This week I am going to talk about one of my favorite singers, the late but great Sam Cooke. I might never had heard of Sam Cooke if it weren't for a friend of mine playing me one of his songs on her ipod for me during study hall my junior year of high school. The song was "Good Times". I loved the song and immediately wanted to get more Sam Cooke. Being a huge fan of live music, I bought Sam Cooke's album "One Night Stand: Live!" which I consider to be one of the best live recordings I have ever heard in my life. The album does not present the polished Sam Cooke that appeared on his earlier albums. Sam Cooke is at the top of his game on this recording, the only way I can try to describe it, is that he is on fire. His voice is soulful, rougher and plain and simply amazing. Sam Cooke could sing the phone book and sound amazing. Unfortunatly, Sam was shot and killed by a hotel worker in 1964. The hotel worker claimed that Sam attacked her and she shot him in self defense. Sam's family feels that there was some kind of conspiracy to kill Sam. Nevertheless, Sam Cooke was an amazing musician who showed his passion for music in everything he sang.
Here's a Sam Cooke interview with DJ Magnificent Montague from 1963.
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