wattstax: The Living Wordand The Living Word: Wattstax 2—which feature highlights from the concert and subsequent documentary film—will also each be reissued on 2-LP formats on the same date.

Just now saw this, in xgau's freed-up 2022 reviews, on his site:

Dusty Springfield: Dusty Sings Soul (Ace) Still in her twenties with a vast if less than consistently canonical African-American songbook hers to convey to a wide-open '60s U.K. youth market, she applies her considerable heart, enthusiasm, IQ, and let us not forget voice to its array ("Can I Get a Witness," "Nothing," "Oh No Not My Baby," "All Cried Out") **

more from him:

Ann Peebles: Greatest Hits (Hi '15) Beyond the towering Aretha Franklin--plus Etta James and Mavis Staples and if you insist Diana Ross via their respective side doors--soul music was short on heroines. I mean, the outspoken Millie Jackson and after that who? Sure I could pull a few more out of my memory book, as maybe you could yours. But this lean, clean, tough, sweet, lucid St. Louis woman, married 48 years to Memphis native and Hi Records songwriting stalwart Don Bryant though a stroke ended her performing career in 2012, was and remains more memorable than that. Beyond the towering Al Green, she was the most distinctive singer ever to hook up with Hi Rhythm, regarded by many who should know as the equal of the Stax-Volt and Muscle Shoals bands and by more than one as the class of the field. "Part Time Love" was her 1970 breakout. Her 1972 "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" was covered by guess who on her Divine Miss M follow-up. "I Can't Stand the Rain" was her indelible 1973 classic. Too cool to be forgotten. A MINUS

Ann Peebles & the Hi Rhythm Section: Live in Memphis (Memphis International) It's 1992, she's 45, Howard Grimes lives, and she wants us to know that "Just because I say I feel like breakin' it up don't necessarily mean that I'm gonna go out there and do it" ("I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home," "I Didn't Take Your Man") **

https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/album-review-stax-songwriter-demos-showcase-the-stars-behind-the-big-names/?utm_source=No+Depression+Newsletter&utm_campaign=877f72af22-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_24_23_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_659325596f-877f72af22-226384157&mc_cid=877f72af22&mc_eid=b850f832a1 Several videos in there too.

https://www.memphisflyer.com/summit-of-the-scribes-a-gathering-of-stax-legends?fbclid=IwAR3pRLeeSgeJ-jtziema0AC0DHSAZ1W5iqUIvXVwqdIqf4aXfZqan2Ex33w_aem_AQtNmt_rve377MyK9KzJanI-PdRqyP0LLoJxsXWmBuU5Svx3hT9f3xU3Z_NRKUOcOLo&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Learning about Henderson Thigpen who wrote for Stax in late years including Shirley Brown “Woman to Woman”

Maybe should have put that on Memphis music thread that includes Stax

There's a Memphis thread? Memphis posts are pretty standard on here too, it's cool.
that xpost Dusty Sings Soul comp isn't on any streams that I've come across, although Spotify has a playlist from whatever sources, might be okay. Meanwhile I just checked hot excerpts of all 24 tracks via label site: https://acerecords.co.uk/sings-sou

Was thinking of 100 Great Records from Memphis thread

100 great records from Memphis

This is cool: https://www.discogs.com/release/4364232-The-Meadows-The-Meadows

I've been mildly obsessed with Wilson Meadows the past few years for his later southern soul stuff (check out Transformation) and never realized he did an album in muscle shoals back in 1981 with his brothers.

My Love Was Sleeping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP2fBxLCbeg

Nice song there. Not familiar with Meadows brothers. Will have to dig in