Solomon Burke is, to those in the know, a soul singer the equal of Sam Cooke or Otis Redding.Their places in the pantheon of greats may have been sealed by their untimely deaths, but Solomon went on singing, though not to the universal acclaim he surely deserved.At 68, with a recording career of 46 years behind him, he is not just still in fine voice, he is willing to take chances with his music rather than rely on tried and tested formulas. It was the 2002 album "Don't Give Up On Me" - featuring songs from such greats as Van Morrison, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan - which reminded many of us that Burke was still a force to be reckoned with.The celebrity endorsement is still present here, with Eric Clapton, Ben Harper and Keb' Mo' contributing songs.You'd expect a slightly earthier feel from these guys and that's what you get.The King of Rock and Soul's "Like a Fire" continues its clear country orientation with a satisfying set of country-soul performances, ranging from the almost swamp-funk gospel of Ben Harper's "A Minute to Rest and a Second to Pray" at one extreme to "If I Give My Heart to You", a torch-song in the pioneering black-country tradition established by Ray Charles, at the other.This album has something of the rootsy melting pot feel of Ry Cooder's fertile 1970s recordings, going from the ambling country lament of "The Fall" to Keb' Mo's uplifting poverty plaint "We Don't Need It", in which a man on his uppers is reassured by his family that they can do without costly fripperies because "all we need is you"."The Fall" is a portrait of a once-proud man broken by circumstance, reflecting how "a flame can burn out, if things don't turn out". Burnished with subtle pedal steel, it's a movingly adult performance, recounted by Burke with the minimum of flamboyance and maximum emotion.Burke is a man of the church, and there are lessons about life at every turn here, particularly the sorry tale of "We Don't Need It", where a family rallies round to help a man laid off from his job.But it is Clapton who comes up trumps, providing Burke with the most memorable song in the title track. It trots along on the kind of bouncy guitar which propelled another of Clapton's recent masterpieces, "Change The World".
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