Sam Cooke - The Man and His Music

A 28-track best-of giving conclusive proof that soul's doomed golden boy was a singer of exquisite control and grace. Opening with a couple of Soul Stirrers gospel gems, The Man & His Music packs together most of Cooke's great pop sides, from the airily lovely "You Send Me" all the way to the majestic "A Change Is Gonna Come." Some of the cuts are more twee than others--it's rare that he touches the soulful pinnacles of "Bring It on Home to Me" or "That's Where It's At," and too often he descends to dross like "When a Boy Falls in Love." Even on the more winsome hits, though, he remains a peerless vocal artist. And when you finally get to "Change," it's hard not to feel despair at Cooke's premature death. --Barney Hoskyns Amazon.com

What a Man - What a Song

Why is it that so many of Sam Cooke's records do not have "Change is Gonna Come" on them. I had to trace this through Amazon and then had to buy used to get this record. But all is worth it when you hear the first words of his magnum opus. What this man would have done if he had not been tragically taken from us is anyone's guess. The good thing is that this record is strong throughout with Sam Cooke's distinctive voice and phrasing all the way through. This record has its share of overly sweet tunes which were the way to get onto the whit edominated television stations and radios during his early days. Having said that, there is enough of the early gospel style songs to whet anyone's appetite to find out more about this extrordinary human being. His voice stes the standard and sets him apart from just about anyone and he truly dominates his co-singers on this album. You have to wade through 27 other songs before you get to Change is Gonna Come. What a song; what an arrangement; what a performance. This is a truly breathtaking performance and song. The power of this performance brings his personal journey and the influence of others such as Bob Dylan and the then Cassius Clay to raise the stakes in his battle against oppression. If you are thinking about soul and gospel, you must have Sam Cooke. March 31, 2008

older CD not the best hard to find

"The Man and His Music" was the first Sam Cooke CD released by RCA, and one of the first CDs ever! Oh the sound at the time! in 1989! The purity of Sam Cooke's voice rang true,sweet, and powerful!. + the song selection was better than one might have hoped for. It included the Gospel and the profane, the passion, the pleading, and the Party, too!
This was a fine introduction into hits and winks. It is somewhat hard to find now, BUT, luckily, there are even better complilations of Sam Cooke's recordings easily available.

Sam Cooke was also a pioneer in owning his own studio, recordings, distribution, etc. SAR records, with hits by Sam, Valentinos, Billy Preston,etc. If one is interested in the history of Soul music...Sam comes first. February 22, 2008

The Murphy's Law Of CDs - If It's Great It's Out Of Print

Would that all CD compilations were as well-produced and generous as this early one [1986] from RCA Victor/abcko which, not being titled "best of" or greatest hits of", cannot be criticized for not offering only hit singles.

Even so, you do get 21 of his 43 Billboard Pop/35 R&B/4 Adult Contemporary hits which he chalked up from 1957 to 1966 - two years beyond his tragic death at age 33 in December 1964. In addition, track 14 was the flip of Another Saturday Night [track 16] and, on its own, was a # 106 Billboard Hot 100 "bubble under" in 1963. Only tracks 1 [done while with The Soul Stirrers], 2, 6, 13, 17, and 26 were not hits - or the B-sides of hits - although when you hear them you will wonder why they did not chart - assuming they were even released as singles, especially Meet Me At Mary's Place [track 17].

If there are negatives these would relate to the meagre liner notes which, in a fold-out insert, offers sincere but all too brief comments by the likes of Jerry Wexler, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Bobby and Cecil Womack, Smokey Robinson, Huey Lewis, his long-time producer Hugo Peretti [of Hugo & Luigi instrumental fame], and Muhammad Ali, in addition to his father, Reverend Charles Cooke, and daughter Linda Cooke Womack. The best in this regard are those by Herb Alpert. There are also some great colour shots of Sam, including one with Muhammad Ali.

As for the tune selections, it would have been nice had they included two that are extremely hard to find. One is Cousin Of Mine [# 31 Hot 100 in 1964] - although they do give you the B-side, That's Where It's At [track 27], which made it to # 93. The other is his rendition of the old Patti Page hit, Tennessee Waltz which, as the flip of Good Times [# 11 in 1964 - track 19], made it to # 35 on its own.

Why is it that the best of the early CDs like this one and Brook Benton Forty Greatest Hits have fallen out of circulation while the junk crunched out by the likes of Curb continues to linger around? Come on, RCA or whoever - re-release this jewel. August 27, 2007

What Beautiful Music

Sam Cooke's great talent is definitely on display in this collection, which features most of his greatest hits, including a couple of songs with his gospel music group The Soul Stirrers.

Touch The Hem of His Garment, That's Like Heaven To Me, Bring It On Home To Me, and the transcendent Change is Gonna Come are just a few of the songs on this CD, showing off's Cooke's ability to be serious, fun, funny, whimsical, romantic, spiritual, and plaintive.

This is an excellent collection across the scope of what would be a tragically too short career. Buy and enjoy! May 28, 2006

Don't know much about history.

Sam Cooke is revered as the definitive soul singer. This out of print CD features 28 of his classic songs. It only features songs that Sam wrote himself. So, Sam's hits that he didn't write (like "Send Me Some Lovin'", "Frankie and Johnny" and "Little Red Rooster") aren't included here. But all the songs that are included here are great, whether they were hits or not. This is an excellent compilation, but it is unlikely to ever some back in print, because the material from the last year of Sam's life is now owned by a different record company. January 22, 2006

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