Sam Cooke - "A Change Is Gonna Come"

In honor of Black History Month all the posts for this month will feature artists of color.

He was the definitive soul man. Cooke was seductive, devoted, elegant and moving. These qualities combined with his dazzling, pure voice made him irresistible to audiences regardless of race or religion.

Sam Cooke blended sensuality and spirituality, sophistication and soul, movie-idol looks and gospel-singer poise.

His warm, confessional voice won him a devoted gospel following as lead singer for the Soul Stirrers and sent “You Send Me,” one of his earliest secular recordings, to the top of the pop and R&B charts in 1957. It was the first of twenty-nine Top Forty hits for the Chicago-raised singer, who was one of eight sons born to a Baptist minister.

Cooke’s career was defined by his early embrace of gospel and his subsequent move into the world of pop music and rhythm & blues. Joining the Soul Stirrers at age fifteen, he served as lead vocalist from 1950 to 1956. He recorded his first pop song, “Lovable,” as Dale Cook, choosing the pseudonym so as not to jeopardize his standing within the gospel community. Regardless, he had crossed a line that made it impossible for him to carry on with the Soul Stirrers. Cooke’s first solo successes came on the Keen label, for which he recorded “You Send Me,” “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” and “Wonderful World,” among others. In 1960 Cooke signed with RCA, where his hits included “Chain Gang,” “Cupid,” “Another Saturday Night” and “Twistin’ the Night Away.” A versatile singer who never really settled on a style, Cooke tackled everything from sophisticated balladry and lighthearted pop to finger-popping rock and roll and raw, raspy rhythm & blues.

In addition to being a performer, Cooke established himself as a successful, even groundbreaking black entrepreneur operating within the mainstream music industry. Cooke produced records for other singers, founded his own publishing company (Kags Music) and launched a record label (Sar/Derby). He also helped such fellow artists as Bobby Womack, Johnnie Taylor, Billy Preston and Lou Rawls make the transition from gospel to pop. Tragically, Cooke was shot to death at a Los Angeles motel on December 11th, 1964 under mysterious circumstances. RCA posthumously issued “Shake” b/w “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Regarded as one of the greatest singles of the modern era, it matched a hard-hitting R&B number (later cut by Otis Redding) with a haunting song about faith and reckoning that returned Cooke’s voice to its familiar gospel home.

He is an icon and a legend, and his influence reaches farther than even he could have imagined. I hope he is sitting peacefully in the pantheon of incredible musicians in the sky.

So today, with an eye looking beyond the bend, I choose Sam Cooke’s "A Change Is Gonna Come" as my, with light in your eyes, with hope on your side, with dreams in your pocket, song for a, belief makes things real, change is never easy nor does it come when you want it, the road feels longest when you lose sight of where your headed, Thursday.