View Full Version : Sam Cooke
glinda
03-02-2008, 01:17 PM
Watched a compelling documentary on Sam Cooke yesterday on PBS. Learned a lot of amazing things, which I shoulda known:
He was born in Clarksdale, MS - what is it about that town? Something in the water???
He wrote Change is Gonna Come, one of my favorite songs
He tried to hide his identity when he started writing & singing secular (the devil's) music. In my blues class I recently learned that Howlin Wolf's mother refused to see or speak to him for that reason, even on his deathbed. BTW one of the Holmes Bros says, on that subject, "Jesus changed water into wine, not wine into water.") :)
He wrote At Last.
What a genius, murdered at 33, in 1964.
papafrog
03-02-2008, 01:44 PM
would love to see that special....
love sam cooke....crazy the way he died..
only consolation is hes playing with hendrix, muddy, mahalia,etc..
The Krewe of Chew
03-02-2008, 09:55 PM
He tried to hide his identity when he started writing & singing secular (the devil's) music. .
Did you know that the song he recorded when he tried to hide his identity ("Lovable" by Dale Cook) he recorded in New Orleans, at Cosimo Matassa's studio?
papafrog
03-02-2008, 10:23 PM
and one of the Batistes, I believe it was Harold Batiste, was the force
behind this, and sort of is the one to help discover Sam Cooke
glinda
03-02-2008, 10:34 PM
Didn't know either of those things... my fascination continues. Shouldn't be surprised about the NewOrleans connections.
Dixiegal
03-02-2008, 10:38 PM
Watched a compelling documentary on Sam Cooke yesterday on PBS. Learned a lot of amazing things, which I shoulda known:
He was born in Clarksdale, MS - what is it about that town? Something in the water???
He wrote Change is Gonna Come, one of my favorite songs
He tried to hide his identity when he started writing & singing secular (the devil's) music. In my blues class I recently learned that Howlin Wolf's mother refused to see or speak to him for that reason, even on his deathbed. BTW one of the Holmes Bros says, on that subject, "Jesus changed water into wine, not wine into water.") :)
He wrote At Last.
What a genius, murdered at 33, in 1964.
That's cool that you're taking a blues class, even cooler that they're teaching one somewhere. Blues needs to get some props, at least the same that jazz does. :)
ozzie
03-03-2008, 07:42 AM
The doco I saw last week (Soul Deep - Gospel Train) implied that Sam wrote 'Change' in response to Dylan's 'The Times they are a Changing'. Said he was in awe of Dylan's lyrics and the power of the song and felt it important for a black man to write a song that would make a statement about the times. He sure did that.