Search - Solomon Burke :: Make Do With What You Got

No, no you won't regret it

M. K. LEVINE | Monroe, New York USA | 03/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The real deal from an old master. These songs could've been twirling around an old record player in a railroad flat. Solomon Burke delivers an album sparer and stronger than his politely respectable comeback album. Here he's 65 years old and pining to the moon. How about the soulful ode to an old life-weary love? This is more than survival. The beseeching organ makes it lonesome and longing like human beings get."

Damn! Welcome Back, Solomon!

Thomas D. Ryan | New York | 11/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's crazy that Solomon Burke has been absent from the music scene for as long as he has. Or more accurately, it's a crime that we have been ignoring him for all these years. Burke is a soul singer of the same stature as Percy Sledge (another criminally neglected artist who is still releasing new material), or Wilson Pickett, but our collective indifference/negligence for the past three decades has rendered him obsolete, at least in a commercial sense. 2002's "Don't Give Up On Me" was an aptly titled `comeback' album of Burke's that served notice, reminding us that after all these years, Solomon Burke still possesses a powerhouse of a voice, not to mention excellent taste. "Make Do With What You Got" is further evidence that Burke is back, and he is here for the long haul.

Burke is a soul singer in the truest sense of the word, but he also an artist willing to take risks and stretch himself toward new territories. "I Need Your Love in My Life" opens the album, and it is uncanny how much it rocks like a long-lost Big Star track, only with Burke's authoritative presence replacing Alex Chilton's keening tenor. A few familiar tunes appear here, but all are reformulated into something surprising and original. Bob Dylan's "What Good Am I?" (from Dylan's excellent "Oh Mercy" album) is especially surprising, wrapped in a funky shuffle that manages to suggest Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff", while adding a lighter shade to one of Dylan's more pensive compositions. Rick Danko's (another keening tenor) interpretation of Robbie Robertson's "It Makes No Difference" will always remain definitive, but Burke's powerful interpretation brings the song into a new light, bringing gospel overtones that Danko never could have suggested. Gospel music informs virtually everything on this record, but you can virtually feel the church surround you on tracks like "Fading Footsteps", "At the Crossroads" and "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul". Even The Jagger-Richards composition "I Got the Blues" sounds like it is emanating from a Memphis church.

Back in the `60s, Solomon Burke was the lifeblood for artists like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the Band, providing inspiration and sometimes material for their careers. Forty years later, times have changed quite a bit, and the situation has reversed. I am convinced that there is still an audience for intelligent, heartfelt and compassionate soul music, especially when such great material is entrusted to a super-talented legend like Solomon Burke. Commercial radio programmers might not know it, but I do, and I hope you will take time to discover this for yourself as well. A- Tom Ryan"

GREAT new album by the King of Rock'n' Soul

Andi Gisler | Basel/Switzerland | 03/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a total joy, kudos to producer Don Was for resisting any 'modernization' attempts or 'celebitry duets' and letting the man just do what he does best and better than the rest: Singing his heart out with that amazing voice that's lost none of its range or power of expression in 40 years of showbiz.

So how does 'Make do with what you got' compare to Mr. Burke's acclaimed last album 'Don't give up on me'? Well, 'Don't give up' was Burke's long-overdue return to the pop mainstream and featured an innovative, if somewhat too thought-out concept of using only new or unrecorded songs by some of today's most celebrated writers like Dylan, Waits, Costello, Wilson, etc. Though there were some great moments, I wasn't really happy with the production approach taken by Joe Henry. For example, the concept of NOT using any horns-because that's what you would expect-backfired in my opinion. When listening to 'Don't give up on me' I hear the horns in my mind anyway, only that they're not there on the recording. The whole approach made Solomon Burke sound a bit too restrained at times.

Not so on this record. The vocal performances are peerless and heartfelt as they could be throughout. Horns are used sparingly and just in the right places. The material is well chosen mix between new songs by the likes of Dr. John and some reinterpretations of well-known rock classics that sound like they could have been written for Solomon originally.

Robbie Robertson's 'It makes no difference' is every bit as great but different than the original Band version sung by the late, great Richard Manuel. For me though, the real showstopper is Burke's take on Jagger/Richards 'I got the blues'. A TOTAL killer and destined to become a classic performance. Given Jagger/Richards early 'outlaw atheist' image, it's also interesting to see how well some of these tunes hold up when done in a Gospel style, another recent example was the Blind Boys of Alabama's take on 'I just wanna see his face'.

An added bonus here are some nice words by Van Morrison in the liner notes, Morrison surely is one of the only (if not THE only) living, male singer that I would dare to put in the same league as Mr. Burke.



A great album throughout, highly recommended ."