Sam Cooke may not be a household name, he may not even be the most recognizable name in R&B, but one thing is certain; he is a legend! His greatest song is by far “A Change Is Gonna Come,” which was referenced by Barack Obama in his victory speech for the Presidency, stating’ “A Change Has Come To America.” Cooke is considered to be a pioneer in the soul music revolution and played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement. Rolling Stone Magazine named him the 4th Greatest Singer of All-Time! With all his critical success, his life did not go without tragedy as he was killed in 1964.
Cooke was born in Mississippi in 1931. Although he was 1 of 8 children, he made his name in Chicago, singing in choirs and local groups. Signed to the same record label as Little Richard (Specialty Records), Cooke made a name for himself because of his voice. His first big hit was “You Send Me,” which was made most famous by Aretha Franklin. Cooke was on the highway to super-stardom. He began writing for himself and others. He began to get tired of the music industry and wondered why no one of color was at the top levels of the various recording studios. Being the innovator, Cooke started SAR Records in 1961, signing such notable acts as Johnnie Taylor and Bobby Womack.
In a short time, Cook had released 29 singles that were Top 40 hits. With all of his success, he was close to the end. Sadly, just three years later, Cooke was shot to death by a manager of the motel where Cooke was staying. There are several accounts of his death, but we won’t be dealing with speculation here. Just know that he died at the young age of 33.
Truth be told, I didn’t really know too much about Cooke until I talked with my Editor Sara! She told me her deep love for this great singer and so I did the research and presto! Hey, I’ll do anything to stay on Sara’s good side! Hear what our Little Sara had to say about Mr. Cooke: “Well, let’s see. Before I even knew I loved music in general, I loved Sam Cooke. My first introduction to him was in 5th grade. We had this eccentric Vietnam Vet P.E. teacher who was missing part of a finger and wore daisy duke shorts every day. Rain or shine. On the days that we went into the auditorium to do sit-ups and push-ups, he made it really interesting by playing old musicians over the speakers and telling us about each one. Sam Cooke definitely stood out to me. He’s the only artist that I remember him playing and the artist who I’ve been a fan of the longest!”
“I remember buying a cassette of his greatest hits when I was in about 7th grade and being really excited about it. Though my parents knew he was a good musician, they probably wondered why this 12/13 year old was so obsessed with a soul/gospel/R&B singer who had a very questionable death.” Damn Sara, who still buys tapes?
So if you don’t really know who this great artist is, please go check him out! He is truly one of the most under rated singers of the past century!
Top 5 Songs
1. Cupid
3. You Send Me
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