Personnel includes: Solomon Burke (vocals); Sam Mayfield (guitar); Sammy Berfect (piano, organ, keyboards); Ron Brown (keyboards); Kevin O'Neal, Lee Zeno (bass); Lance Kellogg (drums); Don A. Littleton (percussion).
Recorded live at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival, New Orleans, Louisiana on May 1, 1994.
Solomon Burke: Solomon Burke (vocals); Ward Smith (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); John Stephens (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Rick Trolsen (trombone); Sammy Berfect (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards); Kevin O'Neal, Lee Zeno, Lance Kellogg (bass instrument); Don Littleton (percussion); Nedra Fields, Amber Henry, Elizabeth Burke (background vocals); Ron Brown, Sammy Mayfield.
Personnel: Sam Mayfield (guitar); Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff (saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Louis C. Thomas (alto saxophone); Derick McLyn, Tony Dagradi, George Harper (tenor saxophone); Carl Blouin, Joe "Bledsoe" Brown, Joe Brown (baritone saxophone); Jamil Sharif, Jimmy Weber , Dan Rabinovitz, Stuart Aptekar, Ray Collins , Steve Howard, James Smith (trumpet); Oliver Luck Washington, Phil Ranelin, Steve Suter (trombone); Sammy Berfect (organ); Ron Brown (keyboards); Lance Kellogg (drums); Elizabeth Burke (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Hammond Scott; David Farrell .
Liner Note Author: Solomon Burke.
Recording information: House of Blues, New Orleans, LA (07/01/1994); Ultrasonic Studios, New Orlesns (07/01/1994).
Editors: Hammond Scott; David Farrell .
Photographer: Rick Olivier.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Jermaine Jones; Ed Davis.
Arranger: Solomon Burke.
Are you ready for the King of Soul and Rock & Roll? Solomon Burke (for it is he) is discovered here in fine voice at the New Orleans House Of Blues with full orchestral accompaniment. The set commences with Burke's own "Every Needs Somebody to Love," taken at '60s soul revue speed (i.e., faster than a man of Burke's mature years and 375-pound size should safely be expected to perform). However, Burke soon eases into the slower tempos of a medley of "If You Need Me," "Tonight's the Night" (no, not the Rod Stewart song), and Ivory Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind."
Burke is the flip side of the excitable Soul Brother Number One, James Brown--his exhortations to the band are usually to "take it easy...we just gon' do this all night long," and it sounds like they did. The Souls Alive Orchestra is in superlative form, featuring relaxed and swinging rhythm and horn sections. Burke is, as always, a consummate entertainer; the audience interaction preceding "Got to Get You off My Mind" is almost worth the price of admission by itself.
