Customer Reviews

Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964

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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. Written in 1964 at the height of the civil rights movement and deeply influenced by Dylan's Blowin in the Wind, A Change if Gonna Come always leaves me feeling that this song represents the innermost part of Cooke's soul.

The CD ends with a return to Cooke's gospel roots, Jesus Gave Me Water. This closing track, by returning us to Sam's gospel beginnings is a fitting conclusion to the CD.

The CD contains excellent liner notes prepared by peter Guralnick. Guralnick is writing a biography of Cooke and these notes reflect his deep interest in the man and his music.

This is an excellent compilation. It does Cooke proud.

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. On his greatest artistic achievement, 1964's finale "A Change is Gonna Come," Cooke tops even himself. He takes Bob Dylan's lyrical challenge in "Blowin' In The Wind" (which Cooke admired for being written and performed as pop by whites) and, through hopeful words sung as near-weeping laments, he approximates the timbre and granduer of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech given less than a year before.

"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.

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. The order is jumbled a bit, so if you take the time to put it in chronological order, you also get an idea of how Cooke's music evolved. From his classic Soul Stirrers tracks (some say his best work) like "Touch The Hem..." to his first forays into pop ("Lovable" and "You Send Me") to irresistably catchy party songs ("Having A Party," "Twistin' The Night Away," "Another Saturday Night," the epochal "Shake," all classics) to beautiful late night ballads ("Sad Mood") to some of the first and best soul music ever made ("Good Times," "Bring It On Home To Me," and "A Change Is Gonna Come"), this is an AMAZING collection. All beautifully sung by one of the greatest vocalists, composers, and visionaries in pop music history. That's not even mentioning his biggest hits, "Wonderful World" "Chain Gang," again classics. This music is simply essential.

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).

James Brown may be the Godfather of Soul, but Sam Cooke created the genre--and no one has done it better since. His first charting single, "You Send Me," sold two million copies and was a No. 1 pop hit for three weeks in 1957. Cooke would go on to place 29 singles in the Top 40 (including three after his untimely death in 1964), and 22 of them are included on this collection.

For fans who have been lamenting the deletion of the 1986 collection THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC, this new anthology is welcome news indeed. Not only does PORTRAIT OF A LEGEND duplicate all but five of that earlier collection's tracks (including the poignant "A Change Is Gonna Come"), the disc is playable as a regular CD and as a Super Audio Compact Disc. [I don't have an SACD player, but the sound quality on my regualr CD player is nothing short of stunning!]

Fans who were hoping for a generous sampling of Cooke's work with the Soul Stirrers will be disappointed. [And the title which includes the dates 1951-1964 would certainly lead you to expect as much.] However, the only Soul Stirrer's track is the gorgeous "Jesus Gave Me Water," recorded during his first sessions with the group just two months after joining in 1951. {Every other track was recorded between 1956-1964.]

Another plus to this new collection is the informative 32-page booklet. Author Peter Guralnick (who is working on a biography of Cooke) includes an essay and insightful track-by-track commentary on each song. Recording session information is included for every track including dates, producer, and musicians used.

The album closes with an uncredited 32-second interview. The interviewer asks Cooke to hum eight bars to show the listeners what soul sounds like. After he's done, the interviewer states,
"Sam Cooke's yours; he'll never grow old." He's right. ESSENTIAL

If god has a singing voice he would sound just like Sam Cooke. This collection is a wonderful tribute to the greatest singer all time. This Cd is a bitter sweet tast of Sam's vocal stlying and unique phrasing. Bitter Sweet because we were deprived of his artistry and soulful conncetion with a song and his audience. We can only wonder how great he would have become had he lived.

Sam's legacy is his wonderful voice and interpetation of a song; his exra-ordinary ability to enfuse a pop song with heart, soul and spirit. Not to mention his gospel roots.

This collection is very similar to his previous collection A Man and his Music but I feel it is worthy follow-up and rebranding of the Sam Cooke Legacy. A new genration of listeners will discover Sam Cooke and marvel at his wonderful heart rending A Change is Gonna Come and spiritual Touch the Hem of His Garment.

Sam's voice made standards like Summertime sound different and at times a completely different song. All great singers have this ability to interpret a song and find the diffintive expression. Sam was no exception. I am extremely biased on behalf of Sam Cooke becasue he is the benchmark by which all modern day male vocalist will be and have been judged.

The Spirit of Sam Cooke lives on through this wonderful collection.

Simply inspiring.

I'm 17 and most kids my age most likely know nothing of Sam Cooke but we also don't know we should love Sam Cooke because it's great artist like him that mediocre artist now sample. I was shown this album by my aunt who said I needed to hear something different and real, I listened to this album and couldn't stop listening to it. The production alone is beautiful and it takes you to a different place. There are so many different instruments used that just make everything feel good. Sam's lyrics are lyrics that you can relate to and learn from. He talks about everything from life to his girl getting taken from him by his best friend. This is an album that everyone should hear because Sam Cooke truly is a legend and this legend needs to be heard.

It took over 30 years, but there is finally an Sam Cooke anthology that presents a well rounded potrait of this amazing artist's many talents. "Potrait of a Legend" trumps all of it's predecessors by including a great deal of Sam's lesser known work that proves him to be able to "testify" with best singers of his generation including Otis Redding, Ray Charles, and James Brown. Previous anthologies were competent collections of Sam Cooke "lite", his lilting crossover hits with RCA hits. The crossover Cooke was one of the first black entertainers to acheive huge success in selling records in the previous impenetrable white pop music market in the early sixties. Cooke's genius was that he understood the type of music needed to break through and acheive crossover success. The calyso influenced rythyms of his early hits and the winesome quality of his voice was his port of entry into mainstream. These irresistable songs like "Chain Gang", "You Send Me" and "Cupid" are flat-out American classics that paved the way for a generation of country boy singers who embraced the raw testimonial style of blues and gospel singers.

Sam Cooke had been there, and done that, with the incredible Soul Stirrers a gospel quartet formed in 1926 and joined by Cooke as a youngster in 1950. The Stirrers were a hugely popular group in the black community, playing churches and the "chittlin" circuit to enthusiastic fans. In the Soul Stirrers one can trace Cooke's evolving transformation from a talented apprentice "testifier", to a remarkable stylist with a voice so appealing that it spelled m-o-n-e-y to the A and R department of RCA records. Sam Cooke went "uptown" to tremendous success. "Live at the Harlem Sq. Club" is one of the few RCA records that documents of Sam Cooke's ability to embrace his gospel roots. "Night Beat" hints at it, but Cooke's intensity is muted by lumbering arrangements and over-production. With "Potrait of A Legend", we finally get Sam Cooke "Lite" and Sam the Testifier under the same roof, and the result is the real Sam Cooke.

Sam Cooke's voice is so beautiful it makes me cry on some of the tracks, like "Summertime" and "You Send Me". Other times it brings a smile to my face, like when I hear "Wonderful World" and "Everybody Likes to Cha Cha Cha". Other times it leaves me feeling bewildered and angry; no song inspires this more so than "A Change is Gonna Come"--although "Let the Good Times Roll" is palpable in its desperation. This amazing body of work is beautifully arranged in this collection. Any artist that can make you feel all of these things within the space of an hour is truly not of this world.

Sam Cooke's beautiful voice can be lighthearted, but throughout the course of hearing this CD I am constantly reminded of his brutal and untimely death. His killer was a bigoted South that he challenged and bemoaned in "A Change Is Gonna Come". It is hard to hear this song without weeping from the irony. Liner notes informed me that he wrote this song after his arrest for attempting to check into a white hotel. This song seethes with quiet fury yet manages to be dignified and hopeful in its powerful chorus.

If "A Change Is Gonna Come" is the most powerful song on the album, it is certainly not his only powerful song. Cooke's angelic voice, simple melodies and hauntingly beautiful lyrics will stay with you, even as you listen to the lighter, less serious songs like "Only Sixteen" and "Nothing Could Change This Love I Have For You". This CD is a wonderful tribute to a man who died much too young, leaving his listeners to wonder what else he would have accomplished if he had been permitted to reach old age.

I'd always loved Sam Cooke's music ever since I was a kid. When I started looking for a Greatest Hits album/CD (not interested in box sets) in the late 80s & 90s, there wasn't much out there, & NONE of them had "A Change is Gonna Come." Not only does this album have that song & all of his well-known hits, but a sampling of his gospel songs as well (all of the Greatest Hits albums/CDs I'd seen over the years were either all gospel, or all pop). The essay by Peter Guralnick at the beginning of the booklet is nice, & the liner notes for each song are short paragraphs (instead of the usual one or two sentences) that give a great background of the song & what Sam was doing at that time. Whether you've just found his music, or you were around when these songs originally played on the radio, this is the CD for you--it's wonderful!! :D

What can I say about one of the most inspiring/soothing singers of all time? Sam Cooke possessed the sweetest voice in soul, and his elegant vocal style inspired almost every singer worth his nickle. He was also a terrific songwriter, and the string of hits created prior to his death in 1964 was unrivaled.

I can hear this CD non-stop for days, weeks,.... It should be mandatory for all singers to listen to this release as it showcases a singer whose delivery was so elegant and did not have to go through vocal gymnastics to bring it home. It did not matter whether he was singing traditional pop, soul, gospel, or (you name it), as it all came back to Sam's voice and elegant delivery.

This collection has all the songs, including the indispensible "A Change Is Gonna Come". Sam's version continues to be THE definitive version and any collection that overlooks it should be banned. As you can imagine I give this my highest recommendation. Also worth noting this release has been remastered to blow away all previous efforts and unlike the previous single CD greatest hits collection, this one has an informative insert that tells us a little bit about the history of the songs.

NOTE: This state-of-the-art digital audio release titled is a magical 31-track greatest hits release that has been replaced the already amazing "The Man And His Music," a 28 greatest hits collection released in the 1980s. There is one downside to the CD as it is a hybrid with SACD capability, so that it will play in regular CD players and those with the SADC technology. The only problem lies in that, like other hybrid SACDs you cannot make a personal copy or grab any of the songs to put in a personal mix. For me that is a huge downside as I make lots of mixes to reflect different moods and favorite all time songs; notwithstanding if you just plan on listening to it and don't mind that you won't be able to pick and choose songs to make a mix, there is no better choice than this release.

During 2003 and now I've found myself listening to the new releases by Al Green and Ron Isley as well as this release, and I am reminded that new artists have it really hard as Sam and others raised the bar so high and so early that it makes it virtually impossible for anyone to make better sounding music. There are some out there who show much promise and I am always trying to support them, but Sam is Sam and God bless him.