Sam Cooke in the 1950s by Ricardo Garcia

January 22, 1931- December 11, 1964 (33 years)

Samuel cook or better known as Sam Cooke was from Clarskdale, Mississippi who touched many hearts with his outstanding music. Cooke was very talented with his wide variety of music as he sung American gospel, R&B, soul and pop music. He also was a songwriter and an entrepreneur. Samuel Cooke didn’t live life to his fullest as he was shot in the torso in a Los Angeles Hotel; nevertheless, he was considered the king of Souls for his distinctive vocal abilities and the impact on the modern world of rock music. 

Cooke began his career singing gospel with his siblings in a group when he was nine years old. Soon he became the lead singer of his group as the year went by and soon he would ride solo and further his career. His first pop single, "Lovable" (1956) which was a remake of the gospel song "Wonderful", and was released under the alias "Dale Cook" in order not to isolate his gospel fan base; as there was a considerable shame against gospel singers performing secular music. However, it didn’t fool anyone. Cooke's unique and distinctive vocals were easily recognized. Art Rupe, head of Specialty Records, the label of the Soul Stirrers, gave his blessing for Cooke to record secular music under his real name, but he was unhappy about the type of music Cooke and producer Bumps Blackwell were making. Rupe expected Cooke's secular music to be similar to that of another Specialty Records artist, Little Richard (Guralnick, 2005).

                                                        Lovable By: Sam Cooke

                                               Wonderful World By: Sam Cooke

 His contribution in music led to the rise of amazing artists today like Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, and many more. “He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny.” (Wolff, 1995).

He was soon inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame in 1986 and ranked him #16 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In 2008, Cooke was named the fourth "Greatest Singer of All Time" by Rolling Stones. Also In June 2011, the City of Chicago renamed a portion of East 36th Street near Cottage Grove Avenue as the honorary "Sam Cooke Way" to remember the singer near a corner where he hung out and sang as a teenager (Guralnick, 2005). Samuel Cooke will always be remembered in the world of Rock N’ Roll as one of the great elites of all time. 

                                                       Cupid By: Sam Cooke 

Works Cited:

Guralnick, Peter. Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. New York: Little, Brown, 2005. Print.

Wolff, Daniel J. You Send Me: The Life and times of Sam Cooke. New York: W. Morrow, 1995. Print.