Spotlight on Sam Cooke – Koko Mojo Records (KM-CD-159)
Rockstar Records Limited, Cork, Ireland
Sister labels:
Rhythm Bomb Records – Koko-Mojo Records – Atomicat Records
Pan American Records – Richard Weize Archives
Europe`s leading vintage rockin’ roots record labels
Series: Spotlight
Title: Spotlight on Sam Cooke
Sub Title: Movin’ and Groovin’ with Sam Cooke
Label: Koko Mojo
Number: KM-CD-159
Compilation: Mark Armstrong
Liner notes: Mark Armstrong
Artwork: Urban Zotel
Mastering: The Studio That Time Forgot, El Paso, Texas
Filed under: Pop, Soul, Gospel, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rhythm & Blues
The Koko Mojo Records Spotlight is shone onto Sam Cooke (he added the “e” to his last name in 1957 to signify a new start to his life) and looks at his involvement within the music world. The album does not rely upon his hit recordings, these are available on numerous albums, and in typical Koko Mojo style, and we sample the best of the rest. These recordings are equally as good and will allow fans of his music to add to their collection, not duplicate recordings. The album runs chronologically by year and looks at Cooke’s secular and non-secular recordings, and then adds in some of Cooke’s compositions recorded by other artists.
The album commences with two fiery Specialty records gospel recordings from the early 1950s, Jesus Gave Me Water and Touch The Hem Of His Garment by The Soul Stirrers featuring Sam Cook as a vocalist. In 1957 he swapped to secular music and upon signing with the independent Keen label Cook became known as Sam Cooke. The fledgling label was newly formed by Los Angeles-based businessmen John and Alex Siamas. Cooke’s first album simply titled Sam Cooke was released in 1958, and from here onwards his secular career was underway. In 1959 Cooke left Keen over a royalty dispute, and in 1960 he signed with RCA Victor and began writing blues, gospel-inflected songs, and from this period his chart career became more high profile. From his involvement with these labels the album showcases twenty recordings including; Win Your Love For Me, Running Wild, No One (Can Ever Take Your Place), Happy In Love, The Twist, and Shake, Rattle And Roll.
Cooke was riding the crest of a wave and crossing over into the mainstream charts, and branched out into music production in 1961, and founded SAR Records, with Hamilton, Mississippi-bred J. W. Alexander and his manager, Roy Crain. The SAR recordings provide two titles from the reformed Soul Stirrers, Jesus Be A Fence Around Me, and He’s Been A Shelter For Me, The Simms Twins, The Smile, Johnnie Taylor with the soulful Rome (Wasn’t Built In A Day), and switching to the United Artists label, Pow! You’re In Love by The Falcons, all of which Cooke had a writing credit from Cooke.
The sleeve notes from Dee Jay and the re-issue producer Mark Armstrong tell the Cooke story, and artist Urban Zotel brings the album visually to life and the boys at The Studio That Time Forgot, El Paso, Texas provide the vivid Koko Mojo sound.
Dee Jay Mark Armstrong Bühl, Germany
Spotlight on Sam Cooke Koko Mojo Records (KM-CD-159) – Movin’ and Groovin’ with Sam Cooke
01 Soul Stirrers featuring Sam Cook Jesus Gave Me Water (Campbell) Specialty 1951
02 Soul Stirrers featuring Sam Cook Touch The Hem Of His Garment (Cook) Specialty 1954
03 Sam Cooke Love You Most Of All (Campbell) Keen 1958
04 Sam Cooke Win Your Love For Me (Cooke) Keen 1958
05 Sam Cooke Running Wild (Gibbs, Grey, Wood) Keen 1958 LP Encore
06 Sam Cooke Long, Long Ago (Bayly) RCA Victor 1959 EP Swing Low 1959
07 Sam Cooke Happy In Love (Cook) Specialty 1959
08 Sam Cooke Comes Love (Brown, Stept, Tobias) Keen 1959 LP Tribute To The Lady
09 Sam Cooke I’ve Got A Right To Sing The Blues (Arlen, Koehler) Keen 1959 LP Tribute To The Lady
10 Sam Cooke Mary, Mary Lou (Mangiaracina) Keen 1960
11 Sam Cooke No One (Can Ever Take Your Place) (Campbell) Keen 1960
12 Soul Stirrers (lead) Paul Foster Wade In The Water (Cooke, Alexander) SAR 1960
13 Sam Cooke If I Had You (Alexander, Cooke) RCA Victor 1961 LP Folk Favorites
14 Sam Cooke Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (Traditional) RCA Victor 1961 LP Folk Favorites
15 Sam Cooke Just For You (Cooke) SAR 1961
16 Soul Stirrers Jesus Be A Fence Around Me (Cooke) SAR 1961
17 Soul Stirrers He’s Been A Shelter For Me (Cooke, Alexander) SAR 1961
18 The Falcons Pow! You’re In Love (Cooke) United Artists 1961
19 Sam Cooke Having A Party (Cooke) RCA Victor 1962
20 Sam Cooke Movin’ And Groovin’ (Cooke, Rawls) RCA Victor 1962 LP Twistin’ The Night Away
21 Sam Cooke The Twist (Ballard) RCA Victor 1962 LP Twistin’ The Night Away
22 Sam Cooke That’s It, I Quit, I’m Movin’ On RCA Victor 1962 LP Twistin’ The Night Away
23 Sam Cooke A Whole Lotta Woman (Alexander, Jordan) RCA Victor 1962 LP Twistin’ The Night Away
24 The Simms Twins The Smile (Brown, Cooke) SAR 1962
25 Johnnie Taylor Rome (Wasn’t Built In A Day) (Cooke) SAR 1962
26 Sam Cooke Ain’t That Good News (Cooke) RCA Victor 1963
27 Sam Cooke Little Red Rooster (Dixon) RCA Victor 1963
28 Sam Cooke Shake, Rattle And Roll (Calhoun) RCA Victor 1963
Mission Statement
Sam Cooke Awards
1986 inducted as a performer into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1987 inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame
1999 a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
2011 the City of Chicago renamed a portion of East 36th Street near Cottage Grove Avenue as the honorary “Sam Cooke Way”
Main Banner
Movin’ and Groovin’ with Sam Cooke by design excludes the well-known hits and in typical Koko Mojo style showcases the lesser-known but equally as exciting recordings. The album is full of Cooke appeal!
Mission statement
The album features two formations of The Soul Stirrers one which included Cooke, twenty solo Sam Cooke recordings, and looks at his songwriting skills for The Simms Twins, Johnnie Taylor, and The Falcons.
The album has; stunning design, sleeve notes, and songs mastered for the best possible sound. The disc is housed in an attractively designed cardboard sleeve, specially designed to avoid the use of plastic and be environmentally friendly. You are listening to music from the past and preserving the future! Koko Mojo Records “often imitated, never duplicated.”
Dee Jay Mark Armstrong Bühl, Germany
The Sam Cooke story
Samuel Cook (he added the “e” to his last name in 1957 to signify a new start to his life) was born on 22 January 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in the city of Chicago Heights Cook County, Illinois. His father was the Reverend Charles Cook, Sr., who was a Baptist minister and his mother was Annie May Cook, one of the siblings L.C. Cook became a gospel artist. The story from here onwards will refer to Cook by his artist’s identity of Cooke, and his wife’s as Cook.
Cooke’s first marriage was to singer and dancer Dolores Elizabeth Milligan Cook, who was killed in a car accident in 1959. Although they were divorced, Cooke paid for his ex-wife’s funeral. Barbara Campbell Cook became his second wife and Cooke often used the alias Campbell for songwriting. They had three children together; Linda (born 1953), Tracy (born 1960) and Vincent (born 1961) who died in a swimming pool accident in 1963. Cooke also fathered at least three other children outside his marriage according to the available literature. In March 1965 Campbell Cook after Cooke’s death married singer Bobby Womack.
The gospel years
Aged fifteen Cooke joined Specialty records gospel group The Soul Stirrers as lead vocalist and stayed with them for six years until 1957. Cooke was still a member of The Soul Stirrers when he recorded also for Specialty Lovable as Dale Cooke, and the deception was to avoid upsetting his original fan base. Nevertheless, the change was coming, and he embarked on a secular music career. He was assisted with his release from Specialty records by Bumps Blackwell, who was Specialty’s, chief A&R man. Cooke was owed royalties and Blackwell negotiated a deal for Cooke’s recording contract instead of cash.
Secular music
Blackwell then placed Cooke with the independent Keen label which was formed in 1957 by Los Angeles based businessmen John and Alex Siamas. Bob Keane during this time frame was in their employment, but he departed in 1957 and went on to form Del-Fi Records. Cooke recorded his first album titled Sam Cooke in 1958 for the label, and from here onwards Cooke’s secular career was underway. In 1959 Cooke left Keen over a royalty dispute.
Major label and production work
In 1960 Cooke signed with RCA Victor and began writing blues, gospel-inflected songs, and the deal also allowed him to keep control of his song publishing. His records around this time were not charting although he was a popular attraction on the music circuit. Things however changed upon the release of the song Chain Gang, and the hits started to flow. The next stage in his life began and the capitalistic Cooke established himself as a successful entrepreneur with, the co-founding of SAR label, which stands for Sam, Alex and Roy; the “Roy” is S.R. Crain, originator and manager of the Soul Stirrers gospel group. Furthermore, a publishing company Kags Music was created, and he formed a management firm with offices in the Warner Brothers Building in Hollywood. The capitalistic venture continued in 1963 when Cooke and Alexander established a pop music subsidiary label named Derby.
The end of a dream
On 10 December 1964, Cooke spent the evening having fun in Hollywood and he caught the eye of twenty-two-year-old Elisa Boyer. Around 2 a.m. they ended up at the Hacienda Motel, which was known for its $3-an-hour rates, and short-term visitors. The evidence is from here convoluted, according to Boyer, she asked the singer to take her home, but Cooke forced her into a room at the motel. She further claimed he pinned her to the bed making her captive. Strangely she reports the partly dressed Cooke then went into the bathroom, and she then grabbed a pile of his clothes and fled.
Cooke wearing only a sports jacket and a single shoe ran to the motel office where Bertha Franklin worked and according to Franklin “he rammed the door down” shouting “Where is the girl?” Cooke during the altercation was shot by the motel manageress. Franklin’s testimony to the police stated, “I shot… at close range… three times”. The first two shots missed him, but the third bullet hit him in the chest. During the early hours of 11 December 1964 aged thirty-three Sam Cooke fell back dying, exclaiming, “Lady, you shot me.” Upon the news becoming public some 200,000 fans turned out in the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago to mourn the passing of Cooke.
Controversy over the death
The authorities ruled Cooke’s death a case of justifiable homicide, based on Franklin’s testimony to the police. A month later, police arrested Boyer for prostitution. In 1979, Boyer was found guilty of the second-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend. Based on this record, some posit that Boyer had attempted to rob Cooke and it went awry. At Cooke’s open-casket funeral, friends Etta James and Muhammad Ali were reportedly shocked to find Cooke’s body badly beaten and according to James “His head was nearly separated from his shoulders, his hands were broken and crushed, and his nose mangled.” Another theory suggested that his enemies planned and staged Cooke’s death. By the 1960s, Cooke had become a prominent voice in the civil rights movement and frequently ruffled the feathers of bigots when he refused to perform at segregated venues. Ray Charles performed at his funeral and his posthumous hit A Change Is Gonna Come became the anthem of the civil rights movement.
The other artists
The Soul Stirrers began recording in 1926 and the name has been active for around eighty years, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
The twins Bobbie and Kenny Simms were born on 29 November 1937 in Elba, Louisiana and their family moved to Los Angeles in 1948. Bobbie died on 8 August 2006 and Kenny died on 12 July 2007.
The Falcons were formed in 1955 in Detroit, Michigan and the membership fluctuated.
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born on 5 May 1937 in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, and died on 31 May 2000 in Dallas, Texas. He started his career in the mid-1950s as a member of gospel group The Highway QC’s and in 1957, he replace Sam Cooke as lead vocalist for The Soul Stirrers.
Albums used- # 05 LP Encore # 06 EP Swing Low # 08/09 LP Tribute To The Lady # 13/14 LP Folk Favorites # 20/21/22/23 LP Twistin’ The Night Away
Dee Jay Mark Armstrong Bühl Germany
Sources
Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick,
The Encyclopaedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin
This day in history on line
Gold’s Hall of Fame: Sam Cooke online
Los Angeles Morgue Files on line
