Admit it – you love to cha cha cha: 30-Day Song Challenge, the Sequel, day 7 – a song you love from the ’50s
I’ve always been convinced that the greatest R&B singer who ever lived was Sam Cooke. I know, that’s a massive claim and there are plenty of Otis fans (and Aretha fans, and fans of many other incredible artists) who’ll argue the point. And hey, if they do, then I can take pride in the fact that I started a great argument.
The point is that I pretty much worship Sam Cooke. Most of his greatest work came in the ’60s, but he had several hits in the late 1950s, too. Here’s one of them. And I won’t promise that tomorrow’s entry – a song I love from the ’60s – won’t be more Sam Cooke.
lullaby pit 
Sam Cooke was royalty who straddled nightclubs and rock joints. Idolatry is allowed. There’s been no one to top him. The best soul singer who’s ever llved.
Much as I love Otis, Aretha, Ray, Wilson, Marvin, Smokey, Etta, etc., Sam is tops.
I love a lot of 50s music, Little Richard is the King. Here’s Long Tall Sally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFL047fmsgg
No such thing as too much Sam Cooke! He’s truly one of the greatest music pioneers of the 20th century.
Erik Greene
Author, “Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family’s Perspective”
http://www.OurUncleSam.com
Whoa – wait a second – this is actually Sam Cooke’s nephew?
Glad you found us. I’m sure I’m not the first person to tell you how much his music has meant to me. Too many brilliant artists have died too young, and his death was one of modern popular music’s greatest tragedies.
Love Sam, Otis and Marvin, and I’d put Curtis Mayfield on that Mount Rushmore of soul singers too.
Damn, that would be a war of a contest: what four singers would you put on Soul/R&B Rushmore?
Al Green too. Five heads, so what…
Bill Haley and the Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” http://youtu.be/X31GQTS7C1c
(The 50s was the decade of Nerd Rock)
Richie Valens, “La Bamba” http://youtu.be/Jp6j5HJ-Cok
(An exception to “Nerd Rock”)
I’m actually his great-nephew, Samuel. My grandmother was Sam’s oldest sister.
Welcome to S&R. Your great-uncle has a lot of fans here.
Thanks. And you mentioned Sam’s death as “one of popular music’s greatest tragedies?” It’s even an even greater tragedy when you peel back the layers as to why Sam was really killed.
I have never known enough to have an informed opinion on that subject, but the official line has seemed awfully damned suspicious to me, and to many others, I suspect. I know the family has always contended that the official story was BS, and I find Etta James’ comments on viewing his body especially disturbing.
I’ve read (and highly recommend) Etta’s “Rage to Survive” and it reinforced the horror family members experienced when they first saw the body. I chose not to get as graphic as she did when writing about that exact moment, though.
I haven’t read the book, but it certainly doesn’t sound like what she saw meshed with the formal record.
I hear they’re now having a closer look at Brian Jones’ death, too. I wonder if there’s any hope of revisiting your uncle’s case?
It didn’t, which is why I’m dreading the announced release of a Sam Cooke movie by ABKCO, the company founded by Sam’s former manager Allen Klein.
I took on this project because LA officials weren’t willing to examine the case–especially since a lot of the “evidence” was supposedly lost shortly after his death.
If you find yourself wanting to write about some of this, let me know. S&R is always interested in these kinds of stories.
I challenged a TruTv article on Sam’s death a few years ago so vehemently, the author agreed to interview me and add my comments as an addendum:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/sam_cooke/index.html