This CD is one of those "Diamonds" Burke refers to. I came late to Burke fandom, thanks to a friend, but this is not the last Burke CD I'm adding to my collection.

Where do I start? "Don't Give Up On Me" has brought together some of the best songwriters and side players in the business for a CD that's in my opinion essential to a good R&B collection. Songwriters include Van Morrison, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Sidemen are both on instruments and vocal and just begin with the Blind Boys of Alabama.

"Diamond in your mind" is a Tom Waits song. "Keep hoping" is a universal sentiment, but what an incisive phrase for keeping positive.

"Soul Searching" is by Brian Wilson. The tune sounds like a timeless classic.

"The Judgement" is a heartbreaking blues number about unrequited love. There's no sung chorus, but the musical line is haunting and eerie.

This music is R&B at its deepest core, but it's also universal music. The messages run the gamut of emotions from strong and hopeful to harsh and painful.

If you love R&B, this is a CD you need to listen to. It's definitely a favorite of mine and I suspect will be for years to come.

Rebecca Kyle, September 2008

In February 2002 Solomon Burke and a couple of other terrific musicians went into the studio to record this gem. All live and just in four days.
In four days? Impossible? Listen to this and I promise you'll never question them again. These guys don't need tons of takes, they know exactly what they're doing. Just get together and tape it. Amazing!!!
What do I say when words fail me to describe the intensity, the depth, the love, the joy and pain, the hope and everything else that is this music.
Solomon Burke, the American icon, doesn't need an introduction.
The way he molds these songs (some especially written for him) into unforgettable stories just blows you away.
Joe Henry who produced the album, did a marvelous job. Besides writing my favorite Flesh and Blood, he was able to bring out the best in these great musicians and capture it for ages to come. This is SOUL music in the truest meaning of the word. One of my all time favorites!!!
Great musicians: Jay Bellerose drums and percussion, Chris Bruce guitar, David Palmer piano and keys, David Pitch bass and Rudy Copeland organ.
The guests are just as amazing: Bennie Wallace tenor sax, Daniel Lanois electric guitars, Niki Harris and Jean McClain background vocals, The Blind Boys of Alabama special guests.
Songs by Bob Dylan (Stepchild), Nick Lowe (The Other Side of the Coin), Van Morrison (Fast Train, Only A Dream), Tom Waits (Diamond in Your Mind) Brian Wilson (Soul Searchin')
Close your eyes and enjoy!

I had never heard of Solomon Burke before hearing him for the first time sing a track on a Derek Trucks CD a couple years ago. I realize now that he is the original. You'll get the feeling that every singer you love - Van, Bruce, Eric, Mick, Elvis - learned to sing by listening to him. Since I've been listening to Solomon Burke, my entire concept of what it means - and what it takes - to sing a song has completely changed. Mr. Burke, if you're reading this, THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!

To Joe Henry, THANK YOU! Your production on this album is off the charts. You put Mr. Burke's vocals right where they belong - front and center - crisp and clean - with no (perceived) effects. It's as if he's standing two feet in front of me, and there's no microphone or amplifier between his mouth and my ears. I commend you on this brave choice. You show that his voice - complete with "imperfections" - has nothing to hide. Any so-called enhancement would only diminish it's immediacy. Every idiosyncracy is like a ring in the tree. He sings like he has lived every song. Thanks to your production, as a listener, I feel like we're in the same room, just kickin' back, while I'm lucky enough to listen to him do what he loves to do. The back up vocals on "Diamond" sound like they're spinning on an old 45 in the corner of the room - brilliant! As for the Blind Boys on "Free," I thought I was listening to a dub of the Ink Spots! The Blind Boys take the texture of this great acoustic groove to an even higher level - absolutely rich! Thanks for sharing your vision with the rest of us.

Great Blues singer. As long as he's been around, I didn't know about him until I saw him on "Breakfast With The Arts". Quality lyrics, quality voice, and good solid blues sound. This is one of those artists that you just don't want to see grow old. BB King is another. Charlie Daniels is another. "Don't Give Up On Me" is a great song with a lot of feeling and it is a great album that carries that feeling through the entire array of songs. Good stuff.

In the last 15 years we have seen some comebacks of artists that were famous in the 50's and 60's but whose careers slowly went downhill in the 80's, mostly thanks to the invention of the soul-less synthesizer.

Johnny Cash was introduced to a new audience with his 'American Recordings' and subsequent released under the same title. He was no longer the guy in black singing 'Ring of Fire' but that old guy singing Palace Music and Danzig songs.
You could say the same thing about Bob Dylan with his last three CD's.

And then there is Reverend Burke. A great career in the 60's, some mediocre songs in the 80's but with "Don't Give Up On Me" he finally has what he always claimed to posess: the title of King of Soul.

No tracks he has written himself, but songs by Dan Penn (the brilliant and passionate title track), Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan.

The instrumentation is laid-back and how it is supposed to be, as if it could be played on the street without any electricity. Burke's voice, now even deeper than it used to be, soothes us and makes the tracks written by others his. We should not give up on him, we believe he has a diamond in his mind and that his life had been not so great.

This might be one of the best real old-fashioned soul albums of the last 20 years. The King is back.