Page "Solomon Burke" Paragraph 33

By November 1960 Atlantic Records was struggling as two of their major stars, Bobby Darin and Ray Charles, who were responsible collectively for one-third of Atlantic's revenues, had left for other record lablels – Darin for Capitol Records, and Charles for a " mega-deal " with ABC Records.

According to Cliff White, " In 1960 the company was at its most vulnerable.

Ray Charles and Clyde McPhatter had left them for other companies, Chuck Willis was dead, and Big Joe Turner ’ s brand of rocking city blues was just not selling anymore.

Their major girl singers, Lavern Baker and Ruth Brown were waning, and two of their three big group acts, the Coasters and The Clovers, were also past their best.

" Atlantic Vice-President and producer Jerry Wexler admits that by this time he was feeling creatively exhausted, and feared the company might not survive.

According to Alex Halberstadt, " Salvation arrived in the person of Solomon Burke, a soul singer of overwhelming charisma and remarkable stylistic range.

... Wexler and Burke created a string of hits that carried the label financially and represented the first fully realized examples of the classic soul sound.

" Burke helped keep Atlantic Records solvent from 1961 to 1964 with his steady run of hit records.

According to Wexler: " Solomon Burke was the infusion of fresh energy I needed.

... Solomon came along at a moment when the British Invasion was gearing up.

We had nothing like the Dave Clark Five or Herman's Hermits, let alone the Beatles.

Solomon Burke carried Atlantic by selling a load of records – and they were terrific.