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Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 [Original recording remastered]

Sam CookeAudio CD
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (171 customer reviews)

Price: $10.19 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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MP3 Music, 31 Songs, 2005 $9.99  
Audio CD, Original recording remastered, 2003 $10.19  

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Touch The Hem Of His Garment 2:01Album Only
listen  2. Lovable 2:24Album Only
listen  3. You Send Me 2:42Album Only
listen  4. Only Sixteen 2:01Album Only
listen  5. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons 2:37Album Only
listen  6. Just For You 2:18$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  7. Win Your Love For Me 2:45Album Only
listen  8. Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha 2:41Album Only
listen  9. I'll Come Running Back To You 2:12Album Only
listen10. You Were Made For Me 2:53$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen11. Sad Mood 2:38Album Only
listen12. Cupid 2:36Album Only
listen13. (What A) Wonderful World 2:06Album Only
listen14. Chain Gang 2:34Album Only
listen15. Summertime 2:20Album Only
listen16. Little Red Rooster 2:52Album Only
listen17. Bring It On Home To Me 2:42Album Only
listen18. Nothing Can Change This Love 2:36Album Only
listen19. Sugar Dumpling 2:42$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen20. (Ain't That) Good News 2:28$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen21. Meet Me At Mary's Place 2:41$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen22. Twistin' The Night Away 2:41Album Only
listen23. Shake 2:50$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen24. Tennessee Waltz 3:09$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen25. Another Saturday Night 2:40$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen26. Good Times 2:26$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen27. Having A Party 2:35Album Only
listen28. That's Where It's At 2:35$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen29. A Change Is Gonna Come 3:11$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen30. Jesus Gave Me Water 2:29Album Only
listen31. Soul (Hidden Track)0:32$0.99  Buy MP3 


Amazon's Sam Cooke Store

Music

Image of album by Sam Cooke

Photos

Image of Sam Cooke

Biography

Sam Cooke, the son of Reverend Charles Cook, Sr., (a Baptist minister) and Annie May Cook was born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1933. He had four brothers and three sisters - Willie, Charles Jr., L.C., David, Mary, Hattie and Agnes.

Sam graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in 1948, where he distinguished himself as an ... Read more in Amazon's Sam Cooke Store

Visit Amazon's Sam Cooke Store
for 68 albums, 4 photos, discussions, and more.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Buy a CD or a vinyl record, get a $1 Amazon MP3 Credit. Limit one promotional credit per customer. Here's how (restrictions apply)
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Frequently Bought Together

Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 + The Very Best of Otis Redding + Sam Cooke - Greatest Hits
Price for all three: $25.78

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (June 17, 2003)
  • Original Release Date: 2003
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording remastered
  • Label: Abkco
  • ASIN: B00009N1ZV
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,283 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The greatest single-disc Sam Cooke collection ever, 30 tracks in SACD sound! Includes You Send Me; Chain Gang; Twistin' the Night Away; Shake; Little Red Rooster; Good Times; (What a) Wonderful World; Another Saturday Night; Cupid; Only Sixteen; A Change Is Gonna Come; Having a Party , and more career highlights. Indispensable!

Customer Reviews

This CD of Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964, is a great compilation of his work. D. Jackson  |  27 reviewers made a similar statement
My favorite song is "A Change is Gonna Come". Lawanda J. Edmond  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
All of the songs are good, many are great and the overall quality of the recording is fine. J. Carey  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
127 of 131 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Compilation of a Real Legend's Body of Work November 19, 2004
Format:Audio CD
The word legend is tossed around too casually today. It seems to be applied in liberal doses even to one-hit wonders. Sam Cooke, and his body of exquisite work, is one performer truly deserving of the title legend. This CD, "Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend" does a fine job in putting the best of Sam in one CD.

There are quite a few Sam Cooke compilations out there but I think this one does as good a job as any in actually providing a portrait that extends beyond just his better known hits. Cooke, the son of a preacher and like many of his fellow 'soul-singers' started his career in Gospel. Cooke's gospel roots are evident in many of his great hits, including Bring it on Home to Me and A Change is Gonna Come. However, most Cooke compilations do not contain selections of his time as a lead singer with the Soul Stirrers, a Gospel Group.

This CD starts off with Touch the Hem of His Garment. This beautiful Gospel tune, written by Cooke, provides a nice entry point for the popular hits that follow. Those hits, including You Send Me, Only Sixteen, Shake, Twistin the Night Away, and Another Saturday Night are included in the compilation.

Although his upbeat tunes remain fresh and enjoyable, I think Cooke is at his best when he reaches down and evokes the more somber notes, when the blues begin to mix in with his soul. His Sad Mood remains a beautifully moving piece. Equally compelling is Bring it on Home to Me. His long time friend Lou Rawls provides the harmony and the call and refrain of the song evoke Cooke's earlier gospel work.

Equally stunning is Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come.
... Read more ›
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93 of 98 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful Songs And Stories Cooked Up On Essential Hits Set September 15, 2003
Format:Audio CD
This 30-song, one disc collection is Sam Cooke's most lovingly presented and essential single disc released to date. It builds on his 2LP "Man and His Music," itself a revelation when released in the mid-1980s. This set tops it due to remastered sound (this CD has a layer playable in Sony's SACD format), and R&B scholar/author Peter Guralnick's detailed liner notes. Guralnick, author of several books on Southern rock and soul, examines the roots of all 30 songs, performers backing and dueting with Cooke, his inspirations for writing and singing them.

This is important because Sam Cooke's songwriting and storytelling skills are as much his legacy as his Gospel music beginnings, his mysterious, untimely 1964 murder, and his influence on Steve Perry (whose "Lovin' Touchin', Squeezin" was a Cooke tribute of sorts), Rod Stewart (who claimed he listened only to Cooke records for two whole years as a teen), Terrence Trent D'Arby and a generation's rock and R&B singers.

Cooke's chart hits are here, except for the relatively minor "Soothe Me" and "Frankie & Johnny." You get his gentle, intricate vocal trills on his first singles for the Keen in the 1950s (1957's #1 "You Send Me," "Wonderful World," "Cupid"). You get his rethinks of country, blues, even pop standards ("Tennessee Waltz" becomes a gospel rave up; "Little Red Rooster" a slow churn blues with a teenage Billy Preston's extra cheesy organ, "Summertime" a vocal showcase with offbeat rhythm and guitar). Finally, you get Cooke's rollicking humor and detailed lyrics on his dance hits ("Shake," the dancers' garb and moves in "Twistin' the Night Away," the hip DJ requests in "Havin' A Party.")

Guralnick refers often to Cooke's phrasing, which found soul and poetry approximating daily speech....

"Portrait" set is bookended with Cooke leading Gospel's legendary Soul Stirrers for two songs. They not only define soul's gospel roots but showed Cooke sang a great Bible story as easily as from a cha-cha crowded dance floor, highway prison road gang, or lonely room. For more, reach for his dark, mellow "Night Beat" or the "Man Who Invented Soul" multi-disc. Ultimately, "Portrait" underrates itself; it's more like a small, soulful slice-of=life gallery from one of music's seminal artists. Read more ›

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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The best Sam Cooke disc currently in-print June 17, 2003
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
There's no track listing, and the disc is due out today. Luckily, I've got a promo:

1. Touch the Hem of His Garment
2. Lovable
3. You Send Me
4. Only Sixteen
5. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
6. Just For You
7. Win Your Love For Me
8. Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha
9. I'll Come Running Back to You
10. You Were Made For Me
11. Sad Mood
12. Cupid
13. (What a) Wonderful World
14. Chain Gang
15. Summertime
16. Little Red Rooster
17. Bring it on Home to Me

18. Nothing Can Change This Love
19. Sugar Dumpling
20. (Ain't That) Good News
21. Meet Me at Mary's Place
22. Twistin' the Night Away
23. Shake
24. Tennesse Waltz
25. Another Saturday Night
26. Good Times
27. Having a Party
28. That's Where It's At
29. A Change is Gonna Come
30. Jesus Gave Me Water

Remember "Man and His Music"? This basically takes its place. The sound is excellent (this SACD hybrid will play on both SACD and CD players so don't worry about it), far better than "Man and His Music," and the track selection is better. A bit more thorough with a few more tracks, it drops a few of the lighter, lesser tracks for some stronger ones like "Jesus Gave Me Water," "Little Red Rooster," "Summertime," and "Sugar Dumpling," which also paint a more complete picture of Cooke; "Rooster" is a great late-night blues number, and I highly recommend "Night Beat," the great Cooke album from which it came. I wish they kept "Soothe Me"; Sam & Dave and Cooke's proteges, the Simm Twins, did better renditions, but Cooke wrote the song, and he still recorded a very fine version....

It's not the only Cooke album I'd get. Besides "Night Beat," I'd also get "Live at Harlem Square" and "Keep Movin' On." If you've got the cash, the four-disc RCA set is also worth getting (and if you get that, you'll get "Night Beat" and "Live at Harlem Square" complete on one disc).

Your first stop for Cooke, the only stop if you're on a budget or simply want just one CD (and deny yourself the further pleasure of hearing the other albums I mentioned). Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars great
truly a legend in is time. best singer ever. must have by everyone. there's really nothing much else to be said.
Published 6 days ago by Rathael G. Fambro
2.0 out of 5 stars songs
very disappointed in this cd. Not very many of the good songs on it, Very poor choice to purchase it. Not worth the investment
Published 9 days ago by Mike Craig
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it.
If you love Sam Cooke you will definately like this. Would definitely recommend to a classic r&b music lover. Five stars
Published 19 days ago by K. Parsons
5.0 out of 5 stars Really great compilation!
This CD is wonderful. It's perfect for enjoying those warm summer nights on the patio. There's nothing like a little Sam Cooke while relaxing with a glass of wine.
Published 1 month ago by Kimberly J. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Sam Cooke
What's not to LOVE! What a musician. It is a exceptional collection of timely music! I hightly recommed the cd.
Published 1 month ago by Chevitts
4.0 out of 5 stars The gifted Sam Cooke
This item was a gift to my son. He's really enjoying it. This is music at its best. Yes the package was in tact.
Published 1 month ago by Griz
5.0 out of 5 stars Sam Cook
was given to my brother in law . He loved it had all the songs he wanted on it . it came in great shape. I have no dislikes about it
Published 2 months ago by deb
5.0 out of 5 stars Memories
This was the background music of my transistor radio plugged in to one ear while safely lying on the next pillow. Gone too soon.
Published 2 months ago by Robert E. Nelson
4.0 out of 5 stars Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964
As usual Sam Cooke is excellent. He sings very soulful songs. All of the ladies I know are in love with this superbly performed music.
Published 2 months ago by AllenMW
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Collection
Great clean re-mastered versions of the original recordings that have been carefully done so as to not distroy the original warm pure sounds of the original recordings.
Published 3 months ago by Michael L. Cunningham
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Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 [Original recording remastered]
It is a hybrid SACD/CD so will play on any CD player. If you have a SACD player then you will get to hear that layer with apparently even better sound. I have this CD & the CD layer sounds great.
Jul 14, 2012 by steven green |  See all 2 posts
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