March 16, 2010 -
PRLog -- At a time when rock and roll was in its infancy and R&B was just starting to get its groove on, Solomon Burke burst onto the scene, shattered the cultural barriers of the time, scored a massive hit with “Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)” and quickly redefined the way the world would think about music. Conquering hearts, moving hips and electrifying fans in ways no one thought possible, the Philadelphia born legend’s soul-stirring smashes and charismatic presence captured the imagination of young people like no one else of his era. Dubbed by legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler as “the best soul singer of all time,” Burke, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer since 2001, is more than simply a pioneering American legend from another time and place--he is an innovator whose timeless music spans generations and has inspired millions of fans and hundreds of recording artists across the decades.
While teaching him to clearly enunciate the words to such songs as Gene Autry’s “Back In The Saddle Again,” Burke’s grandmother Eleanor Moore was a powerful spiritual medium who kept him in a futurist world as a child with her spiritual vision and projections of what his life would become. So perhaps it was all fore-ordained—
the 17 million record sales; a soul standard (“Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”) that was covered by everyone from The Rolling Stones to Wilson Pickett and The Blues Brothers; a career resurrecting 2002 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album (Don’t Give Up On Me) that introduced his genius to a whole new generation; one of his best known hits “Cry To Me” being used in the dance and seduction scene in “Dirty Dancing”; a performance for one of his biggest fans, Pope John Paul II, at the Vatican in 2000, and subsequent invitations to the Vatican’s Christmas celebration by John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI; and the achievement the singer calls his greatest, his astounding family of 21 children (14 daughters, 7 sons), 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.
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WDKK Radio (www.wdkkradio.com)
is an independently owned Internet Radio station committed to keeping the legacy of the artist who pioneered much of America's music alive. In addition to preserving the legacies, WDKK strives to create a platform for the many independent artist who are writing the next chapter of "The songs in the key of life."
