Sam Cooke has embodied soul since his velvety voice first crooned "You Send Me" fifty years ago. When he was shot by a hotel owner six short years later, it was one of the most tragic losses in music history. Cooke had begun his career with a string of brilliant pop hits, many of which have become standards -- "Cupid," "Wonderful World," "Chain Gang," "Twistin' the Night Away," "Shake!" and "Everybody Loves to Cha-Cha-Cha" to name a few. His lesser hits like "Soothe Me" and "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day" were also excellent. Night Beat was an instantly classic album, and certainly one of the first great albums.
The real tragedy of Cooke's loss, though, is that he was just beginning to make his real contribution. Cooke's last single before he was murdered was "A Change Is Gonna-Come." Cooke was one of the first soul singers to write his own material, and "Change" was one of the first soul songs to be socially conscious and to take a political stand in its lyrics. It became an anthem of the civil rights movement and gave Cooke a legacy which has lasted ever since.
2 comments:
Great tribute to a great artist and even greater human being. I thank you on his behalf.
Erik Greene
Author, “Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family's Perspective”
www.OurUncleSam.com
Thank you very much, Erik. Sam Cooke was an amazing artist, and I really feel that he made it possible for artists like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to blossom the way they did in the early 70s.
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