The King of Rock 'n Soul

Solomon Burke was both a major recording artist — and a unique character. Although he passed away a decade ago, his storied life is still great fodder for music trivia geeks like us. Like that time at the Apollo...

When acclaimed music critic Peter Guralnick contacted musician and self-proclaimed King of Rock ‘n Soul Solomon Burke for his 1986 book Sweet Soul Music, Burke reportedly quipped: “How could you write a book on soul music without speaking to the King?”. This was the great Solomon Burke in a nutshell: impossibly grandiose, but with talent to match…

Incredibly, Burke was a divine figure before he was even born — literally: his grandmother reportedly had a vision that her still unborn grandson was to become a prophet, hence the first name Salomon. And become a prophet he did — first in actual church: he was born the preacher of his own chapel, and would go on simultaneously preaching and performing throughout most of his adult life. But this is the musical prophet we are most interested in here: with cult classics like “Cry to me”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” or “If you need me”, Burke embodied soul music like very few artists ever have. Although he arguably didn’t reach the level of fame of Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, he still ranked — and ranks — among the finest figures of the genre.

Beyond his (almost) otherworldly musicianship, there is another aspect that made Burke truly unique: his remarkable ability to make any situation his own. A perfect example of that took place in 1966, when the man was invited for a week-long residency at New York’s cult Apollo theater. Such a treatment was reserved only to the very best musical artists out there, the theater’s owner Frank Schiffman meant as much — and Burke thought as much. The contract with the Apollo allowed for the singer to operate concessions, i.e. sell his merchandise and, crucially at the time, his records. But, Burke not being your regular journeyman musician, he decided to take the contract literally — and acquired a popcorn factory in Philadelphia ahead of the shows. When trucks full of popcorn arrived at the theater, a furious Schiffman was forced to allow their sale — but banned Burke from the Apollo for life.

Cost of doing business…