It was 40 years ago today

[skeith]

One of my all time favorite singers!!

[ghost of miles]

Looking forward to reading Peter Guralnick's bio when it eventually comes out.

[JSngry]

Those who only know his Top 40 hits don't know Sam Cooke, not even slightly.

[Alexander]

Those who only know his Top 40 hits don't know Sam Cooke, not even slightly.

Well, except for "A Change is Gonna Come." That song IS Sam Cooke.

[ghost of miles]

One of my faves--hard to track down--is TRIBUTE TO THE LADY, aka SINGS THE BILLIE HOLIDAY STORY. Pretty sure it was one of the earliest Holiday tributes to come out, even before Johnny Griffin's WHITE GARDENIA (well, I guess Webster Young's FOR LADY beats them all, being released two years before Holiday died). NIGHT BEAT and LIVE AT THE HARLEM SQUARE are others I play quite a lot, now available as part of the 4-CD RCA Cooke box (THE MAN WHO INVENTED SOUL, which also contains several songs from the Holiday record).

I know we've been panicking a lot about Fantasy lately, but it's likely they'll keep their 3-CD Cooke/Soul Stirrers box in print.

Edited December 11, 2004 by ghost of miles

[vibes]

I'd never even heard of Sam Cooke until recently, and have never heard any of his songs, other than small samples online. Even with this limited experience, I decided to pick up two Sam Cooke SACD's I saw at Best Buy. I'll have to open them up and give them a listen.

[J.A.W.]

Those who only know his Top 40 hits don't know Sam Cooke, not even slightly.

Well, except for "A Change is Gonna Come." That song IS Sam Cooke.

Very true.

[danasgoodstuff]

I'll pile one here and agree that Sam's demise was, indeed, a great loss for American music as a whole. Neat Beat is, IMHO, 11/12 superb: "Shake Rattle and Roll" doesn't work in this context for me - another Charles Brown number (in addition to the several already there) would've been more in keeping with the late night mood. Again, IMHO, not all of Sam's renditions of standards work, but one I particularly like is his version of "These Foolish Things". Whatever happened to his brother L.C. (also a singer)?

[JSngry]

Those who only know his Top 40 hits don't know Sam Cooke, not even slightly.

Well, except for "A Change is Gonna Come." That song IS Sam Cooke.

Stipulated, and gladly so.

But for those who only know the hits, and get grabbed by that one, there's a LOT more digging to do!

[JSngry]

If one does not care to explore the Gospel side of Sam Cooke, one at least owes it to one's self to get this puppy,

which shows the hits played in a way that they weren't on the record, for an audience that knew better than to take those hits at face value.

[J.A.W.]

[ghost of miles]

If one does not care to explore the Gospel side of Sam Cooke, one at least owes it to one's self to get this puppy,

which shows the hits played in a way that they weren't on the record, for an audience that knew better than to take those hits at face value.

Yes indeedy, with the added bonus of one Mr. King Curtis on tenor saxophone.

[John L]

Those who only know his Top 40 hits don't know Sam Cooke, not even slightly.

Well, except for "A Change is Gonna Come." That song IS Sam Cooke.

I would add a few others as well. "Bring it on Home to Me" is my personal favorite song, not just of Sam Cooke but any singer. Then we have Good Times, That's Where It's At, Having a Party, Shake, and a few others.

But there is much too little Sam Cooke, period. His murder was one of the most tragic events in music history. There was so much more to come. Sam had reached full artistic maturity and just obtained the artistic freedom from RCA that he needed. He was set to create the greatest soul music of all time. A Change is Gonna Come was just the beginning...and the end.

RIP Sam Cooke

[skeith]

I'm in a Sad Mood tonight

I'm in a sa-ad mo-od