Solomon Burke

Soul legend Solomon Burke has died. Everyone will spend the day rightfully talking about how awesome a singer and writer he was, but I always think of popcorn and sandwiches when I here his name :)

"Once, Solomon Burke was playing at the Apollo and Old Man Schiffman, who ran it, called me up and said ,"You know were having problems with Solomon - Can you talk to him? I said, "What's the matter?" He said, "He's selling popcorn between shows, walking up and down the aisles with 'Dr. Solomon's Magic Popcorn'.  We have a concessionaire who has the exclusive for popcorn in the theatre."  So I called Solomon over and said, "Solomon, you can't sell popcorn in this theatre, as they have a contract with this guy, and anyway, it looks terrible - you're the star of the show and you're walking up and down the aisles selling popcorn."  Then he looks kinda sideways at me and says, "Okay, it's exclusive popcorn." I said "Yeah popcorn, hot dogs, they're exclusive."  He says, "Have they got a pork shop sandwich concession?"  I said, "I don't think so."  the next thing I know, he's got a little hotplate set up backstage, and he's frying up this food and selling Dr'Solomon's amazing pork chop sandwiches."

Hendrix was in Burke's group back when the only lucrative opportunities for African-American musicians were on the "chiltin' circuit" of roadhouses in the deep South. This period gave rise to one of the greatest stories in the Burke canon: the tale of how he made extra money selling sandwiches to other performers on the tour bus.

"Yeah, it's true," he laughs softly. Burke says his sideline began when he realized that black musicians in the South couldn't get served in restaurants: He began bringing extra food on the road to sell to his fellow performers. "The farther we'd get on the road, the more the sandwiches would cost," he laughs. "I'd say, 'These sandwiches were $1.50 four hours ago, but now they are $5."