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December 11, 1964
Clearly, December has been bad month historically for tragic deaths of legendary music giants – all of whom are now members of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
For the third time in four days, yet another tragedy occurred #OnThisDay (links below).
Iconic soul singer-songwriter Sam Cooke was killed under mysterious circumstances by the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles (where rooms cost $3 a night) who shot him three times.
The manager claims that Cooke, just 33, assaulted her and that he tried to rape her companion. The incident was ruled a justifiable homicide.
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Born in Mississippi as Sam Cook (the “e” was added later) and raised in Chicago, IL, he was the son of a Baptist minister and sang in the church choir from age 6, which eventually led to him joining a gospel ensemble.
From there he became the lead singer of the gospel group the Soul Stirrers from 1950-1956, followed by a prized solo recording contract with the Keen Records label the following year.
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Successful songs for the label such as You Send Me (1957 • #1), I’ll Come Running Back To You (1957 • #18) and (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (1957 • #17) led to a new recording deal with major label RCA Records in 1960.
Cooke would chart four Billboard Top 10 hits for RCA: Chain Gang (1960 • #2), Twistin’ The Night Away (1962 • #2), Another Saturday Night (1963 • #10) and posthumously, Shake (1965 • #7 & RS500 #12.
[NOTE]
Due to copyright issues, some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets or connected devices. A laptop, desktop PC or Mac may be required for optimal enjoyment.
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YOU SEND ME
Sam Cooke
[1960]
Sam Cooke’s first release on Keen would turn out to be the biggest hit single of his shortened career.
It’s ranked on the Rolling Stone‘s ‘500 Greatest Songs of All-Time’ (RS500) at #115.
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Sam Cooke was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
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CHAIN GANG
Sam Cooke
[1962]
Written by Sam and his brother Charles Cooke, his first hit single for RCA reached #2 on both the Billboard’s Hot 100 (two weeks) and Hot R&B Sides.
Chain Gang became Cooke’s third biggest pop record. You Send Me is first, followed by A Change Is Gonna Come at number two.
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BRING IT ON HOME TO ME
The Animals
[1965]
Bring It On Home To Me was written solely by Cooke and recorded in 1963.
Eric Burdon‘s soulful vocals on this rendition by the British Invasion rock band The Animals peaked at #32 in ’65.
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ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT
Cat Stevens
[1974]
Again, written by Cooke and recorded in 1963, Another Saturday Night was covered by the UK’s Cat Stevens in 1974, reaching #6 on Billboard in late summer.
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BONUS TRAX!
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SWEET SOUL MUSIC
Arthur Conley
[1967]
I’ve included this because it’s connected not only with Sam Cooke, but also the gentleman we lost on yesterday’s date (12-10) Otis Redding.
Atlanta, GA soul singer Arthur Conley was discovered by Redding and signed to a small label Otis owned.
Redding and Conley co-wrote Sweet Soul Music based on the Sam Cooke song titled Yeah Man (see below). The former also produced this recording 10 months prior to his death.
SSM climbed to #2 on Billboard in the spring of ’67.
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YEAH MAN
Sam Cooke
[1964]
Here’s the de facto “original” version of Sweet Soul Music, which was based on this song from Sam Cooke’s 1965 posthumous album Shake.
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[Note] It’s worth mentioning that another Brit, Rod Stewart, is a huge fan of Sam Cooke and charted three cover version singles of his songs – Twistin’ The Night Away (1973 • #59), a second recording of it from the movie Innerspace (1987 • #80) and in 1994 he recorded Cooke’s Having A Party with fellow ex-Faces band member Ronnie Wood (#36).
Over the decades, songs by Cooke have also been covered by artists of note such as Dr. Hook, Tony Orlando, Herman’s Hermits, Art Garfunkel/Paul Simon/James Taylor, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Freddie & The Dreamers and scores of others.
Related Links:
John Lennon’s Death: Post of December 8, 2015
Otis Redding’s Death: Post of December 10, 2015
Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
