Soulful DetroitArchives - July 2004 � SAM COOKE Previous Next

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dvdmike (dvdmike)
5-Doyen
Username: dvdmike

Post Number: 204
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 65.208.234.61
Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 12:45 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Last night, I was listening to Sam's "Ain't That Good News" LP and there was this song that got my attention called "The Riddle Song". Sam sang it like he wrote it and that he meant every word. At the end of the song, his voice cracked a bit. Not too long before, his infant son Vincent had drowned in the family swimming pool and I guess when he got to the line, "I gave my love a baby with no crying", his true emotions took over. Sam had a beautiful voice, but when he sang songs removed from R&B, he sang them much differently. Listen to "Hey There" and "Mona Lisa" from his "Hits Of The '50s" LP.
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BJL (bjl)
2-Debutant
Username: bjl

Post Number: 28
Registered: 5-2004
Posted From: 217.205.87.151
Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 1:36 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I reckon that the best and most emotional singing he ever did was with the Soul Stirrers, prior to his pop career. Check out the 1955 live recordings fron the Shrine Auditorium - amazing...
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Spyder Turner (spyder_turner)
3-Pundit
Username: spyder_turner

Post Number: 33
Registered: 7-2004
Posted From: 68.42.246.252
Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 2:25 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

OH YEA, SAM WAS THE MAN. MY FAVORITE ALBUM BY HIM IS "SAM COOKE LIVE AT THE COPA" I'VE BOUGHT AT LEAST 12 COPIES SINCE 1964. THEY GET AWAY FROM ME SOMEHOW AND I ALWAYS BUY ANOTHER
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Kev-Lo (7273747576)
4-Laureate
Username: 7273747576

Post Number: 153
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 4.236.201.210
Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 6:07 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi this Is Kev-Lo yes Sam Cooke was indeed the Man.He had a smooth voice that could melt a woman heart.He was and still is the prince of sweet soul.My favorites by him was
Twisting The Night Away
A Chance Gonna Come
Shake
For Sentimental Reasons
Only Sixteen
You Send Me
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Dinelle (dinelle_watson)
4-Laureate
Username: dinelle_watson

Post Number: 146
Registered: 3-2004
Posted From: 67.35.251.157
Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 6:21 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I like "Twisting The Night Away" and "You Send Me", too, Kev-Lo. I also like "Cupid", "It's Saturday Night", and "Chain Gang".

BTW, I thought the name of the song was "A Change Gonna Come"?
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dvdmike (dvdmike)
5-Doyen
Username: dvdmike

Post Number: 206
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 68.253.200.105
Posted on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 7:41 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The celeste on "The Riddle Song" was played by Lincoln Mayorga with Harold Battiste on piano, Cliff White and John Pisano on guitar, Ray Pohlman on bass and Ed Hall on drums. A string section sweetened the track. Hugo & Luigi with Sam Cooke produced the record and the arranger was Joe Hooven. The session took place at RCA Victor's Music Center Of The World, Hollywood on December 21, 1963 with Dave Hassinger at the controls.
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Juicefree20 (juicefree20)
6-Zenith
Username: juicefree20

Post Number: 1432
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 24.46.184.162
Posted on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 8:11 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I feel that Sam was one of the most influential singers of all time. When I hear Marvin, Luther or Gerald Alston, I hear Sams' influence. I often wonder in what direction he would have taken musically had he lived? Would he have hooked up with Atlantics' crack studio crew? Perhaps with Stax? Could you imagine Sam with that Funky Hi Rhythm Section, or, with Gamble & Huff? Imagine Sam singing to a Thom Bell arrangement, rather than those God awful overblown crappy Pop arrangements of H&L. God, the possibilities are simply mind boggling. I only wish that he had lived long enough for us to find out.

So many thought that Sam was too "mannered" in his singing. However, I think that songs like Bring It On Home To Me & A Change Is Gonna Come showed the direction that his music would have gone. For those that thought that Sam was just too smooth, I have five words to dispell that idea: "Live At The Harlem Square".

I bought that CD when it came out. On that "lost" CD, Sam was not singing....Sam was SANGGIN'. Sam went all the way back to those roots & was trying to bring down the house. This wasn't a performance for the "Supper Set". Wasn't no tuxedos & minks in the house. That performance was for the shot & a glass folks. I swear that you can hear the fish & chicken cooking in the background. Sam took it back to those dirt roads & those after hour bars. Sam wasn't singing proper or polite. On that night, Sam was as far away from Vegas as the KKK is from Brownsville, Brooklyn.

That night was for his peeps & all of those that thought that he forgot his roots. Sam brought it back home that night & it was refreshing to see him sing so unrestrained, losing his breath, his voice. Sam gave it up & it was an interesting contrast to his usual recordings. It was very enlightning to me.
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dvdmike (dvdmike)
5-Doyen
Username: dvdmike

Post Number: 210
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 65.208.234.61
Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 12:48 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm going to post a complete Sam Cooke session date thread later.
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Don (don)
6-Zenith
Username: don

Post Number: 490
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 68.77.36.7
Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:51 am: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi DVD, I have a 4 lp set of Greatest Hits & Best Of's all in one on a Candlelight reissue lp, that use to be advertised on TV. Unfortunately, I don't have any Soul Stirs, Sam with them and none and all of his secular songs in total. One song where he sings of the lost of his son and I didn't know it until VH1 aired his life story was his "Lost And Lookin' For My Baby". My favorite LP was Night Beat. I can't say why this LP stuck out from among the rest I don't know why. I had the LP, it had 10 or 11 songs. I have Night Beat on CD and it has 13 songs, 3 extra songs. Wow! what a powerful kick of a CD, Mike.

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