The Hersch Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Sam Cooke sang like an angel come down to earth. His cruelly curtailed career (shot dead in 1964 aged 33) spanned gospel, blues, rock-n-roll, and, towards the end, a kind of jazz-inflected pop that might be at home in Vegas nightclubs. Here are a couple of more-or-less rock-n-roll numbers. "You Send Me" and "Wonderful World" are better known, but I like these more: "Bring it on Home to Me" (1962) "You're Always on my Mind" (1961) Gospel recordings with the Soul Stirrers (1926-), before Sam Cooke was a pop sensation: "Jesus I'll Never Forget" (Recorded in 1954) "I'm Gonna Build Right on that Shore" (Recorded in 1951) Night-Clubby "Fool's Paradise" (Written in 1955, covered on the 1963 Album "Night Beat"): "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (Written in 1940, covered on the 1961 album, "My Kind of Blues"): As I say, one for the ages. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I once had a 2 hour drunken discussion/argument about whose voice one should want as their own in a perfect world: Sam Cooke or Otis Redding. I can't remember from which side I argued. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 I once had a 2 hour drunken discussion/argument about whose voice one should want as their own in a perfect world: Sam Cooke or Otis Redding. I can't remember from which side I argued. As one who more or less worships both of those voices, I would have to reluctantly choose Sam Cooke's. More supple, more intrinsically musical, certainly prettier. Not quite as capable of tearing you, or a song, to pieces, though. Tell you what, you be Otis and I'll be Sam. (I suspect Otis Redding would have chosen Sam Cooke's voice for himself had it been available.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seanchai Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Sam Cooke: The Man and his Music was one of the first CDs I ever purchased. Not surprisingly, Nothing Can Change This Love was my wedding song: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 "A Change Is Gonna Come" is often considered Sam Cooke's most "important" song. It was his one major intervention in the civil-rights moment, and it's a really beautiful song and he sang it really beautifully. I'm afraid I can't help cringing at the overblown, schmaltzy orchestration, and I wish he had done a different recording of it, but this is the one we have, so it's the one we must love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOYuhLNwh3A 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 "Sam Cooke: Mysteries and Scandals," Narrated by A.J. Benza: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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