Perhaps you weren’t up early this morning when we turned on the lights at TVD HQ with a full review of this slab of brilliance:
“Sam Cooke is one of the prime architects of 20th century music. Concise accolades frequently falter into overstatement, but in this instance the praise is offered sans hyperbole. The easiest way to test this claim is through ABKCO’s Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964; initially released on compact disc in 2003, it immediately vaulted to the forefront of Cooke compilations, and that it’s now available on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve retaining Peter Guralnick’s splendid liner notes is cause for celebration…
As its title explains, the set runs the gamut of Cooke’s studio run, though it begins not with a selection from his first Soul Stirrers session, instead choosing “Touch the Hem of His Garment,” a crucial ’56 gospel track delivered not long before he elected to cross over into the secular market. Bluntly, this was dangerous territory; spreaders of the “Good News” (getting to the root of the word Gospel) had to be very careful when going pop, and Cooke wasn’t just any sanctified singer. As part of the Stirrers, he was famous in the field.
One play of “Touch the Hem of His Garment” makes clear why Cooke was held in such esteem by the devout and by extension, why crossing over was such a potential quagmire. The emotional power of gospel applied to rhythm & blues execution; plainly put, that’s the definition of Soul. As said, Cooke’s rep as a religious vocalist remained part of his background well into the ‘80s, but actually hearing the combination of intensity and control he displayed in the Stirrers directly followed by his secular debut is highly and tersely enlightening.
Portrait of a Legend importantly omits the multitalented vocalist-songwriter’s less vibrant attempts at the pop market as part of the RCA roster, motions that weakened his steady output of LPs into the early ‘60s. Included instead is Cooke’s productive utilization of Latin rhythms via the terrific non-hit “Win Your Love for Me” and “Everybody Likes to Cha Cha Cha,” the latter track combining with “Twistin’ the Night Away” (one of the stronger numbers in the Twist craze) and “Shake” to underscore Cooke’s ability in transforming explicitly dance-oriented stuff.
If not the last word, Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 is now the first stop for anybody looking to add a little Sam Cooke to their personal shelves. It’ll either satisfy that craving or instill a whole batch of fresh needs, but obtaining this grand narrative covers an extensive number of fundamental bases; it’s one of the smarter consumer choices a budding collector of American Music can currently make.”
No faint praise there, hm? And, as that header up there clearly states—we’ve got one to give away.
Enter to win ABKCO Records’ Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 by simply relaying in the comments below your all time favorite Sam Cooke recording—and (briefly!) …why. One clear fan with a North American mailing address will find this LP in his or her mailbox. We’ll choose one winner for a copy a week from today, July 22, 2014.
