It Was 50 Years Ago Today: “Got to Get You Off My Mind” by Solomon Burke
April 21, 1965
“Got to Get You Off My Mind” by Solomon Burke
#1 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm and Blues Singles chart, April 3-9 & 17-30, 1965
Atlantic Records defined R&B in the 1950s — literally, as label partner Jerry Wexler coined the phrase “rhythm and blues” during his stint as a journalist for Billboard in the late ’40s. Atlantic’s roster during its golden decade included influential artists such as Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, and Big Joe Turner, as well as pop-friendly vocal groups like the Drifters, the Clovers, and the Coasters. By the early ‘60s, however, many of these stars were either losing their luster or leaving the label. Charles’ departure in late 1959 was swiftly followed by that of Atlantic’s other major star, Bobby Darin; together, they had accounted for one-third of the label’s sales. Shortly thereafter, famed producers/songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who were responsible for many of Atlantic’s biggest hits (including the Drifters’ “There Goes My Baby” and the Coasters’ “Yakety Yak” and “Searchin’”), left in 1962 to form their own label, Red Bird Records. To make up for the shortage of in-house recordings, Atlantic began licensing and distributing records from smaller, regional R&B labels — most notably, Stax in Memphis.
The one major exception was Solomon Burke, a onetime child preacher turned larger-than-life bon vivant, whose intense spiritual devotion was matched only by his extreme enthusiasm for earthier pleasures. Like Wexler, Burke’s contributions to R&B extended beyond the musical into the linguistic: he is credited with inventing the term “soul music” in order to reconcile his gospel roots with the secular material he was beginning to record, while avoiding the “devil’s music” stigma that religious audiences attached to R&B.
Burke had a knack for singing almost anything, as proved by the instant success of his first single, a 1961 remake of the country tune “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)” that had previously been recorded by artists like Faron Young and Patsy Cline. While that song proved to be the first of five Top 40 pop hits for Burke, he never quite crossed over to white pop audiences. Nevertheless, his powerful but subtle voice and country-gospel style won the admiration of R&B fans looking for a more potent sound than what Motown was offering — not least the Rolling Stones, who covered three of Burke’s hits: “Cry to Me,” “If You Need Me,” and “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.”
Legend has it that Burke’s biggest hit, “Got to Get You Off My Mind,” was inspired by a particularly unlucky night in December 1964, in which Burke learned both that Sam Cooke had been fatally shot, and that his wife (and mother of 11 of his children) wanted a divorce. The song betrays little of these tragic origins, however, instead featuring a buoyant, horn-laden arrangement and infectious “hey-hey-HEY” backing vocals, performed by Cissy (mother of Whitney) Houston and Dee Dee (sister of Dionne) Warwick. Burke seems barely troubled by his heartbreak, even verging on lighthearted, as if he really believes “it’s just a matter of time” before he gets over the woman who did him wrong. The result is a strangely compelling mixture of pain and nonchalance, with Burke gaining the upper hand (and proving his cool) simply by not seeming to be all that torn up about his loss.
Burke helped Atlantic usher in a new era of black music, but he never quite achieved the breakout commercial success of the label’s later stars like Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin. Despite topping the R&B charts, “Got to Get You Off My Mind” failed to crack the pop Top 20. While Burke continued performing and recording until his death in 2010, even launching a high-profile comeback in 2002 with the guest star-packed album Don’t Give Up on Me, “Got to Get You Off My Mind” was also the beginning of the end for the King of Rock and Soul. Follow-up single “Tonight’s the Night” (b/w “Maggie’s Farm,” notably the first R&B cover of a Bob Dylan song) became his last record to make the R&B Top 10 and the pop Top 40. The singer who had helped Atlantic stay afloat in the early-to-mid ’60s disappeared from the label by the end of the decade. Nevertheless, Burke has gone down as one of the giants (literally and figuratively) of his genre, a raconteur and showman, a singer of great talents and appetites, and the man Jerry Wexler (who would know) dubbed “the greatest male soul singer of all time.”
It Was 50 Years Ago Today examines a song, album, movie, or book that was #1 on the charts exactly half a century ago.
