The Man Who Invented Soul

by Sam Cooke

Overview

This set is near essential to fans of Sam Cooke, despite the fact that it contains none of his gospel recordings for Specialty Records or any of the work from the final year of his career (owned by ABKCO Records). Scattered every few minutes across this four-disc collection are reminders of just how far ahead of all existing musical forms Cooke was, creating sounds that stretched the definitions of song genres as they were understood and created completely new categories. Indeed, he was so successful that it's easy to underestimate the impact and importance of many of his early triumphs. "You Send Me," which opens this set, may seem today like the safest, tamest pop music, but in 1957 it was a genre-bending single, a new kind of R&B/pop music hybrid and one that quietly shook the foundations of the music business when it hit number one. Disc one offers a fresh appreciation of the best of the early Keen Records sides, drawing on the best of nearly two years of singles and the strongest of Cooke's LP tracks in the best account to date of his early career in popular music. Disc two begins Cooke's RCA years, and the quality of his singles, which clearly and easily bridge the gap between genres, races, and generations, improves dramatically. The development of Cooke's writing and singing and his growing confidence and range culminate with disc four, which encompasses the Night Beat album and Cooke's live performance from the Harlem Square Club. The sound is extraordinary throughout, expansive, rich-textured, and vividly detailed; a choice earlier CD release, The Man and His Music, by comparison, sounds thin and tinny. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	04/25/2025
Label:	Music On Cd
UPC:	8718627237694

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sam Cooke   Primary Artist,Vocals
Billy Mure   Conductor
King Curtis   Saxophone
Cornell Dupree   Guitar
Everett Barksdale   Guitar
Frank Capp   Drums,Percussion
Eddie Bert   Trombone
Jimmie Crawford   Drums,Percussion
Bobby Donaldson   Drums,Percussion
Sammy Lowe   Conductor
Clifton White   Guitar
Ralph Burns   Conductor
Ray Pohlman   Bass
Jimmy Cleveland   Trombone
Marshall Sosson   Violin
Raymond Johnson   Piano
Red Callender   Bass
Jerome Reisler   Violin
Rene Hall   Conductor
Max Pollikoff   Violin
Milt Hinton   Bass
Stu Williamson   Trumpet
John DeVoogdt   Violin
Israel Baker   Violin
Alfred Brown   Violin
Seldon Powell   Saxophone
David Nadien   Violin
Jesse Ehrlich   Cello
Al Chernet   Guitar
Ernie Freeman   Piano
Julius Wechter   Drums,Percussion
Willy Rodriguez   Drums,Percussion
George Stubbs   Piano
Lloyd Trotman   Bass
Norris "Bunny" Shawker   Drums,Percussion
Harry Lookofsky   Violin
Plas Johnson   Saxophone
Ray Copeland   Trumpet
Charles Libove   Violin
Nuncio "Toots" Mondello   Saxophone
Allan Harshman   Viola
Albert "June" Gardner   Drums,Percussion
William Green   Saxophone
Joe Wilder   Trumpet
John Ewing   Trombone
Hugo Peretti   Organ
Horace Ott   Conductor
Jerome Richardson   Saxophone
Autrey McKissack   Violin
Steve Lipkins   Trumpet
Charles Macey   Guitar
Joe Gibbons   Guitar
Emmet Sargeant   Violin
Fred Fradkin   Violin
Alexander Neiman   Viola
Marty Harris   Piano
Harry Urbont   Violin
Myron Sandler   Violin
Melvin Tax   Saxophone
Joseph Saxon   Violin
Elliot Fisher   Violin
Allen Hanlon   Guitar
Morris Lefkowitz   Violin
John Anderson   Trumpet
Ron Rich   Drums,Percussion
Archie Levin   Violin
Hank Jones   Piano
Armand Kaproff   Cello
Frederick Buldrini   Violin
Thomas Tedesco   Guitar
Billy Preston   Organ
Tommy Tedesco   Guitar
Wilbert Nuttycombe   Viola
Jewell L. Grant   Saxophone
George Duvivier   Bass
Arnold Belnick   Violin
Hal Blaine   Drums,Percussion
Sidney Sharp   Violin
Barney Kessel   Guitar
Earl Palmer   Drums,Percussion
Darrel Terwilliger   Violin
Gerald Wilson   Conductor
Glenn Osser   Conductor
Harry Hyams   Viola
Ralph Schaeffer   Violin
William Hinshaw   Violin
Allan Hanlon   Guitar
George Ockner   Violin
Max Cahn   Violin
Ernie Hayes   Piano
George Neikrug   Violin
Isadore Roman   Violin
Frank Saracco   Trombone
Lou Oles   Trumpet
Al Godlis   Trombone
Tate Houston   Saxophone
Cecil Figelski   Cello
Irving Weinper   Viola
Ben Miller   Violin
Clifford Hils   Bass
Arnold Eidus   Violin
Nathan Griffin   Organ
Irving Lipschultz   Viola
Reuben Phillips   Saxophone
Irving Lipshultz   Viola
Al Pelligrini   Piano
Paul Winter   Violin
Donald Armone   Guitar
Larry Altpeter   Trombone
Hinda Barnet   Violin
Al Pellegrini   Piano
Johnny Grimes   Trumpet
Felix Giglio   Violin
Marvin Limonick   Violin
Morris Wechsler   Piano
James Maxwell   Trumpet
Joseph Coppin   Cello
Edward Hall   Drums,Percussion
Joseph Wilder   Trumpet
James Bond   Bass
Sharky Hall   Drums,Percussion
Jewell Grant   Saxophone
David Francis   Drums,Percussion
Stan Applebaum   Conductor
Edward T. Beal   Piano
Robert Barone   Violin
Harold Dickerow   Violin
Bennie Glow   Trumpet
Franklin Siegfried   Violin
Ernest Green   Saxophone
George Callender   Bass
John Kelsom   Saxophone
William Rodgriguez   Drums,Percussion
Williams Kurash   Violin
Sylvan Ockner   Violin
Samuel Boshossian   Viola
Paul Pizzarelli   Guitar
Frederick Soykora   Cello
William Pittman   Guitar
Leonard Malarsky   Violin
Buzz Ravineau   Sequencing

Technical Credits

L.C. Cooke   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Jack Strachey   Composer
Chester Burnett   Composer
Clarence Paul   Composer
James Alexander   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Jacques Brel   Composer
Hugo & Luigi   Supervisor,Producer
Lowell Jordan   Composer
James Van Heusen   Composer
Ned Washington   Composer
Richard M. Jones   Composer
Prudhomme   Composer
Matt Hyde   Composer
Redd Evans   Composer
Bob Russell   Composer
Bob Simpson   Engineer
Kenny Gamble   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Stephen Morris   Composer
Triumph   Composer
Eden Ahbez   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Madeline Hyde   Composer
Jeff Barry   Composer
Leo Price   Composer
Leon Huff   Composer
Holt Marvell   Composer
Sam H. Stept   Composer
Jerry Fuller   Composer
Roy Alfred   Composer
Geddins   Composer
Jimmie Cox   Composer
Tony Salvatore   Assistant Engineer
Ed Townsend   Composer
Rube Bloom   Composer
Eddie Williams   Composer
Victor Herbert   Composer
John Berry   Composer
Mack David   Composer
Francis Henry   Composer
John Marascalco   Composer
Charles Trenet   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Charles Warfield   Composer
DuBose Heyward   Composer
Charles E. Calhoun   Composer
Charlie Musselwhite   Composer
Lou Adler   Composer
Lew Brown   Composer
Lou Rawls   Composer
Sam Cooke   Composer
Robert Geddins   Composer
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers   Composer
Peter Hook   Composer
Rob Santos   Production Assistant
James Cox   Composer
Ella Tate   Composer
Mabel Cordle   Composer
Gillian Gilbert   Composer
Dave Mann   Composer
Bill Lacey   Audio Restoration
Harry Link   Composer
Haywood   Composer
Herb Alpert   Composer
William "Pat" Best   Composer
Ted Koehler   Composer
Bernard Sumner   Composer
Bobby Bloom   Composer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Ivory Joe Hunter   Composer
James W. Alexander   Composer
Clarence Williams   Composer
Barbara Campbell   Composer
Frank Haywood   Composer
Edward Heyman   Composer
Carolyn Franklin   Composer
Porter Grainger   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Gene Gifford   Composer
Charles Brown   Composer
Michael Hill   Liner Notes,Essay
Mississippi Fred McDowell   Composer
Aretha Franklin   Composer
Arthur Hamilton   Composer
Al Schmitt   Engineer
H. E. Gifford   Composer
Willie Dixon   Composer
Victor Young   Composer
Zelda Samuels   Composer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Marvell   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Ernest Tucker   Composer
Charles Tobias   Composer
Deek Watson   Composer
Jesse Ervin   Composer
Bruce Culver   Composer
Michael Serino   Composer
Robert Prince   Composer
J.W. Alexander   Composer
Mike Hartry   Digital Transfers
Charles Calhoun   Composer
David Hassinger   Engineer
Carl Sigman   Composer
Stan Applebaum   Arranger
Albert Holden   Composer
Don Covay   Composer