"The Big Easy" has long been one of my favorite films, and my musical history knowledge is woefully deficient, so when Solomon Burke, Philly-born singer who's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, arrived onstage just now to participate in a panel for PBS' "American Masters," and was introduced as, among other things, the father of 21 and grandfather of 87, I couldn't help but think of the movie's Daddy Mention character.

Let's just say they're of a size.

Burke's here, along with such fellow legends as Ben E. King and songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, to talk about the late Ahmet Ertegun, subject of the "Masters" documentary, "Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built," which is scheduled to air in May. So we're mostly talking about Ertegun, not Burke.

But a quick check of IMDB.com confirms my suspicions: Burke was Daddy Mention.

And I now have an inkling of how he might have managed to father 21 children, as Burke's just managed to persuade a roomful of TV critics to stand and join a sing-a-long that included "Stand by Me." This is the equivalent of not only herding cats, but getting them to form a choir.

And he did it while never leaving his own chair.