Sam Cooke- Pioneer of Soul

So Sam Cooke was and is a pretty big deal. President Barack Obama appropriated a line from Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" in his acceptance speech in Hyde Park. Rolling Stone called him the #4 greatest singer of all time. I read that and wondered, "Who are the other 3? And is Robert Plant one of them?" I looked it up and the first three are actually Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Elvis. White people only come in third. That's pretty legit. Bob Dylan is number 7. I know he was an incredible, incredible songwriter but singer? Really? Number 7? In front of Otis Redding? I don't know about that. (Robert Plant is only number 15, right behind the Reverend Al Green. And Aretha Franklin is the only woman in the first 16.)

But back to Sam. As a child Sam Cooke wanted to be a preacher. I was told that he got over his stage fright by preaching to a bunch of popsicle sticks in his back yard. He was born in Mississippi but grew up in Chicago where his high school peers voted him "Most Likely to Succeed". He sang gospel with his seven siblings before joining a teenage gospel group and later, becoming the front man of the Soul Stirrers. He and his manager, Bumps Blackwell (AWESOME NAME! Bumps also oversaw the early hits of Little Richard), left Specialty Records in 1957 and launched Cooke's more secular singing career. Not just a singer, Cooke was also a producer, Civil Rights Activist and one of the first African American artists to take control of the biz side of his music. He started his own record label and publishing company.

History is cool. Sam had soul. He also excelled in both content and delivery. Its hard to hit the notes he hit and people don't often write songs like he did. The man had style. His words were simple, as in "The Hem of His Garment"

There was a woman in the bible days,
she had been sick, sick so very long

The phrase "bible days" is a little hard to pull off in all seriousness but it totally works. This line is great too

When she touched him the Savior didn't see
He turned around and cried, "somebody touched me"

Its so simple its almost silly but Sam owned it. I think big words are mostly dumb. How can you connect with everyone if they don't know what you're talking about? Everyone can get down with Sam Cooke, that's what makes his music so great.

He used repetition in a powerful way- just like preachers do- as in the use of "sick" in the song above and "river" in "A Change is Gonna Come"

I was born by the river, in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since

Sam Cooke was shot at age 33 by the manager of a motel. I would write more but there is so much controversy about his death I can't begin to speculate on what really happened.

My fav Sam Cooke Songs at the moment:

1. Touch The Hem of His Garment
2. Sad Mood
3. That's Where Its At