Sam Cooke - The Greatest Soul Singer of all time IMO

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MaccaBeatles, Dec 1, 2015.

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  1. MaccaBeatles

    MaccaBeatles Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Greater London
    If he had only ever written A Change Is Gonna Come he would have a huge place cemented in history.

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    It's hard to know where to start with Sam Cooke. He's one of the most lauded voices in the history of recorded music but it is of my opinion that he is still largely misunderstood by many of those who come across him. It might be very easy to just look at him as just another singer from a bygone era of music who sang simple pop tunes like You Send Me, (What A) Wonderful World, Cupid and Twistin' The Night Away.

    It's when you visit those songs years later that it hits you as to what spectacular pieces of perfect pop they are. You listen to songs like Chain Gang, Having a Party and Another Saturday Night and you realise how far ahead of the game he was. Whats more is that all of his songs that became hits were written by him!

    There was so much more to him than a bunch of great pop singles and A Change Is Gonna Come though, his entire career is worth mining. Going all the way back to his start as a gospel shouter singing with The Soul Stirrers in the early 1950's!

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    He was just 19 years old when he joined the group, replacing the legendary R.H. Thomas who had fronted the gospel group for longer than Cooke had even been alive at that point!
    While Sam had some huge boots to fill he soon took up the challenge and recorded some smashing stuff with The Soul Stirrers, often trading vocals with the brilliant Paul Foster.

    This was their first single with Cooke in the group, Sam's voice still hasn't developed completely but he always had a certain magic in it. It just kept better from then on up:

    Jesus Gave Me Water (1951)


    Just Another Day (1952)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV-JUZCWjLg

    Nearer My God To Thee - [Live] (1955)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXt-I2bIdZE

    This one above is from a Live performance at the Shrine Auditorium in 1955. (Listen to it the whole way through on headphones if you can, your jaw might drop once Paul Foster and Sam start harmonising)
    That’s the beauty of his voice, he could go from smooth to gruff at the drop of a hat. Who knows how much rawer his later secular recordings from later on might have got had he lived even just a few more years.

    His voice was so powerful, and Sam Cooke and Paul Foster made such a good pairing that they could probably convert anyone in their vicinity to the church! As his confidence grew, so did his voice. He could literally do anything.
    By 1956 though, Sam was getting ready to move on. He was already at the top of his game, in the gospel world he was a bonafide superstar! He literally couldn't get any bigger in that genre and he knew he had to step it up. He wanted to record secular music. At the same time this was a HUGE risk to take, he knew that he was very close to alienating his entire audience base at this time, he couldn't fail at this or his career might be done for.

    The first thing he did was to leave the gospel world at the top of his game, Touch The Hem of His Garment was perhaps his finest studio recording to date.

    Touch The Hem of His Garment (1956)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Iq2SNm1iFk

    He re-wrote his previous Soul Stirrers song Wonderful, (about the joys of God) and changed it into Loveable. (about the joys of his girl) To test the waters it was released under the pseudonym, Dale Cook so as to not alienate his gospel fanbase. Afterwards though, he was fully prepared to break into the pop market under his own name

    You Send Me (1957)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6QlnlMqjE

    You Send Me got to number 1 on the charts in the US. It was a lot smoother than much of the work Sam had released to date but he knew it was the route to go with if he wanted to cross over into the mainstream.

    From then on he started racking up new singles and albums for Keen Records.

    The B-side to You Send Me-
    Summertime (1957)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWFJLUBwpSY

    Only Sixteen (1959)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANDbq0N0MzU

    What A Wonderful World (1960)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EvnhvnypcM

    However it was after joining RCA Victor in late 1960 that he REALLY got brilliant at crafting perfect pop, conceiving of some of the greatest soul and pop classics ever:

    Chain Gang (1960)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBn5aIfZElE

    Cupid (1961)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S28tILqie1o

    Twistin' The Night Away (1962)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSoPeZMHMf4

    Bring It On Home To Me (1962)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZB4jcPmFGo

    Having A Party (1962)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-5zlj49ugk

    Nothing Can Change This Love (1962)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3TkNgdUH8w

    [​IMG]

    By 1963 he had certainly racked up a wonderful catalog of songs, but tragedy struck with his infant son's drowning.
    Despite this tragic event, he saw out the year with his greatest album to date, Night Beat. As well as this he also did brilliant live concerts including what would later be released as 'Live at the Harlem Square'. (One of the greatest Live recordings ever) AND some more brilliant singles.

    (Don't Fight It) Feel It [Live] (1963)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HiTzG5FLgo

    Lost and Lookin' (1963)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR5sua82dN8

    Trouble Blues (1963)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58gDMjDbc8

    Another Saturday Night (1963)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB7Vn0OQYVs

    Little Red Rooster (1963)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCVg0NsWjmk

    Besides his music Cooke was also a very smart business man. He founded his own record company (SARS records) and his own publishing and management companies. His work with the likes of Lou Rawls, Johnnie Taylor and Bobby Womack largely got them started in the world of recorded music. Almost all of his hits were written by him, in a time when that was very unusual. There’s always been three guys that have been said to have created the soul genre, Ray Charles, James Brown and Sam Cooke. Sam did the most to popularise it during the early years by crossing over into the pop market and became almost the black equivalent of Elvis for pop audiences, getting 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964 in an era where non-white performers struggled to get airplay in many markets.

    Considering the voice he had and despite having recorded so many classic recordings, (mastering the gospel, soul and pop genres) he had so much potential left to deliver, Motown and Stax were just getting started and he was the king of soul.

    In his final year, the hits kept on coming. As far as anyone was aware, he was an unstoppable machine, cranking out hits and albums like nobodys business. Ain't That Good News would be his final album in his lifetime.

    Good Times (1964)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo8j2ameTS0

    Somebody Ease My Troublin' Mind (1964)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCE7UNm0aDs

    Then came his last single, one of the greatest singles ever released:

    The A-Side was the last song he recorded before his death, a sign of a harder more soulful direction:

    Shake (1964)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps_yYp5ZoHA

    The B-Side was previously released on his final album, but it had a special resonance on release a week or so after his death. It is often seen as not only the peak of his career but is surely THE most iconic anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. All in all, it is a monumental achievement in popular music.

    A Change Is Gonna Come (1964)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOYuhLNwh3A

    It feels incredibly unfair that his life had to be cut short after recording some of the most wonderful songs you could ever hear. What I would give to hear what musical direction he would go into. Imagine if he recorded a gritty southern soul album for example! I guess we'll never know where he could have gone, but luckily there are hundreds of great recordings available. That’s the thing about Cooke, he had absolutely unlimited potential at the time of his death. He still had a story to tell, how can someone drop something as important as A Change Is Gonna Come and have it end there? Unfathomable.

    These are some of the recordings I would recommend to anyone getting into Sam Cooke:

    If you want a single disc primer for Cooke, you can hardly go wrong with Portrait of A Legend. It contains some of the most iconic singles ever by the most legendary of all soul singers! Essential IMO.

    [​IMG]

    He also recorded a Live concert in 1963 for the ‘chitlin’ circuit', which meant no holding back for the white middle of the road audiences. (as seen on the much tamer live album he recorded at The Copa) He just cuts loose throughout and its up there with any James Brown album as one of the most electrifying life performances on record. Amazingly, it wasn’t released until decades after his death.

    Live At The Harlem Square
    [​IMG]

    When that turns out to not be enough Sam Cooke, there is always The Man Who Invented Soul containing 4 discs including both the Night Beat Album AND the Harlem Square Concert. Unfortunately this only covers his pop era from 1957-1962.

    Keep Movin' On contains the best of the final 1963-1964 recordings, and is surely seminal stuff.

    Finally, you'll need a copy of his 1951-1957 gospel recordings with the Soul Stirrers to bring it all full circle. Ideally The Complete Speciality Record Recordings is a great release to get.
    These final 3 releases will give you an extensive overview of one of the greatest, if not the greatest male vocalists that ever lived!

    Here's to my favourite singer of all time. R.I.P Sam, we miss you.

    P.S I'm not trying to make this into a competition about who the best soul singer is, If anything I mainly want to encourage those who have yet to familiarise themselves with the man to give him a listen. :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2015
  2. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    LOVE Sam, in terms of male vocalists I have him up there with Marvin, Bill Withers and Luther.
     
    MaccaBeatles likes this.
  3. Dflow

    Dflow Listening in the time of Dylan

    Great post and I could not agree with you more.
     
  4. strummer101

    strummer101 The insane on occasion aren't without their charms

    Location:
    Lakewood OH
    A true innovator, with one of the best voices to ever grace the planet.
    Nice, informative post. But with me, you're preaching to the choir!
    :edthumbs:
     
  5. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Great post, must take some time to check it all out, and listen to the box set I got a few weeks.

    I first heard him as Cousin of Mine when I was a young teenager.

    I love Twisting the Night Away!

    I consider A Change Is Gonna Come a masterpiece. It slays me that we are sometimes knocked down by our own brother :(
     
    MaccaBeatles likes this.
  6. mick_sh

    mick_sh Hackney diamond

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    A truly great post about Sam Cooke, ain't that good news?
     
    FashionBoy, Christopher B and Dflow like this.
  7. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    He was the greatest soul singer of all time, despite some serious competition and the compilation cited by the OP is one of the best (and best-sounding) comps I know of. Great songwriter, too. In fact, he could have made it as a Tony Bennett type of ballad singer, aside from the soul thing.
     
  8. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
    Hmmmmm...

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Andrew

    Andrew Chairman of the Bored

    Hard to believe a biopic has never been done about him, Will Smith would've been great casting.
     
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  10. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
    Andrew likes this.
  11. omnisonic

    omnisonic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    John B Good likes this.
  12. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music...

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    I don't know if he is the greatest but I'd have a hard time putting up an argument against.
     
    veloso2 likes this.
  13. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    Sam stands alone.

    Jerry Wexler said it best.
     
  14. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    Like my buddy Mark from Memphis used to say: "Sam Cooke sang like a bird".
     
    Hep Alien likes this.
  15. howlinrock

    howlinrock Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Great post . Sam is one of (If Not) the biggest originators of soul. The man knew how to use his vocal cords.
     
  16. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Damn near created the genre . . .
     
  17. Bunkweasal

    Bunkweasal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN
    I've had this discussion countless times through the years with a variety of peeps (and Sam is usually invoked), and my firm opinion is: Otis Redding was the single greatest American male vocalist of the 20th century. And if you have a few hours I could explain why...
     
    Hep Alien likes this.
  18. TeacFan

    TeacFan Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Arcadia, Ca.
    ..biopic..how they gonna spin this?
    Sam was just at the cusp of really breaking when he got off kilter.
     
  19. Dhreview16

    Dhreview16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Superb post.

    He is certainly up there in the soul solo vocal greats, along with the likes of Otis Redding, Al Green, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

    I wouldn't want to say which of these is best, but I prefer Otis, Al, Stevie and Marvin, who I grew up with, though Harlem Square Club is one of my favourite live albums.
     
  20. Piiijiii

    Piiijiii Hundalasiliah

    Location:
    Ruhr Area, Germany
    I agree 100%

    My favourite singer of all time.

    What a voice ... what a talent.
     
  21. MilMascaras

    MilMascaras Musicologist

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Yup, arguably the greatest natural R&B, Gospel, and Soul singer ever, in my book.
    Still spin this LP regularly whenever I feel like dancing around in my living room.

    [​IMG]

    The only downside: whenever the topic turns to his death, I intentionally steer away from the various conspiracy theories of "who" and "why" and "motives", and the "woman's character";

    and when I focus on the 'what physically happened':
    shot in a seedy motel lobby, while yelling at old lady in his underwear, because a one-night stand (or whatever) ran off with his pants and wallet…

    it's one of the few times when a beloved characters death can be labelled: "ignamonious"…

    but who am I to judge, and I don't want to rehash the 1000 different conspiracy theories of what people "think" actually happened. Only 1 person really knows, and he is dead.

    I am playing "A Change is Gonna Come" right now...
     
  22. saturdayboy

    saturdayboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    otis (and everyone else) is a student, sam was the master.
    no one else even got close.
     
  23. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    There is no greatest.
    He certainly had one of the most beautiful voices ever to sing, but there were a lot of artists during that time period who were amazing.
    He did indeed pave the road for many who came after.
    And he did something that set an example by not relying entirely on others to manage his career.
    There are just so many great soul singers from the 50s and 60s that I think Sam Cooke himself would say there is no greatest if he still inhabited the planet.
    It is very sad that he didn't live to see the rise of Soul music as a significant force of the late 60s and early 70s, something he may well have been partly responsible for.
     
    Hep Alien likes this.
  24. ronm

    ronm audiofreak

    Location:
    southern colo.
    Thats my stance.Listen to "Made for Me" and "Sad Mood"
     
  25. ruben lopez

    ruben lopez Nunc Est Bibendum

    Location:
    Barcelona Spain
    Best Soul singer ever.
     
    Adam9 likes this.
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