Glossary entry for
Cooke, Sam
From Sam Cooke's entry in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
Considered by many to be the definitive soul singer, Sam Cooke (January 2,
1931 - December 11, 1964) blended sensuality and spirituality, sophistication
and soul, movie-idol looks and gospel-singer poise. His warm, confessional voice
won him a devoted gospel following as lead singer for the Soul Stirrers and sent
"You Send Me," one of his earliest secular recordings, to the top of the pop and
R&B charts in 1957. It was the first of 29 Top Forty hits for the Chicago-raised
singer, who was one of eight sons born to a Baptist minister.
From age 15 to 21, Cooke served as lead vocalist for the Soul Stirrers. His
first solo successes came on the Keen label, for which he recorded "You Send
Me," "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" and "Wonderful World," among others.
In 1960 Cooke signed with RCA, where his hits included "Chain Gang," "Cupid,"
"Another Saturday Night" and "Twistin' the Night Away." A versatile singer who
never really settled on a style, Cooke tackled everything from sophisticated
balladry and lighthearted pop to finger-popping rock and roll and raw, raspy
rhythm & blues.
Tragically, Cooke was shot to death at a Los Angeles motel on December 11th,
1964, under mysterious circumstances.
In addition to his "namecheck" of Cooke in "Real, Real Gone", Van has covered a number
of Sam Cooke's songs over the years, including "Bring It On Home" on the live
Too Late To Stop Now
Here are some Sam Cooke recommendations from Van-L list member
Mark Watt:
Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
is an absolutely amazing live album and it
shows how restrained Sam Cooke was for much of the time during his
middle-of-the-road pop tenure at RCA. For every Cooke classic on RCA like
"You Send Me," "Twisting the Night Away," "Bring It on Home," and "A Change is
Gonna Come" (released posthumously), there's about 3 pop-tunes that are
suffocating in strings and choking on bubblegum like "Everybody Likes to
Cha-Cha-Cha." It wasn't Sam's fault -- his RCA producers Hugo and Luigi made
him do it. (Elvis was in the same kind of RCA hit-maker straitjacket that
Colonel Parker measured out for him.)
For more of the real Sam Cooke, check out an album called
Night Beat
that he
recorded "after hours" in the studio with a small combo of musicians,
including Billy Preston. And don't miss his very early recordings as the lead
singer of The Soul Stirrers, the legendary gospel singing group. Sam didn't
sing pure gospel for very long -- the men didn't know why he left gospel, but
the little girls understood!
More information available at:
Van references in:
- "Real Real Gone"
(on Enlightenment)
- "Real Real Gone"
(on The Philosophers Stone)
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