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Some 46 years after his first pop hit, and 39 years after his death, comes only the second attempt at a comprehensive Sam Cooke collection. Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 eclipses RCA's early-'80s The Man and His Music, going it better in running time but losing some important recordings -- "That's Heaven to Me" and "Soothe Me," arguably one of Cooke's most important songs -- in the process of summing up his career. From 1951's Soul Stirrers' gospel classic "Touch the Hem of His Garment" through to 1964's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "Shake," we get highlights of Cooke's career presented in state-of-the-art digital audio; superior in every way possible to the audio quality of The Man and His Music. What's more, this is a hybrid disc with SACD capability, and the sound on that layer is almost as much of a jump above the quality on the CD layer as this remastering is from the old The Man and His Music disc; and either the standard CD or the SACD playback makes that 1980s-issued compilation sound faint and anemic. There's also annotation here -- which was totally lacking on the earlier CD -- by Peter Guralnick, which delves very effectively into the background of each song. And the producers have taken the trouble to be a little inventive in the programming -- it would have been easy enough to follow a strict chronological approach, but instead the disc opens and closes with tracks that reveal Cooke's gospel roots, which is pretty much where his music started and where it ended up, bookending his first hit with songs from his first session ever.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Sam Cooke, Vocals, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - The Soul Stirrers, Choir, MainArtist - Joe Tarantino, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1990 Specialty Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Tony Harris, ComposerLyricist - The Soul Stirrers, Choir, FeaturedArtist - Joe Tarantino, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1990 Specialty Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1957 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1959 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist - Watson, ComposerLyricist - Best, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1957 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1961 ABKCO Music & Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1958 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1959 ABKCO Records Inc.
William Cook, ComposerLyricist - Sam Cooke, FeaturedArtist - The Soul Stirrers, MainArtist
℗ 1970 Fantasy Records
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1958 ABKCO Music & Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1960 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1961 ABKCO Records Inc.
Lou Adler, ComposerLyricist - Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Herb Alpert, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1960 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1960 ABKCO Records Inc.
George Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Sam Cooke, MainArtist - Dubose Heyward, ComposerLyricist - Alexander Robert Blackwell, Producer
℗ 1959 ABKCO Records Inc.
Dixon, ComposerLyricist - Sam Cooke, MainArtist
℗ 1963 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1962 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1962 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1965 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2008 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1964 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1962 RCA Records
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1964 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist - Redd Stewart, ComposerLyricist - Peewee King, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1964 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1963 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1964 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1962 ABKCO Records Inc.
J.W. Alexander, ComposerLyricist - Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1964 ABKCO Records Inc.
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2008 ABKCO Records Inc.
Lucie Campbell, ComposerLyricist - Sam Cooke, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - The Soul Stirrers, Choir, FeaturedArtist - Joe Tarantino, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1990 Specialty Records
Sam Cooke, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2003 ABKCO Records Inc.
Album review
Some 46 years after his first pop hit, and 39 years after his death, comes only the second attempt at a comprehensive Sam Cooke collection. Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 eclipses RCA's early-'80s The Man and His Music, going it better in running time but losing some important recordings -- "That's Heaven to Me" and "Soothe Me," arguably one of Cooke's most important songs -- in the process of summing up his career. From 1951's Soul Stirrers' gospel classic "Touch the Hem of His Garment" through to 1964's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "Shake," we get highlights of Cooke's career presented in state-of-the-art digital audio; superior in every way possible to the audio quality of The Man and His Music. What's more, this is a hybrid disc with SACD capability, and the sound on that layer is almost as much of a jump above the quality on the CD layer as this remastering is from the old The Man and His Music disc; and either the standard CD or the SACD playback makes that 1980s-issued compilation sound faint and anemic. There's also annotation here -- which was totally lacking on the earlier CD -- by Peter Guralnick, which delves very effectively into the background of each song. And the producers have taken the trouble to be a little inventive in the programming -- it would have been easy enough to follow a strict chronological approach, but instead the disc opens and closes with tracks that reveal Cooke's gospel roots, which is pretty much where his music started and where it ended up, bookending his first hit with songs from his first session ever.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 31 track(s)
- Total length: 01:18:40
- Main artists: Sam Cooke
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: ABKCO Music & Records, Inc.
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
© 2016 Abkco Music & Records, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2015 Abkco Music & Records, Inc.
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