Don’t Give Up On Me by Solomon Burke

Don't Give Up on Me, Solomon Burke's 2002 album for Fat Possum, is the sound of one of soul's founding fathers being handed a stack of brand-new songs by heavyweight writers and told to go to church on them. Joe Henry produced, and he keeps the arrangements out of the way so that big, weathered voice can do the preaching, somewhere between soul and blues.

The guest list is choice: Daniel Lanois plays electric guitar on "Stepchild", and the Blind Boys of Alabama stand behind Burke on "None of Us Are Free". The title track, written by Dan Penn and Carson Whitsett with Hoy Lindsey, is the slow-burning heart of the thing; The O.C. played it again and again, introducing Burke to a whole new generation, and Joe Cocker covered it. The album pulled him back into the spotlight and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

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