Solomon Burke "The Chess Collection" 2006

20 track compilation by this '60s Soul legend who made a critically and commercially successful comeback in 2004-05. Features some of his finest original recordings including 'Music To Make Love By', 'All The Way', 'Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You', 'Come Rain Or Come Shine', 'Everlasting Love' and more.Solomon Burke achieved his most notable successes in the sixties, but his recording career spans more than half a century. In that time, he has recorded for a variety of different labels. One of them was Chess, who are also best remembered for their sixties music. However, by the time Solomon joined Chess, the label was less than a year away from the end of its independent existence. The collection here includes the two albums that Solomon recorded for Chess, one of which was first released after Chess was taken over, and a couple of tracks released as singles. Mostly forgotten now, they have their moments.
Producer Gene Page had worked with Barry White and it shows on several of these tracks. Solomon may lack Barry's growl, but you can hear the influence nevertheless on several tracks, by the way in which he sometimes whispers rather than sings. He wrote many of the songs himself, but includes three covers of some oldies from the Great American Songbook, adapting them to suit his style, notably his disco version of Cole Porter's Night and day.
I see that this collection has aroused mixed feelings. Personally, I don't think it's as bad as some other people do, but it would be fair to say that overall, this is not the best that Solomon Burke has ever recorded. If you haven't got any of his music, the best place to start may be a collection of his sixties music that includes Just out of reach, Cry to me and The price. --Amazon customer reviewtrax:

1. Music To Make Love By (Part 1) 2. Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You 3. Come Rain Or Come Shine 4. You And Your Baby Blues 5. All The Way 6. Thanks I Needed That 7. Everlasting Love 8. Midnight And You 9. Music To Make Love By (Part 2) 10. Burning For Your Love 11. Night And Day 12. Everybody's Got To Cry Sometime 13. I'm Going Back To My Roots 14. Precious Flower 15. The Do Right Song 16. Life Has Its Ups And Downs 17. Over And Over (Hugging And Loving) 18. I'll Never Stop Loving You 19. I'm Having On That Late, Late Train 20. Love's Paradise

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