Solomon Burke, The King of Rock 'n' Soul, was born upstairs in a Philadelphia church in 1936. The House of God for All People was a family affair and Solomon was the family's pride and joy. He delivered his first sermon at the age of seven and, before he had even reached his teens, he had been appointed one of the church's more flamboyant bishops. His purpose in life had always been twofold and clear - primarily he was to preach the Gospel but, also, he was to descend into the pits of hell, enter the sordid world of show-business and entertain the people. And there had never been any doubts about any of this - his grandmother had dreamt the whole thing a dozen years before his birth.
"This was a phenomenal situation and I'm glad I wasn't around then because my mother would have been in a lot of trouble! But yes, the church was always a part of my life on an everyday basis. My grandmother sang and we had a choir in the church and a big band with trombones and tubas and guitars and drums, and so it was always a musical situation too. I was born with trombones and tubas playing. And what I've done in my career is to bring more of the religious aspect to the show-business world. I've made people realise that you can serve God and be a performer, that you can be someone who believes and trusts in God and sing the blues. There's no sin in that. You sin when you overdo a thing or go against God. But when you're giving a message to people and let them know that you can live the life without being someone who drinks or smokes or takes drugs, then God will continue to bless you."
Solomon Burke acquired all the confident skills of the performer at a very early age. The Wonder Boy Preacher, as he was known, became something of a star attraction as he both toured and conducted a radio ministry. In these highly-charged circumstances it was inevitable that he began to develop an extraordinary ability to excite an audience with words and music - something which would later make him one of the most influential soul singers ever, and perhaps the one who most obviously displayed his Gospel roots. But back in the very early days, however, it was all exclusively about spreading the good news.
"I felt like a little messenger. I believed that God was just everything in the world and I knew that His son Jesus Christ had died on the cross at Calvary and I thought it was such a sad thing that he had to die. But the answer was knowing that if he had not died that we would not have the right to the Tree of Life. And I would preach that little message and tell all the children and it was just a special time for me. The older folks would push you on because it was very rare for a young child or a young person to be a minister or a preacher. And I was having fun! I had a little cape and they'd stand me on top of a box so I could look over the pulpit and I thought it was such a great thing to do that. It was such a great feeling and I always felt so wonderful. I just wanted to preach all the time!"
Secular music was another matter entirely. Burke made his first records for Apollo in New York, having been spotted at a Gospel talent show. This led to his discovery of, as he puts it, "another avenue" in which to spread the Gospel - and that was show-business. He played at the Apollo Theatre and recorded the single You Can Run But You Can't Hide (with ex-heavyweight champion Joe Louis getting a credit as co-writer). These early attempts at stardom failed, however, and soon Solomon was, as had been foretold by his grandmother, in the pits of hell. When he emerged, Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records was waiting with a contract.
"Well, we had a problem because when I was first signed to Atlantic Records in 1960 we could not be labelled as a rhythm and blues artist, being a young minister and a young bishop. For me to record, the elders of the church would not allow me to be labelled a rhythm and blues artist. We had to be considered a soul singer. That was the only way that we were allowed to continue to record and continue a career. But Atlantic Records knew absolutely nothing about me. Here was a label very famous for having Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown and Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters - what were they going to do with Solomon Burke who was a preacher and who didn't want to be a rhythm and blues artist? And here is the number one rhythm and blues label in the world! "So what happened was, in order to not make us feel bad they gave us some country songs to study! They figured, well we'll give him these and this'll never happen! You won't have to worry about this guy! I mean like this was really going to work out? You ever seen a black cowboy? This'll keep him busy for at least a couple of years, by which time the contract will have run out, we'll give him a couple of hundred dollars and the guy will say goodbye!"
It seems more likely perhaps that people like Jerry Wexler had in fact spotted the huge potential of someone like Solomon Burke. His was a voice that might attract a southern white audience as much as the more obvious and readymade black one - and they were right. In 1961 Burke had his first big hit with Just Out of Reach which entered the r'n'b, the pop and the country charts. Not long after that people like Ray Charles were also trying their hand, very successfully, at country songs. The Bishop had started something. Burke's hits continued for a number of years - Cry To Me, If You Need Me, Down in the Valley, I Really Don't Want to Know, He'll Have to Go and perhaps most famously, Every- body Needs Somebody To Love which was later revived by the Blues Brothers complete with its "I'm so happy to be here tonight" introduction. According to Solomon Burke however, Atlantic Records, even after he had made his first recording, didn't quite know what to do with him.
"They held back the record as much as they could! It took a year before it ever really got played on the radio. Number one, there was no station to play it. The black jocks couldn't play it because there was no format for them to play a country song. And the white stations couldn't play it because there were no black cowboys! But I was lucky enough to meet Gene Autry and Just Out of Reach was published by his publishing company, Four Star Music, and he said `you havin' problems gettin' your song played? We'll we're gonna take care of that because we own a few stations and we're going to get that record on for you. You just go back to New York and let them know that something good gonna happen in the next couple of weeks.' And I was in such awe of this man Gene Autry - I'm Back in the Saddle Again."
There are so many stories about Solomon Burke. He always was and still is, larger than life. He was inclined to arrive on stage wearing full royal regalia - crown, sceptre and robes. On one famous occasion, James Brown, who was sharing the bill with him, appeared on stage in robes of his own and demanded that Burke come out and crown him the new King as he danced all over Burke's red carpet. Other stories usually involve Burke's many facets - the mortuary business, the 21 identically-dressed children, the Solomon Burke Magic Popcorn he sold at his own gigs and the fried chicken he cooked up on the sidewalk between shows.
"Yeah, but the fried chicken was serious. During that time here in America we had a lot of problems and as black entertainers we weren't able to go to the fast food restaurants and things like that. Sometimes we'd be on the buses for 18 or 20 hours without being able to stop to get a sandwich or a bite to eat. So I said, this is ridiculous, because as a young preacher we always travelled with food and my grandmother and the elders would always have it worked out where I could stop and have something to eat. So I couldn't understand why we couldn't do that - so I tried to make a way for everyone to eat. But you see, when you give away something to people in showbusiness, they feel bad and they don't want it.
"So I said, if they want to buy it, fine, we'll sell it to them! And then they were all saying `hey, Solomon! What time are you gonna start that chicken?"'
These days, the ministry is the most important thing to Dr Solomon Burke. The Church of God for All People - Solomon's Temples of the World has 297 ordained ministers and their job, according to their spiritual leader, is to feed the hungry, educate the uneducated and be God's workers in the vineyard. The mortuary business, started by his aunt back in Philadelphia, is yet another surprising side to this extraordinary man who while on the road, at the height of his success, would occasionally pull up at a funeral parlour and help out.
"I've kind of backed away from the mortuary business now. My daughter is a very famous mortician here in America - and also my son - we're into franchising mortuaries all over the world and it has become a big business.
It's really into another dimension. My family being in the mortuary business, that was something I wanted to do. When my grandmother passed in 1954, I was there to help them remove her from the home to the mortuary and it was fascinating to me. I watched my uncle and my aunt handle things and they were always so organised and calm and could relate to people. They were so together. My mother wanted me to be a doctor - a surgeon - but that would have been terrible! Me being a surgeon! But now I have a doctor's degree and it's not in surgery! And none of my patients ever call me back and say they have a problem!
Solomon Burke, one of the great voices of soul, is a huge, friendly, gracious and very entertaining man. Several days after this interview I received my first Christmas present in the post - a Christmas CD with best wishes from "Solomon Burke and the Family". A nice touch from a man who really is "on a mission from God". "I guess music is something that we can live by. We cannot live without it because there is music in all of us in some way, in some form, in some fashion. Music can soothe the soul as well as relax the mind. It is a language that can be understood and spoken by all people all over the world. It's one language - of love, of understanding, of pain, of hurt, of happiness, of need, of want and desire. For me, I think 90 per cent of it came from the church and the rest came from the audience. But as I got older it became an even situation. When you can pull from the audience the feeling and the love and the desire, then you put it all together and it becomes one powerful force. To me it's a very sacred and special thing to perform - to give to people what God has given to me, and that's the talent to express to them a song. Every song has a meaning. Every song is someone's dream, every song has a purpose and every song should be heard within the heart as well as the mind. This was all a spiritual projection from my grandmother - that I would do these things and go to these places that other religious leaders would never have dared gone. It was challenge in my life, it's always been a challenge and it still is."