Solomon's Dream

Solomon Burke - I Have a Dream

On this King Day, I pause to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. It's particularly of interest to me today, considering that as the election cycle has started to determine who the next President of the United States will be, the two strongest Democratic contenders are an African-American and a woman, a sign that change is still in the air and that progress is still ongoing.

Today's "I Have a Dream redux" selection was the title track for Solomon Burke's 1974 Dunhill LP. According to Burke, he wrote the song while he was an MGM act with Donny Osmond in mind, but when he changed labels he took the song with him. Truthfully, I'm glad that Burke did it and not Osmond! No disrespect to the Osmonds, who made some fine records, but Burke's reading of the song is great and the song's message rings through in a way that I don't think it would otherwise.

(CORRECTION - Thanks to Candy for putting me on the right track on this; Donny Osmond did record "I Have a Dream." The Burke interview I had read made it seem like Osmond hadn't recorded it.)