AMSTERDAM - Solomon Burke, 70, the larger-than-life "King of Rock and Soul," who was revered as one of music's greatest vocalists but never reached the level of fame of those he influenced, died early Sunday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
Born to the sound of music in an upstairs room of a West Philadelphia church, Mr. Burke was acknowledged as one of the greatest soul singers of the 1960s, though his popularity never matched that of such contemporaries as James Brown or Marvin Gaye.
In a 1993 profile, Inquirer music writer Tom Moon described Mr. Burke on stage in a New York club.
"He begins to sing: 'If you need me, just call me.' The room is hushed, and it is not just the clarity or the power of the voice that transfixes: Burke's delivery is arrestingly earnest. It's impossible to fake this kind of feeling. You realize: Lots of people have copped his mannerisms, but none has yet caught the compassion, the immersion, the sense that behind the song stood a real person who was aching inside."
Two of Mr. Burke's best-known songs reached a wider audience when they were featured in hit movies. His 1964 "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" was featured in the 1980 Dan Aykroyd/John Belushi hit The Blues Brothers. The Rolling Stones and Wilson Pickett also recorded it. And bare-chested Patrick Swayze danced seductively with Jennifer Grey to Mr. Burke's "Cry to Me" in one of the most memorable scenes in 1987's Dirty Dancing.
Born to the sound of music in an upstairs room of a West Philadelphia church, Mr. Burke was acknowledged as one of the greatest soul singers of the 1960s, though his popularity never matched that of such contemporaries as James Brown or Marvin Gaye.
In a 1993 profile, Inquirer music writer Tom Moon described Mr. Burke on stage in a New York club.
"He begins to sing: 'If you need me, just call me.' The room is hushed, and it is not just the clarity or the power of the voice that transfixes: Burke's delivery is arrestingly earnest. It's impossible to fake this kind of feeling. You realize: Lots of people have copped his mannerisms, but none has yet caught the compassion, the immersion, the sense that behind the song stood a real person who was aching inside."
Two of Mr. Burke's best-known songs reached a wider audience when they were featured in hit movies. His 1964 "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" was featured in the 1980 Dan Aykroyd/John Belushi hit The Blues Brothers. The Rolling Stones and Wilson Pickett also recorded it. And bare-chested Patrick Swayze danced seductively with Jennifer Grey to Mr. Burke's "Cry to Me" in one of the most memorable scenes in 1987's Dirty Dancing.
