Personnel: Solomon Burke (vocals); Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Patty Loveless (vocals). Soul legend Solomon Burke harbored a desire to sing country tunes ever since his early days at Atlantic, but the powers-that-be wouldn’t let their golden goose take the gamble. Four decades down the line, he finally got the opportunity, and he embraced it with open arms. Produced by twang titan Buddy Miller, NASHVILLE is the third album of Burke’s ˝comeback˝ period that began with 2002’s DON’T GIVE UP ON ME. NASHVILLE’s two predecessors found Burke tackling often ill-fitting tunes by a bevy of rockers, but taking a country turn sounds completely natural for the 66-year-old soul man. Crucial to this aesthetic success is the fact that Burke and Miller avoided the obvious dusty honky-tonk warhorses. Instead, Burke invests Tom T. Hall’s ˝That’s How I Got to Memphis˝ with stirring pathos, plays the scorned lover on Miller’s ˝Does My Ring Burn Your Finger,˝ and fills Kevin Welch’s ˝Millionaire˝ with warmth and grit. New tunes written to order by Gillian Welch and Patty Griffin keep things fresh, and guest vocals from Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton keep King Solomon squarely rooted in the NASHVILLE of his dreams.