Louisiana born King Solomon began his singing career on the nightclub circuit
in Chicago, before moving to Los Angeles in the early ’50s, where he laid
down the 24 tracks collected here for various small labels. This CD reflects
his recorded output from 1960-1970. While Solomon’s gritty blues/soul vocal
style was obviously highly influenced by B.B King, the material we find here
is decidedly funkier and more closely akin to soul music than true blues. A prolific
songwriter, Solomon favors topical subject matter, drawing from his own life
experiences and those around him on songs like “Non Support Blues” and “Separation,” while
songs like “The Moon Walk,” “Get Up Soul Brother” and “Energy
Crisis” draw from current events of the time. A small minority of songs
seem derivative (“Scratch My Back” and “Don’t Play This
Song” being the most obvious), but Solomon manages to place his own personal
stamp on these tunes nonetheless, making them his own. Solomon’s backing
is superlative throughout and we witness a gradual transformation from the gospel
inflected bluesy soul of the first half of the CD to the wah-wah guitar and popping
bass propelled all-out funk of the latter half. Despite being billed as “rare
and unreissued” (not always a good thing), the 24 songs on this program
are remarkably consistent in quality, without a dud in the bunch. Ponderosa
Stompers take note: Where is this man today?