"Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms)" (sometimes rendered as "Just Out of Reach (of My Two Empty Arms)") is a country song written by Virgil "Pappy" Stewart and originally recorded by his band, The Stewart Family, in 1951.
When Burke arrived for his first recording session at the Atlantic Records studio at 1841 Broadway in New York City on December 13, 1960,[2] he was given four songs, including his first Atlantic release, "Keep the Magic Working", which was a flop[3] and "Just Out Of Reach (of My Two Empty Arms)",[4] a cover of a country song written and recorded by Virgil "Pappy" Stewart,[5][6] that had been a minor hit for Faron Young in 1953 (#10 C&W),[7] and later for Patsy Cline.
Burke figured this did not portend a long future with Wexler and Atlantic: "Here’s the greatest R&B label in the world, and they give me country songs to sing.
"[8] Despite his reservations, Burke, "accompanied by smooth backing vocals and an arrangement equal parts Nashville and Nat King Cole, gave it his best.
His rich, vibrant, baritone voice brought the full majesty of the gospel tradition to a series of intense, moody ballads and laid down the solid groundwork of the soon-to-follow soul music explosion.
[13][14] Concert promoters in Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama, who were unaware that Burke was an African American, accidentally booked him to sing at Ku Klux Klan picnics and rallies, with up to 30,000 hooded Klansmen in attendance.
So they called the doctor and had him cover my face in bandages and made it look like I had an accident.
"[15][18] The song was credited as "fundamental to the emergence of soul music",[19] was "especially well received down South",[20] "successfully appealed to white consumers by using tidy tone quality, minimal improvisation, and standard, middle-American dialect", "instantly established Burke as a huge presence ... [and] "also introduced Burke's slightly country-tinged voice that melded R&B and country music and set the template that Ray Charles would follow the next year with his classic Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.
"[21] Burke "summed up the underlying connection between the musics of the black and white South: 'Gospel is the truth.
[23] Burke's version of the song was ranked number 785 among the greatest singles ever made in Dave Marsh's book The Heart of Rock & Soul (1989).