Search - Solomon Burke :: Got to Get You Off My Mind and Other Hits

I Guess I'm the Designated Solomon Reviewer

J. C Clark | Overland Park, KS United States | 09/28/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"And as DSR, I say, go elsewhere. This is a pretty cheap collection of 5 star stuff, but with only 10 songs, it comes in at just over 28 minutes. In this era of 80 minute CDs, and with an artist who has recorded as prolifically, that is just unconscionable. Even for seven bucks, they can do better than that!



All these songs are among his best, so you do get a solid string of quality, beginning with what was certainly his biggest hit, Got To Get You Off My Mind, which is a catchy and snappy tidbit of soul history. It is not my absolute favorite Solomon song, but it's a goodie. Should you care, the winner of my favorite is Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye), a maudlin time-capsule where his baritone growl will rattle your speakers.



But look at the 2 CD collection "Home In Your Heart," a 41 track winner, or my personal choice, the "If You Need Me/Rock 'n' Soul" 2 on 1 package, which rolls through 23 blistering tracks like a loaded freight train. Solomon has become somewhat self-indulgent recently, seemingly granted esteemed elder-statesman rank merely because he didn't die, but back in the 60s and 70s, he was something special. Wonderful arrangements, backup singers you can easily visualize swaying in their matching mini-skirts, skillful musicians throughout, judicious use of the baritone sax, and his unique voice all combined to make a package that lives on quite well. He could do it, and on these 10 songs, he did."