Night Beat

Sam Cooke, Sadao Watanabe | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Abkco
• ASIN: B000003BCX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,078 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen

2. Lost and Lookin'

3. Mean Old World

4. Please Don't Drive Me Away

5. I Lost Everything

6. Get Yourself Another Fool

7. Little Red Rooster

8. Laughin' and Clownin'

9. Trouble Blues

10. You Gotta Move

11. Fool's Paradise

12. Shake, Rattle and Roll

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

The title implies a party record, but much of this bluesiest of Sam Cooke albums is downbeat stuff, as the master adapts the gospel standard "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," shakes his head at a "Mean Old World," and picks covers like "Trouble Blues" and "I Lost Everything." By the grace of his voice, a thousand interpretive shadings, and utterly gorgeous stripped-down arrangements, Cooke never loses himself or the listener in despair. Still, this is serious stuff. Fans of Aretha Franklin's Atlantic days and Frank Sinatra's at Capitol will cherish this reissue. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

Japanese pressing has been remastered. RCA. 2006. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sam Cooke: Classic Late Night Soul , Best-Ever Sound, March 13, 2006

By 

J P Ryan (Waltham, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Beat (Dig) (Audio CD)

As the late, great critic Robert Palmer wrote in the liner notes to the 1995 edition of "Night Beat," this beautiful album is something of an anomaly in Sam Cooke's career, which evolved from the Soul Stirrers' classic gospel through a series of mostly terrific hit singles (see "The Man and His Music") and a pair of very different live albums (get the "Harlem Square Club" set) and his own record label (which issued sides by Bobby Womack and the Valentinos, Johnnie Taylor, and many others, collected on the excellent "SAR Records Story"). Until shortly before his death in December 1964 the market for Cooke's music would have been almost exclusively a singles market, but by then the artist had become aware of Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, and as "Night Beat" reveals would certainly have adapted to the emerging emphasis on the album as artistic statement.
"Night Beat" was recorded over several sessions in February 1963, with a small group including guitarists Rene Hall, Barney Kessell, and Clif White, the legendary West Coast drummer Hal Blaine, organist Billy Preston and pianist Ray Johnson.
The material combines original adaptations of r & b and blues classics as well as new material by Cooke and longtime partner/mentor J.W. Alexander. Cooke's musical and vocal conception is utterly fresh and original, so this is never quite a blues set nor a soul album in any conventional sense. What it remains more than forty years after Cooke's death is compelling and hauntingly intimate. "Night Beat" has a timeless aspect, even more than some of the artist's finest pop single productions, and more than hints at the emotional depth that would dazzle and resonate so convincingly on "A Change Is Gonna Come" (from his 1964 album "Ain't That Good News"). "Night Beat" is to my ears Cooke's most consistent studio work.
Others have complained about this marvelous 2005 master. In fact, the tape hiss is evident simply because it IS such a fine transfer (by Bob Ludwig, who also did a superlative job on the Rolling Stones' Abkco and Virgin remasters). To remove it, as was done on the 'cleaner' 1995 edition, would also remove and distort subtle musical and vocal information. I wholeheartedly recommend the 2005 edition, a great improvement over the earlier CD. You will be in the room with Sam and his fine band. (And, as a bonus all of the artwork from the original front cover has been restored as well.)

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent late-night soul, November 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Night Beat (Audio CD)

First of all, it is wonderful to see that this classic soul album is back in print. I had to search for quite some time to find it, so its return will make it easily available to soul fans new and old.

This album is widely hailed as Sam Cooke's most intimate, soulful piece of work. It is miles apart from his pop-oriented, somewhat fluffy (but still wonderful in their own way) hits that most people instantly would recognize (Wonderful World, Cupid, etc.). Instead, the songs here return to Cooke's gospel and R&B roots--raw emotion, passion, and conviction to go with his trademark melliflous tones. Cooke is surrouned by a marvelous band (including Billy Preston on organ) whose accompaniment provides minimal, but always tasteful instrumentation. Cooke's vocal performance is astounding technically and often deeply moving throughout. The songs are rock solid, and the performance captivating.

If you are new to soul music, this cd would be highly recommended as a great place to begin building a collection. If you are a fan of soul and R&B, it's simply an essential purchase.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Sam Cooke = ESSENTIAL music, April 16, 2008

By 

Andre Heeger (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Beat (Dig) (Audio CD)

... I would prefer to shut up and just have you listen to this (but then you wouldn't have a review, so here we go).
There never was and probably never will be another singer like Sam Cooke. His terrific voice, his unsurpassed ability to bring feelings across, even in those pre-video days, pre surround and what not days, just through old radios and vinyl, is pure genius.
This album has "just" 12 songs, a few musicians and then of course The Voice, Sam Cooke. As the title suggests, mostly slow tunes, somewhere between blues and gospel, with a piano (or organ) as main support. Sam never needed more. A very personal recording, as if sung just for you.
Sam Cooke knew exactly what he wanted and as far as I can judge he was his own best critic.
Barney Kessel on guitar, Ray Johnson piano, Billy Preston organ, Clifford Hill bass, Hal Blaine drums.
This blew Ray Charles away - you need better advice? Get it!!!

(one small note on the different editions: as long as you buy one that has 12 songs and Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen as a first and Shake Rattle And Roll as the last you're on the safe side. I have both the 01 and the 05 edition. One has a little more tape hiss and the other one a slightly less prominent instrumentation. Personally I prefer the 05 one mastered by Bob Ludwig)