When I Fall In Love
Releases
Songs:
Liner Notes
There are a few misconceptions about Sam Cooke among people who only know of him by posthumous reputation and the half-dozen of his hit singles most frequently replayed, or revived by other singers, since his death.
There are as many unanswered questions about the life and death of Sam Cooke among people who are familiar with the A-Z of his recording career and how it fits into the overall map of post-war popular music, but who never knew the man, what he was thinking, or how much of him was guiding and how much riding the changes in his career.
As one of the latter breed I can't answer the oustanding questions but I’ll try to put him in perspective and have a stab at the misconceptions.
For instance Sam was dubbed 'Mr. Soul,' The Man Who Invented Soul' and assorted other soulful sobriquets, and it is well known that he was immensely influential on a great many Soul artists ofthe'60s- most famously Otis Redding, although he was just the best publicized example of a wealth of talent that included Bobby Womack, Johnnie Taylor, Johnny Nash, Arthur Conley… I won't go on, we'll be here all night. Oh, and white stars of the same vintage too, of course -particularly Rod Stewart, who doubtless plays his collection of Sam Cooke records every night but still wakes up with the same old throat trouble every morning.
The point is, Soul Music of the '60s is mainly thought of as very gutsy, very virile, very removed from Tin Pan Alley pop, either brash up tempo raving with lots of "gotta-gottas" and sweating, or tormented dirges with lots of on-the-knees wailing. And sweating. And very fine too in its way, we could do with a bit more of it around today. However, Sam Cooke, who influenced a lot of these 60s sweaters and outclassed them al I, he was something else altogether. He could certainly put on a dynamic show when called upon to do so (like winning over theatres full of hard-core rock 'n' roll fans during a British tour with Little Richard in 1962) and a few of his later hit singles were moderately noisy affairs. But for the most of his career he was the kind of performer that would now be called a Middle-Of- The-Road artist, with as much in common with Nat 'King' Cole and Frank Sinatra as he had with Otis Redding and the like.
At least, a high percentage of his recordings were MOR and were marketed as much to the cabaret set as they were to 'the kids'- end therein lies one of the big unanswered questions about Cooke. Having swopped from gospel to pop, did he then set out to conquer mainstream Show Biz, only writing and recording pop/soul-style singles on the side because they turned out to be more lucrative? Or was he persuaded to court the Vegas/Copacabana crowds against his better judgement, only managing to break away from those restrictions shortly before he was shot dead on December 11, 1964? Or are bath extremes melodramatic, the truth being simply that he rolled with the punches concentrating on whatever seemed like the best idea at the time?
Like I said, I don't know. What I do know is that, whatever kind of material he tackled, he had the most astoundingly pure, soulful, moving voice of any popular singer I've ever heard. So although a lot of the songs and arrangements on this album may not fit any of the generally recognised definitions of Soul Music, they are graced by The Voice that is still remembered with something approaching awe by so many of his successors.
Sam Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on January 2, 1931, but raised in Chicago, where his father Charles became a preacher. Inevitably Sam started singing in church and by the ripe old age of 9 had formed a gospel group called 'The Singing Children' with his brother and two sisters. While still in high school he joined the newly formed Highway QC's at the invitation of the group's organiser, who was a member of the top gospel team of the era, the Soul Stirrers: Formed in 1935, The Soul Stirrers' have been largely credited with leading the change away from traditional jubilee singing to the wild, sanctified gospel style that spilled into the secular world end mixed with blues roots in the 50s (Ray Charles, Little Richard, James Brown) to farm the basis of the boisterous side of '60s Soul Music. However, The Soul Stirrers' never went all the way down that road.
Original lead singer and influential stylist R. H. Harris left the group because he became disillusioned with the antics of many of their contemporaries, and when 20-year-old Sam moved up a league to replace him in January 1951, the young protege retained much of the calm, dignified gospel style that inspired 'sweet' soul vocal groups, although he was a lot more lively than his predecessor.
Sam led 'The Soul Stirrers' for over six years, writing and arranging an increasing amount of the group's material (including "Nearer To Thee'; "Be With Me Jesus" and "Touch The Hem Of His Garment") and becoming the first pop-type idol and sex symbol of gospel music, attracting hordes of swooning teenage girls wherever he performed. It's hardly surprising that he eventually succumbed to the temptations of the big bad world of popular music.
He was aided and abetted in his decision to 'cross over' by J. W. Alexander, an ex-gospel singer himself, who had turned entrepreneur to help and produce other gospel groups. It was Alexander who had secured 'The Soul Stirrers' recording contract with Specialty Records of Los Angeles and as A&R man for the label it was he who persuaded the company boss, Art Rupe, to let Sam try a pop song. Alexander remained a close friend and business associate of Cooke until the end.
Sam's first pop record was a tentative affair to say the least. Produced by Specialty's chief rock 'n' roll producer Bumps Blackwell, "Lovable': a lilting beat-ballad, was a straight rewrite of one of Sam's recordings with 'The Soul Stirrers: "Wonderful” It couldn't have been more obvious who the singer was. Yet it was issued under the name Dale Cook in a coy attempt not to offend his gospel audience.
Needless to say the subterfuge didn't work and it wasn't long, before Sam was ex-communicated by the bulk of his once loyal following. Hell hath no fury like the wrath of the self-righteous. Unfortunately the record didn't exactly set the pop world afire either. A follow-up single fared no better and led to an argument over Sam's career between Rupe and Blackwell that resulted in Bumps buying Cooke's contract from Specialty. The next recording session yielded "You Send Me': which was placed with another LA label, Keen, - and by October 1957 it was No. 1 on bath the pop and R&B charts of America, with reputed sales of about 21/2 million.
Sam's two year tenure with Keen yielded seven more pop/R&B hit singles, five of which were originally released in Britain on the HMV label and are included here: "Win Your Love For Me" (Aug '58), "Love You Most Of AII" (Dec '58), "Everybody Likes To Cha Cha Cha"
(March '59), "Only Sixteen" (July '59) and "There I've Said It Again" (Nov '59). During the same period he recorded five albums of diverse 'standards' (plus a gospel L.P.), from which the balance of this compilation has been selected. Mainly if not exclusively produced by
Bumps Blackwell, as mentioned before they were designed to introduce Sam to the upmarket nightclub circuit and now showcase a side of the man that is little remembered.
Even after Sam left Keen to sign with the more powerful RCA corporation he continued to record in much the same vein for album tracks, and only a few months before his death he appeared for a second time and was recorded live at the Copacabana, mixing a few of his hits with niterie favourities like "Bill Bailey" and "If I Had A Hammer'
Sam Cooke was a prolific songwriter, the first black teen idol of gospel and pop music, one of the first black artists to own, with Alexander, a music publishing company (Kags) and record labels (Sar and Derby), he was a considerable influence on the gospel-to-soul process, for although a few had travelled the route before him, a torrent followed in the wake of his success, and his voice, personality and stature in the black community was a major inspiration to his successors.
Mostly unheard for many years now, these recordings are as much a part of his story as his more commonly remembered hits.
CLIFF WHITE