Album: Rock 'N Soul
Artist: Solomon Burke
Release Date: November, 1964
Genre: Soul
Length: 0:34:06
Label: Atlantic Records
Producer: Bert Berns
1,001 Album Book: Yes
Soul artist with an overwhelmingly beautiful sound...
Grammy Award winning artist Solomon Burke with his most notable album in his career, Rock 'N Soul contains seven top 100 Billboard hits across the Black Singles, Pop Singles and Adult Contemporary charts.
Combining both soul and rock, the initial track "Cry to Me" on Rock 'N Soul shows nothing but that aspect of Burke's talent. Aside from the simple bass groove and response from the piano, there's a slight marimba/xylophone pattern in the background showing off a worldly music type of feel which isn't common among early soul artists.
Changing the sound from the prior track, "Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)" brings forth a chill track featuring female background vocals and a relaxing riff from an acoustic guitar. Burke's majestic vocals once again play a huge part in the tone of the track and go along perfectly with the instruments.
Being able to have a soulful sound as well as a raspy rock sound is tough to do but Burke puts that at the forefront of the record. Songs like "Cry to Me", "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)", and "If You Need Me" are great examples.
The chill sound emitting from each instrument across the entire album is something to marvel at as it allows Burke to take a massive step forward and be the spotlight within the songs. Even though he is the focal point, the accompanying instruments certainly provide the feel of each song, from the simple drum patterns played softly behind, the bass grooves, various piano parts in the songs, the big band feel from the brass, and the background vocals in a lot of the tracks.
One of Burke's greatest strengths in this album is his vast vocal range that he showcases. Going down into the abyss of lows to the heavens of high's it seems like there isn't one thing he cannot do vocally. The way he pairs with the various instruments throughout is pure talent and is impressive, even in the modern day.
The only hindering part of the album is the distortion of the microphones when the vocalists sing notes in a range the microphone cannot support. This is obviously due to the fact that the album was recorded in 1964 and the technology wasn't as advanced as it is today. Even though it does sound certainly worse than other records in the future, it provides a distinct early music feel that will never be replicated and, because of that, it makes that aspect entertaining.
I really enjoy this album and Burke's stylistic way of singing. The only thing I found to be frustrating is the miniscule amount of changes the album showcases. Across the entire record there are a lot of songs that don't really change in sound from the next, minus the notable slower songs and rock-like songs. I would recommend this record to anyone just because Burke is such an undervalued musician and should be remembered more...
Favorite Songs: "Cry to Me", "Can't Nobody Love You"
Least Favorite Songs: No bad songs but also some songs start to sound the same.
Production Quality:
Mix = 8/10 (Impressive sounding recordings for early music)
Innovation = 6/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 5/10
Lyricism = 7/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 10/10
Instrumental Timbre = 8.5/10
Group Chemistry = 9.5/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 8/10
Overall Rating: 7.8/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!