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SAM COOKE
Without any doubt Sam Cooke (1935-1964) has been the most popular of the late-fifties
-early-sixties rhythm 'n' blues singers. Born one of a family of eight in
Chicago, he first song publicly in his local Baptist church, at the age of nine, when he
got together with two sisters and a brother under the name of the Singing
Children. In his early teens Sam moved to another young Baptist group, coached by R.B. Robinson, the
baritone with a leading gospel group, The Soul Stirrers. When the Stirrers' lead tenor Robert Harris
retired in 1950, Som Cooke was invited to take over, and he sang with the group until 1956.
In that year producer Bumps Blackwell encouraged Sam to record same pop songs. A number
of ballads were released, of which I'll Come Running Back To You was the most
notable. Also
released in 1957 was You Send Me. The song was penned by Sam's brother, but sounded as if it
was written by the universal inarticulate teenager. The lyric consisted of little more than the line
You send me, you thrill me, honest
you do', repeated ad infinitum. Across that simple foundation Sam improvised in such a way that any
limitation in the words seemed quite beside the point. The record's success was huge. After this
initial saga of pubescent love, the young singer aimed most of his singles at the same teen-dream
audience. By the time he moved to a major label, in 1960, Sam Cooke was writing
all his own material and in the next four years he enjoyed an unbroken succession of hits,
including Wonderful World, Twistin' The Night Away, Chain Gang, and Bring It On Home To Me. One of
Sam's finest 1963 recordings was Litt/e Red Rooster- with Ray Charles on piano and Billy Preston on
organ. When-Shake reached the Top 10 early in 1965, Sam Cooke was dead. On December 10,
1964, he was gunned down in a los Angeles motel incident. Without Sam Cooke's
contribution, the soul ballad could hardly have been the major and vital current in
the popular music mainstream that it is now. Cooke's ballads became the raw material
for soul music as it emerged in the mid-sixties. Like all great singers, Sam Cooke's
artistry is about lyricism and shading and soul -as these 22 hits memorably
illustrate.
