Customer Reviews

Sam Cooke's Sar Records Story - 2 Pack Jewel Case

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If you are at all interested in gospel and/or soul music, buy this set. Nearly every song is perfect, but "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" by the Womack Brothers (disc 1) and "That's Where It's At" by the Simms Twins (disc 2) by themselves justify the price.

This album is incredible. Even though i'm not particularly religious, but this Gospel is amazing. The first disc, to me, is alot better, just because it is the gospel, and there are no duds. The "chatter" before the songs really add alot to the whole experience, and give you a deeper look into Sam Cookes producing style. My favorite soul album, and completely flawless.

This 2 CD set collects highlights from the SAR Records vault. This record label was co-owned by Sam Cooke. In addition to being the owner, Sam also wrote and produced many of the records. Disc One features gospel songs and Disc Two features secular material. Some of the songs are preceded by bits of studio dialogue where Sam explains to the performers how he wants them to sing. Most of the songs are quite good, although not as good as Sam's own versions of the same songs, when they exist. This is a very nice collection, but some Sam Cooke fans may be disappointed that there are only a few songs performed by Cooke himself.

Sam Cooke once said that one of the things he wanted to accomplish was that all the singers he recorded had hits. For that reason he started his own recordlabel called SAR. The S for Sam. The A jwAlexander and the r for sR crain.

He produced most of the sessions himself and they have added some fun bits on the CD where Sam is talking to the artists and telling them how to sing and what to do.

CD1 is the gospel part and features himself but also the Soul Stirrers and the Womack Brothers. On CD2 we find them again but this time as The Valentinos. The song everyone will know if "It's all over now" that the Rolling Stones heard and then recorded.

It also features songs he wrote for others and then recorded himself a little later like "That's Where It's At", "Soothe Me", "When A Boy Falls In Love" and "Rome Wasn't Build In A Day".

The production was great because the songs all sound awesome. It really shows yet another side of the man who invented soul. This time the producer and label owner.

When you hear the magic on these two CD's, you know there is a God! As a game, you can count how many times the hairs stand up on your neck while you're listening to these "Soul Stirrers" (the most apt title of a group in history). The beautiful thing about this collection is it's just Sam's show, but he brings out the best in so many others. In addition to this masterpiece, try to find RCA's now deleted "The Man and his Music" at a used CD store. It's the best single disc collection of the greatest singer who ever drew breath. I am mind-boggled that someone would let that go out of print!! Find it!!

Sam Cooke was an amazing talent in so many ways, and this collection of the music his record company produced during its short five-year existence is further evidence (if more were needed) that his early death was a profound loss. Aside from his extraordinary talents as a singer and a songwriter, Cooke proved himself with SAR records to be a canny businessman and producer. In this regard, he was a pioneer. As Peter Guralnick points out in the introductory remarks in the excellent and thorough booklet that accompanies the set, Cooke's entrepreneurial effort marked one of the earliest occasions when "a prominent black artist was in a position to actually control the means of production."

And control them he did--one of the many pleasures of this collection is that you get to hear some of Cooke's direction to the groups on his label, and he can be both humorous and fierce. "Paul, you weren't watching me, no way," he says to Paul Foster of the Soul Stirrers at one point; but at another he patiently explains to a clearly frustrated Foster what the words of a particular song me so that, as Foster says, "I can get the sense of it."

Cooke himself made history and has been called "the man who invented soul" (although that title should technically go to Ray Charles) by "crossing over" from the world of gospel, where he was lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, to the world of popular music--a move thought by many in the gospel community to be literally sinful. The set reflects that division, with the first CD devoted to gospel music--including that of the Soul Stirrers, reconstituted with Johnnie Taylor singing Sam's former part--and the second compiled mostly of popular love songs. To my mind, the first disc is far and away the better of the two. I find most of the songs on the second disc fairly forgettable, except the Sam Cooke songs that Sam sang better himself on other occasions. But the first disc is another matter. In fact, aside from the Soul Stirrers albums themselves, and of course Mahalia Jackson, I don't think there's any gospel music I enjoy more. The songs here are varied, moving, lovely. Many of them are powerful enough to bring me to tears. If the first CD alone were the price of the whole set, I'd happily pay it--and then some.

Apart from containing a lot of fine music, this two CDs box gives great insight into the musical ideas of Sam Cooke and documents his invalueable influence on the transforming of gospel and blues into soul-music.

Only a handful of these tracks has Sam Cooke himself as performer, but he is behind the whole things as the producer and in many cases also as the writer of the songs.

A couple of years after his big break-through Sam Cooke started his own recording label SAR, and for five years he produced recordings for artists like the Soul Stirrers, The Womack Brothers, Billy Preston, Johnnie Taylor and a lot of other black artists.

The music spans from pure pop, through gospel and soul to what we today recognise as soul-music. A nice surprise for me was the many great tracks with the Soul Stirrers, a group I only knew from their early recordings with Sam Cooke. I did not not know either that Sam Cooke wrote "Mary Don't You Weep" which was a big hit in my native Denmark - with silly new Danish lyrics.

A favourite that has to be brought forward is the Simms Twins' version of "That's Where it's At" which Cooke himself also recorded.

The included 88 pages book has a lot of interesting background information about Cooke's musical ideas and personality.

This is the type of Gospel music that lifts the soul. The vocals are stirring and awesome. Listening to them rehearse at times, is a lesson in how Gospel Music is performed. I wish we still had gospel quartets, or groups, who performed in this same style. Many try, but none will ever match groups like The Soul Stirrers, or the greatest gospel singer of all, Sam Cooke. They were, and still are, extraordinary, with such harmonious and melodic voices. They are very aptly named, because this 2-pack jewel case will truly stir your soul.

Sam Cooke was an amazing talent in so many ways, and this collection of the music his record company produced during its short five-year existence is further evidence (if more were needed) that his early death was a profound loss. Aside from his extraordinary talents as a singer and a songwriter, Cooke proved himself with SAR records to be a canny businessman and producer. In this regard, he was a pioneer. As Peter Guralnick points out in the introductory remarks in the excellent and thorough booklet that accompanies the set, Cooke's entrepreneurial effort marked one of the earliest occasions when "a prominent black artist was in a position to actually control the means of production."

And control them he did. One of the many pleasures of this collection is that you get to hear some of Cooke's direction to the groups on his label, and he can be both humorous and fierce. "Paul, you weren't watching me, no way," he says to Paul Foster of the Soul Stirrers at one point; but at another he patiently explains to a clearly frustrated Foster what the words of a particular song mean so that, as Foster says, "I can get the sense of it."

Cooke himself made history and has been called "the man who invented soul" (although that title should technically go to Ray Charles) by "crossing over" from the world of gospel, where he was lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, to the world of popular music--a move thought by many in the gospel community to be literally sinful. The set reflects that division, with the first CD devoted to gospel music--including that of the Soul Stirrers, reconstituted with Johnnie Taylor singing Sam's former part--and the second compiled mostly of popular love songs. To my mind, the first disc is far and away the better of the two. I find most of the songs on the second disc fairly forgettable, except the Sam Cooke songs that Sam sang better himself on other occasions. But the first disc is another matter. In fact, aside from the Soul Stirrers albums themselves, and of course Mahalia Jackson, I don't think there's any gospel music I enjoy more. The songs here are varied, moving, lovely. Many of them are powerful enough to bring me to tears. If the first CD alone were the price of the whole set, I'd happily pay it--and then some.

Sam Cooke was a genius. As brilliant and beautiful as his unparalled voice was, he still was able to write and produce some of the most remarkable music(particularly the gospel cd)in black history for other artists. Sam wanted to write, produce, and record other artists. He wanted to take gospel and the gospel sound mainstream. This is a wonderful body of work by an artist who is so sorely underrated and unknown, especially this side of his career. This set features some extremely powerful singing and gorgeous production. A particular artist who stands out here is Jimmie Outler. He became lead singer of The Soul Stirrers after Johnnie Taylor left, who replaced Sam. Jimmie's voice is so powerful and dynamic. He truly defines 'Soul Stirring.'His ability to interpret a lyric while keeping his intense gospel fervor is stunning. R.H. Harris, an inspiration to a young Sam Cooke, is here with a handful of tracks with his new backing team "The Gospel Paraders." I believe R.H. was in his forty's during this period and his falsetto is still earthshattering.(particularly on "Pass Me Not" with its beautiful and carefully arranged guitar intro)........