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Sam Cooke


daslied

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I did a search, and can’t believe there isn’t a thread about him already. Please feel free to add your comments, or more of his history, which is shamefully forgotten these days.

Sam started in gospel (The Soul Stirrers), thrived in pop/early soul (“Cupidâ€, “You Send Meâ€, “Twisting The Night Awayâ€) and made important social statements (“A Change Is Gonna Comeâ€), all in the span of about 15 years. He appealed to a large white audience without alienating his core black audience, which was an amazing feat nearly 50 years ago. He owned his songs, and encouraged other black artists to do the same, and signed many future talents (Johnnie Taylor, Billy Preston) to his record label. He also dealt with the tragedy of losing a child in a drowning accident.

We all know about his death, though there is still a cloud of mystery above it. Today I heard a recap of his death, and it was chilling. Apparently he was in an altercation with a hotel manager and a prostitute, and he didn’t back down when he was physically threatened. He told his wife “They’re not gonna kill me – I’m Sam Cooke.†She responded with “To them, you’re just another n*gger.†His death was never really properly investigated, compared to recent similar events involving people of his stature. A great, great talent cut down because of racism at the age of 33.

Anyway, my all-time favorite has to be “Bring It On Home To Meâ€, which is the most soulful thing I have ever heard. Pair that with the greatest live album ever recorded, “Live At The Harlem Square Club 1963â€, and you have the beginnings of soul music.

Sam Cooke was the most important soul singer in history — he was also the inventor of soul music, and its most popular and beloved performer in both the black and white communities. Equally important, he was among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of the music business, and founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. Yet, those business interests didn't prevent him from being engaged in topical issues, including the struggle over civil rights, the pitch and intensity of which followed an arc that paralleled Cooke's emergence as a star — his own career bridged gaps between black and white audiences that few had tried to surmount, much less succeeded at doing, and also between generations; where Chuck Berry or Little Richard brought black and white teenagers together, James Brown sold records to white teenagers and black listeners of all ages, and Muddy Waters got young white folkies and older black transplants from the South onto the same page, Cooke appealed to all of the above, and the parents of those white teenagers as well — yet he never lost his credibility with his core black audience. – All Music Guide

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Spectacular thread, das. I love Sam. Here is the entire allmusic review for those interested. His body of work is amazing...from gospel to pop to soul. He had one of the smoothest voices I have ever heard. I adore "You Send Me", "Cupid" and my song of the moment, “Wonderful Worldâ€.

Don’t know much about geography

Don’t know much trigonometry

Don’t know much about ALGEBRA

Don’t know what a slide rule is for

But I do know one and one is two

And if this one could be with you

What a wonderful world this would be.

His “answer†song to Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind†was the amazing “A Change is Gonna Comeâ€, which was regarded as one of the anthems of the civil rights movement. The song was covered by everyone from Otis Redding to Aretha Franklin to my man Al Green.

I was born by the river

In a little tent

And just like the river

I've been running ever since

It's been a long, long time coming

But I know a change is gonna come

Oh, yes it is

It's been too hard living

But I'm afraid to die

I don't know what's up there beyond the sky

It's been a long, long time coming

But I know a change is gonna come

Oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother

I say brother help me please

But he winds up knocking me

Back down on my knees

There's been times that I thought

I wouldn't last for long

But now I think I'm able to carry on

It's been a long, long time coming

But I know a change is gonna come

Oh, yes it will

:bow: :bow: :bow:

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Sam Cooke is my wife's (and mine) favorite soul singer. We have an extensive collection of his records and a few CD's.

Try finding some of his albums on CD so that you can hear his great songs that were not mainstream hits (or were not released as singles). Lots of gems like Loveable, Sad Mood, For Sentimental Reasons (Joann's favorite), Trouble In Mind, Soothe Me, Love Will Find A Way, Baby Won't You Please Come Home, Get Yourself Another Fool, I Don't Want To Cry (excellent), Smoke Rings, I'll Come Running Back To You, Just For You (dy-no-mite!), Nothing Can Change This Love, That's All I Need To Know, When A Boy Falls In Love, and so many more.

Of course you can't go wrong with his many hits either.

As for the story of his death, I remember quite clearly how it was reported at the time. Cooke took a young woman (perhaps a prostitute) to a motel. While in their room a dispute erupted. The girl grabbed Sam's clothes and ran from the room to the motel office. Cooke, with nothing to conceal himself but his sportcoat ran after her. The manager had locked the door at the girl's pleading. When Cooke banged on the door the manager (a woman) shot him dead through the glass door. I've never heard anything clearer on the story. No charges were ever filed against anyone. Strange.

Those of you who like soul music yet have never heard Sam Cooke are in for a wonderful discovery if you give him a listen. You'll be hooked. Check out his friend Lou Rawls sometime soon, too.

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I just love this thread... :) I never knew much about Sam Cooke, never had any of his records (maybe a Best Of which disappeared) and I´m wondering how comes I never payed much attention to him. I remember my aunt had some of his records when I was a kid, he was very handsome. Of course I like him but somehow he´s missing among my classics...

I will buy a Best Of tomorow, when the shops are open.

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Well edna, Sam Cooke's been dead for over 40 years so lots of people missed out on him unless they listened to the "black stations" on the radio or to Oldies stations today.

Were you living in Europe in the late 50's, early 60's? He was quite big there. As a matter of fact he wrote one of his biggest hits while in his London hotel room during a gig there. "Another Saturday Night" (later covered in the 70's by Cat Stevens) was inspired by his being in a strange town with no friends or "companionship".

Indeed buy that hits CD. You won't regret it.

I meant to mention earlier that Sam was adept at singing any kind of music. For example, his covers of old standards were terrific.

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Thank you all for this thread... I lived in South America in the sixties but anyways, I´m supposed to know a little bit more than what I read... ;)

There´s so much good things to discover...

I just found a tape... "Lonely teardrops", "bring it on home to me", "Cupid", "You send me", etc... it must have been there for twenty years as it´s an old tape. Some best of... yet I´ll have to look for the original records...

Edited by Guest
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