"Songs by Sam Cooke" by Sam Cooke (1957)
The very first LP album by ex-gospel sex symbol who had previously moonlighted for famed "Chess" recording label and now decided to spread his wings into pop market. Cooke sings like an angel and emulates yodels and tricks from his gospel idols, but music here is dressed in a traditional pop gowns that were probably meant to show his maturity and respectability - "Summertime", "Ol' Man River", "Around the World" and "Danny Boy" are all on a extremely mellow, safe side and combined with album photo cover, Cooke comes on as a non-threatening, well-behaved future son-in-law which also means its all slightly predictable and boring. Only singer's magnificent voice uplift what is basically a uninspired collection - album is lead by wonderful pop single (signed here by "L.C. Cook" which is a pseudonym he used on "Chess") and apparently pop singles were his main focus, while albums were tailored for older, mature market - be that as it may, this kind of music was not meant for younger audience and it appears like it has all been calculated to break him into Las Vegas market where he might follow Nat King Cole's footsteps.
"Encore" by Sam Cooke (1958)
Continuation of somebody's idea to turn ex-gospel sister into ballad crooner.
Where his debut album surrounded Sam Cooke with strings and angelic chorus, here he has blasting big band around him and swings like he just came home from Sinatra school. There is nothing wrong with material ("When I Fall In Love", "Accentuate The Positive", Sinatra's own "Oh, Look At Me Now", Billie Holiday cover, 1920s chestnut "Running Wild") except that this music looks backwards when young singer should look forward - either he was surrounded with some veterans unaware that there is a world outside Las Vegas, or this is path he planned to pursue. Why else would a young black singer turn to Dinah Shore 1940s ballad "The Gipsy" instead of going for something more soulful or authentic? The only song outside of this white-bread market is mourning ballad "Today I Sing The Blues" (also done in light swing arrangement) which would be very first song young Aretha Franklin would record when she decided to leave gospel and follow her idol into pop music. The final result - as opposite to all his wonderfully contagious singles - shows young & eager singer trying to emulate Nat King Cole and playing safe with material from a previous decade. He sings like a dream, but we wish him more space and original repertoire outside of Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen/Victor Young canon.
"Cooke's Tour" (1960)
"My goal is to someday be in the same singing league as Harry Belafonte, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra."This was from an interview with Sam Cooke around the time this album was recorded - clearly, he had not thought about himself as some sort of soul bad brother but as a much bigger potential, someone whose appeal might cross over to pop market, perhaps even to the movies. So his album discography shows some curious patterns - he goes lounge jazz, he goes Las Vegas, he goes traditional pop and whatever else you can think of, but its his immensely enjoyable pop singles that actually brought him fame.
This was a collection of "traveling songs" - another gimmick - it has absolutely nothing to do with Sam Cooke as soul singer, civil rights movement or Martin Luther King but works actually very well as a product tailored for mainstream audience who might be curious to hear this magnificent young singer doing something outside of the box (in other words: away from gospel). It didn't bring him any hit singles and I am not sure that it left any big marks but to me personally this might be my all-time favorite Sam Cooke album - production is first rate, everything is polished, adult and sophisticated and even though he sings songs already done by other singers, in my opinion he outshines them all. Never before he sounded so darn dreamy and seductive. Just magnificent voice singing first rate material.
Very much the same approach as "Cooke's Tour" - slightly older, mainstream pop polished to perfection, sung by that magnificent voice that yodels up to the heaven. Sam Cooke must had one of the most beautiful voices ever and when he croons "Mona Lisa" or anything here, its pure delight. Obviously this was all very buttoned up and serious, but this was his polite way to get accepted in business - where on the first two albums he doesn't really sound convincing in snappy, swinging arrangements, here he is perfectly at home in light, romantic pop. Its all very vanilla of course and nothing to do with soul music at all, but enjoyable nevertheless - its just a bit confusing to hear this and than read about Sam Cooke as "inventor of soul music" where in fact he was clearly pursuing Las Vegas. Ray Charles and James Brown were another planet.
That song of course changed the whole career of Sam Cooke and if I remember correctly, it seduced the whole world on two different occasions, during its first release and than many decades later when Harrison Ford danced to it in the movie. According to his biographer Peter Guralnick, upon his arrival on a tour in Bahamas Sam Cooke was welcomed as a royalty. And he deserved it, as he was wonderful artist and people still remember him as magnetic person.
Nothing else matches excitement of "Wonderful world" but it doesn't matter, the rest is usual pedestrian pop Cooke served on his albums. To be honest, it actually sounds like recording company uses the moment and simply gets every track they got to built album around successful single. Which is probably what happen. "Stealing Kisses" is a curious little ditty that I would never expect from him.
Another early 1960s album by honey-voiced gospel-turned-pop singer who oozed sensuality and seductiveness. Cooke had some serious chart action with his pop singles but his albums were curiously mismatched affairs, clearly focused on adult audience and from today's perspective sound forced & gimmicky.
He had already recorded with big bands so this is kind of same things, Las Vegas versions of blues songs, everything swings and cats are hip, singer yodels sweetly as only he knows. I love his voice but don't care for this kind of brassy swinging versions. Cooke pushes just a little bit too seriously to be accepted and though he sings like a dream, the final results are pedestrian.
"Swing Low" (1961)
Before he turned to pop music, Sam Cooke was a gospel superstar so this album was not really a surprise - as he had proved in the meantime with his delightful pop singles and all those themed albums, Sam Cooke could sing anything and this album brings a little bit of everything indeed: he does spirituals, he does Harry Belafonte, "Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair" and everything that your grandmother would probably approve of. "They Call The Wind Maria"?
"Grandfather's Clock"? Antonin Dvořák? As usual, he sings like a dream and the choice of material is maddeningly safe - "Chain Gang" stands out as the only song with a true energy, everything else is sleepy time and vanilla.
"Mr. Soul" (1962)
Thankfully here is one album without annoying, forced big band swinging standards behind the singer. This one has actually very sophisticated, cinematic arrangements by Horace Ott and songs were cherry picked ballads that might work as a concept about love affair. Its all covers and as usual Sam Cooke sings them better than original singers - his "Driftin' Blues" is excellent. The voice has a noticeable raspier tone here than previously - where earlier it was all honey, now it ripened into different sound. Still a wonderful singer.
"Twistin' The Night Away" (1962)
Sunny, happy and highly enjoyable album that finally brings singer out of adult oriented Las Vegas big band standards and into youth market. Cooke could easily sing absolutely anything and unfortunately seems he wasted a lot of time on trying to break in like some kind of black Andy Williams - here he goes for a kill with happy, dance songs and it works wonderfully. Twist was all the rage at the time and even though the concept sounds like a gimmick, the results are infectious - his familiar yodel, gospel-inpired backing vocals, everything is in place. More than half of material was composed by singer himself, who clearly enjoyed having a control of his career in his own hands.
"Night Beat" (1963)
Where on "Mr.Soul" he recorded old Charles Brown "Driftin' Blues" (and it was highlight of the album) here he goes the whole log and does Charles Brown-inspired album. For once, Sam Cooke album actually works because he is not over-produced or buried under swinging big band, backing combo is just fine and creates late-night atmosphere, though his sunny voice is perhaps too beautiful for gritty blues. Cooke croons gently and convincingly as only he knows, it might be his finest hour in the studio. Perhaps its strange, coming from an ex-gospel singer but "Little Red Rooster" is fantastic. "Shake Rattle And Roll" rocks, although is a little out of place here.
"Ain't That Good News" (1964)
This is Sam Cooke at the very peak of his powers - he was 33 years old, had solid reputation in gospel, crossed over into pop market and had built his own business company. After seven years of playing the pop field and experimenting with different styles, things finally fell into place and now he was absolutely sure of himself and his worth. This is also a year when he got killed.
Looking back at his discography, I can't help but notice the contrast between all those brilliant, sunny pop singles and pedestrian LP albums full of ill-advised swinging covers. For this guy, leaving gospel and going pop clearly was not enough - he wanted to became all-round entertainer, like his idols Harry Belafonte, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, Las Vegas, Copa and ultimately Hollywood was his goal. Why not, after all, he surely had voice, looks, talent and ambition. It's just that as I plowed trough all these albums I seriously feel they were playing safe, while pop singles were wonderful. Only recently, on "Twistin' The Night Away" album he dispensed completely with moth-eaten, pre-WW2 ballads and went straight pop, which was delightful and uplifting. Here, he combines both sides - happy, dance tunes and romantic ballads and achieves balance for once, only time in his whole career. Though he did record some pretty theme-albums before ("Cooke's Tour", "Night Beat", "Twistin' The Night Away") this is perhaps the one perfect Sam Cooke album to fall in love with.
Not only it shows his brilliance as gospel-turned-pop singer (complete side A) but it also have lush ballads (side B) and totemic "A Change Is Gonna Come" which might be quintessential Sam Cooke song. I must admit that sheer beauty of his voice (that combination of honey and rasp he controlled so effortlessly) still has intoxicating effect even now, half a century after his death. He must have been one of the greatest singers of 20th century.
"Sam Cooke at the Copa" (1964)
Hm, one step forward, two steps back.
Playing "Copa" was a big deal for Sam Cooke, not only because it meant breaking the racial barriers and establishing name in show business, but also because he tried and badly failed in the same place several years previously. Back than, he did not have confidence, stage pattern and command of audience attention but not he was ready. Peter Guralnick describes everything in his book but while he paints the circumstances, rehearsals and media attention, he hardly touches on music, which bothers me.
You see, I love Sam Cooke pop singles. I even enjoy his gospel recordings with Soul Stirrers very much. But I never cared for all those countless swinging albums full of worn-out standards and boy he recorded a lots of those. I surely know my way around traditional American songbook so this is not a problem, problem is that people like Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and such already perfected this so I kind of don't think its necessary to have wonderful, soulful singer like Sam Cooke clicking fingers and swinging like Bobby Darin. Here for his famous "Copa" engagements he almost completely ignores his pop singles (except for a beautiful medley, which is highlight of the concert) and focuses on - guess what - American standards that he was doing all these years on albums. So the repertoire was consciously selected to appeal to this particular audience and obviously Cooke was proving himself. But it has a way too much of ring-a-dong for me and almost no soul music at all.
"One Night Stand! Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club" (1963)
By far superior live album by Sam Cooke, where he plays not to ring-a-dong white patrons but to his own black audience and its all hot, sweaty and exciting just as it should have been. Where in "Copa" he was crooning them covers and ballads, here he performs his own hit songs and hoarse as he might sound, he whips them into frenzy - you can clearly hear screams from public. I actually love sweetness and smoothness of Sam Cooke's voice so this live performance might be a little too hoarse for me, however he works heard and clearly enjoys himself. Stands up with the best live recordings of its time.
"Shake" (1965)
Post-humously released compilation of odds and ends: there are more focused compilations around, so this one is not really essential. It combines cheerful, pop sides with some slightly older material ("I'm In The Mood For Love", "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You", "Comes Love") from his attempts to break into supper club market. Remembered today for his glowing pop singles, Sam Cooke actually spent a lot of time trying to be black Sinatra and had long list of albums full of standards & big bands behind him. Harry Belafonte's "I'm Just a Country Boy" is breathtakingly beautiful, version included here is different than the one previously done on 1961. "Swing Low" album. As compilations go, this one is little all over the place, since it tries to cover all the corners of his music in 33 minutes - besides gospel, Cooke tried many different music genres so today we would probably select differently but however this was still right after his murder so it was good just to have his name still up on charts.
No comments:
Post a Comment