Sam Cooke

Gospel to pop

Born Samuel Cook, probably on January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi (Wikipedia notes sources give 1930, 1931 or 1932), he added the e to his surname in 1958. The family moved to Chicago in 1933; he was the fifth of eight children of the Baptist minister Charles Cook. He sang from age six in the Singing Children, led the Highway Q.C.'s from about 14, and in 1950 replaced R. H. Harris as lead singer of the Soul Stirrers on Specialty, his first record as lead being "Jesus Gave Me Water". He left in 1956 and made his first pop single, "Lovable", under the name Dale Cooke. After a dispute with Art Rupe he left Specialty with producer Bumps Blackwell, signed to Keen in 1957, and "You Send Me" reached number one on the pop and R&B charts, with an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in November 1957.

In January 1960 he moved to RCA Victor with the producers Hugo and Luigi, reportedly with a $100,000 advance; hits included "Chain Gang" (2), "Cupid", "Twistin' the Night Away", "Bring It On Home to Me" and "Another Saturday Night". He co-founded SAR Records with J. W. Alexander and Roy Crain, whose artists included the Simms Twins, the Valentinos and Johnnie Taylor, and a publishing company, Kags. In 1963 he signed a management contract with Allen Klein, who negotiated a deal making Tracey Ltd., named for Cooke's daughter, owner and producer of his recordings. Sam Cooke at the Copa followed from a July 1964 engagement. He died on December 11, 1964 in Los Angeles, aged 33.

AllMusic's Bruce Eder called him the inventor of soul music. He is cited as an influence by Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. He entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 1999, never having won a competitive Grammy. Rolling Stone ranks him 16th among artists and 3rd among singers. Leslie Odom Jr. played him in One Night in Miami... (2020). Peter Guralnick's Dream Boogie is the standard biography.