Customer Reviews

Night Beat

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.)

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.

... 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)

This is the definitive Sam Cooke album, which is unfortunate considering that it was released just prior to his untimely demise. It is a late-night R&B set of well-known standards with a couple of originals penned by the late great soul singer himself. Every track on this album is pure ear candy, made even more so with gorgeous remastered sound. Not only does Cooke's voice ring loud and clear through a good set of speakers, but the little instrumental nuances of the session musicians are also enhanced for greater effect, a good example being the "barks" and "howls" from Billy Preston's organ on "Little Red Rooster".

It's a real blessing to see this classic soul album reissued for the new millennium so that generations of music lovers both young and old can sample it for themselves and admire the exploits of a highly gifted, yet tragically short-lived talent.

When Norman gave me this CD to check out, he said that the perosn who gave it to him (An archivist/Photographer named Casey) Said 'This may just be the greatest Soul LP...'

Big words, and, as you can imagine, with so many contenders for the title, I decided to let the music do the talking. ANd what a rap she lays down! Sam, as the other reveiwers rightly state, is commercially known for many a soppy 'Boy meets girl' chart track, but just a look at the titles on this tells you something special lies herein. He worked with the Soul Stirrers Quartet, then crossed over to secular music, tired of the endless Gospel Highway. he knew exactly where he wanted to be, and no amount of cursing from church folk was gonna hold him back. Much the same treatment came to Ray Charles when he first fused Saturday night and Sunday morn.

It's like walking into a smokey joint downtown, the bluesy house band kicks in... but its Sam who's waltzing the mike onstage!
His voice, a perfect juxtaposition of rough and smooth.

'Nobody knows the trouble I've seen' was adopted as a standard in Jazz, and he goes right into the roots of RnB with Joe Turner's Shake, Rattle and Roll in inimitable style... and the other tunes just smoldour and groove away, no filler.

I keep playing it over and over, and in turn I love it and his voice more and more. There's a reason this cats so revered in the scene, this and the Harlem square Club live Disc are the reasons why.

Of course, this is not the 'greatest' Soul Lp. There's no such thing, only a collective and seamless whole that just evolves and mutates. It's is ONE of the greatest, though!

There are many Cd's I have from Sam Cooke, but Night Beat has in it some of the best raw juice delivered by this man. The raw bluesy sound of "Little Red Rooster" to the powerful version of "Shake Rattle and Roll" to the sultry sounds of "Another Fool". This is without a doubt one of the best introductions to this man's music there is. The songs sung here are not his pop hits that most of us know, but this album gives to us Sam Cooke's wonderful elasticity as a singer and performer. His vocal range is captured on this album like no other.

Very hard to trundle out enough superlatives for this one. The spacious, full sound of this new remastering is warm and inviting, as well it should be. Cooke's singing is uncanny, not of this world in its beauty. Funnily enough, his voice lightened
with the years: compare a 1954 side of his with one from this album (1964)and check out how his style evolved over the years, how much more subtle and understated his phrasing became. so often in his earlier work he exhibits the superb control that allows him to surge through a longish phrase, which is exhilarating. But here, in "Night Beat", his approach is more conversational, expecially in the ballads and the mid-tempo Blues numbers. He makes his breaths into caesuras, makes them an integral part of his phrasing, which makes for very compelling listening. And the band - featuring a young Billy Preston - is absolutely marvellous. Again, the pervading qualities are delicacy and precision, which is not to imply that these guys don't get into a good gut-bucket soul groove.
They swing like hell, in fact. This is, in short, a classic,
a gem. It's one of those records that transcends genre categories, simply because of the caliber of the musicianship.
Sheer artistry is the order of the day. You MUST buy this disc!

Most all of Sam's compact discs are collections of singles, or concert recordings. This is the exception, as it is an ALBUM, in the same way that Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band or the Dark Side of the Moon are albums. It flows from begining to end. Having said that, as with "Live at Harlem" , go ahead and buy the box set, as NIGHTBEAT is included in its entirety.

Sam Cooke was the greatest soul singer of his era. This album shows a different side of Sam. He sings intimately with a small combo. Many of the songs here are blues songs, but they aren't played like blues songs. These songs are more mature than Sam's hit singles, and they really are a great showcase for his voice. I recommend this album to all lovers of classic soul.

i love sam cooke's gospel recordings, and his pop music too, but for me, this album of unadorned, stripped down recordings is his best. just drums, bass, guitar, & keyboards, nothing more added, nothing more needed. sam's great voice performs subtle, sophisticated takes on classic r&b tunes such as "fool's paradise, mean old world, you gotta move, etc..." nothing overblown or overdone, everything tastefully restrained and perfect. this is a classic american recording.