Make
Do With What You Got ensures
that the legendary Solomon
Burke’s renaissance is
complete, the soul giant (in
every sense of the word) has
such a powerful voice and
presence and imbues the ten
songs on this collection (which
includes covers written by Bob
Dylan, Hank Williams, Van
Morrison and The Rolling Stones
– who picked the song for
Burke to sing personally) with a
real sparkle.
There
is a lightness of touch at work
on most of the tracks, up tempo
and celebratory, Burke is in his
sixties now but you wouldn’t
know it, major highlights would
have to be the love reaffirming
After All These Years
(co-written by Vurke) and his
poignant reworking of Hank
Williams’s Wealth Won’t Save
Your Soul which closes out the
album.
Make
Do is as smooth as silk, courtesy of the production by Don Was and the title
song is a new Dr John track hand delivered by the man himself offering up a
theme of having faith in what you have and who you are and it’s this
feeling that permeates the whole album.
It
looks like that after 40 years in the business Burke has now rightly assumed
his position as one of the elder statesmen of soul and Make Do With What You
Got is definitely an essential addition to your collection.
