Sam Cooke at the Copa

by Sam Cooke

Overview

Sam Cooke at the Copa was a frustrating record. One of a handful of live albums by a major soul artist of its era, it captured Cooke in excellent voice, and was well-recorded -- it just wasn't really a "soul" album, except perhaps in the tamest possible definition of that term. Playing to an upscale, largely white supper-club audience, in a very conservatively run venue where he had previously failed to impress either patrons or the management, Cooke toned down his performance and chose the safest material with which he could still be comfortable. In place of songs like "Feel It," "Bring It on Home to Me," or even "Cupid," which were part of his usual set, he performed numbers like "The Best Things in Life Are Free," "Bill Bailey," and "When I Fall in Love" here. True, his renditions may be the versions of any of those songs that an R&B fan will like best, but they always seemed a poor substitute for what's not here -- not just the songs that he didn't do, but the intense, sweaty presentation, as much a sermon as a concert, the pounding beat, and the crowd being driven into ever-more frenzied delight. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	01/22/2021
Label:	Abkco Records
UPC:	0018771862611

Tracks

1. Opening Introduction
2. The Best Things in Life Are Free
3. Bill Bailey
4. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
5. Frankie and Johnny
6. You Send Me
7. If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)
8. When I Fall in Love
9. Twistin' the Night Away
10. Band Introductions
11. This Little Light of Mine
12. Blowin' in the Wind
13. Tennessee Waltz

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sam Cooke   Primary Artist,Vocals
Bobby Womack   Guest Artist,Guitar
Albert "June" Gardner   Drums
John Altman   Flute,Clarinet,Saxophone
Rene Hall   Conductor
Bart Varsalona   Trombone
Harper Cosby   Bass
Clyde Reasinger   Trumpet
George Barrow   Clarinet,Saxophone
Louis Mauro   Bass
Sticks Evans   Percussion
Joe Mele Copacabana Band   Band
William McLeish Smith   Clarinet,Saxophone
Dicky Harris   Trombone
Clifford White   Guitar
Tony Ferina   Clarinet,Saxophone
Joseph Foglia   Flute,Saxophone
Clif White   Guitar
Ronald Plumby   Trombone
George Triffon   Trumpet
Alfred Cobbs   Trombone

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
Bernard Keville   Engineer
Bob Dylan   Composer
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Lew Brown   Composer
Sam Cooke   Composer,Interviewee
Pee Wee King   Composer
Pete Seeger   Composer
Teri Landi   Transfers,Tape Research,Restoration Supervision
Hughie Cannon   Composer
Mark Eitzel   Composer
Jody H. Klein   Restoration Supervision
Jimmy Cox   Composer
Redd Stewart   Composer
Reginald Connelly   Composer
Ray Henderson   Composer
Peter Guralnick   Liner Notes
Rene Hall   Arranger
Gus Skinas   Engineer
Buddy DeSylva   Composer
Harry Woods   Composer
William Best   Composer
Matt Boynton   Assistant Engineer
Steve Rosenthal   Remixing,Restoration,Archives Coordinator
Edward Heyman   Composer
Lee Hays   Composer
Jimmie Cox   Composer
Al Schmitt   Producer
Victor Young   Composer
Don Paulsen   Interviewer,Liner Notes
Joe Mele Copacabana Band   Leader
Deek Watson   Composer
Wally Seawell   Photography
Iris Keitel   Art Direction
James Cox   Composer
Lenne Allik   Concept
Jimmy Campbell   Composer
Pat Best   Composer
Alisa Ritz   Art Direction
April Hobbs   Art Coordinator
Seth Adkins   Art Coordinator
Laura Walton   Restoration Supervision
Russell Watson   Composer
Lewis Brown   Composer