Sam Cooke - Legend (2003)

Essential for Cooke fans, but glossed over.

As overdue, essential & welcome as this DVD documentary is for Sam Cooke fans, let me explain why I give it 3 stars.

Nice vintage footage included, and the first time for me to see Sam in action. On the negative side:

First, in typical A&E fashion, the majority of interviewed segments are total fluff..."he had so much charisma, the room would erupt, people went crazy, he was the complete package, I never knew anyone else like him, I knew he had something special" blah blah blab that you hear in every A&E biography of a deceased star. We know all that, he was great. There is no negativity whatsoever, yet minimal substance at the same time.

Two: length. Get the expanded edition or you're stuck with a quick 1 hour show.

Three: total gloss over of his death. Look on the internet for the more in-depth story of the shooting. They skim over this occurance without much dirt on why the married Sam Cooke had a woman back at his room anyway, and why a woman pulled a trigger on such a seemingly otherwise perfect guy.

Four: if you are going to license the minimal TV footage of him in existence, it would be nice to not have it talked over, and so brief. I would prefer to see the uncut footage as a DVD extra feature, not 2 hours of repeated story interviews instead. I want to SEE the man perform, not hear about it second hand.

Otherwise, a good product in a nutshell, but I feel it is also far from complete or as good as it could have been. July 21, 2008

I was raised on Sam Cooke ...

God rest my Dad's soul! He brought us up on all the greats, but Sam Cooke has been my all-time favorite since I was a toddler. My brother reminded me a few days ago that we were not brought up on lullabys. We were brought up listening to Sam Cooke, and to this day I still hear my Dad whenever I hear Sam Cooke. It's like the two are one -- there was no looking at my Dad without seeing his love for Sam Cooke. And there is no listening to Sam Cooke -- even to this day -- without remembering my Dad.

There have been great voices since Sam Cooke, but none will ever be equal to him. God gave him a gift that is absolutely timeless. He was smooth and he was gorgeous and his voice will never grow old. February 20, 2008

The Greatest!!

This DVD allowed me to know the real Sam Cooke. I had never seen an actual interview of him before. This was an absolute delight. He was truly a legend of his time. They called him the Berry Gordy of his day. This DVD is my all time favorite. October 29, 2007

San Cooke fan

I actually ordered two, one to share with others and the other to keep for myself. September 15, 2007

I Pray Sam Cooke is with The Lord Jesus Christ Eternally!!!

This DVD is wonderful for those of us who were young when Sam Cooke was popular and doing so many great things such as owning, writing, and producing his own music. I enjoy his talent today some 43 years later now that's classics for you. I wish he had stayed with The Lord and let the world come to him instead of the other way around. I just believe his outcome would have been much different but that's neither here nor there at this point. The man was great and God was good to loan him to us. KS April 10, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...