THE LIFE

AND
LEGACY
OF SAM
COOKE

by Ryan Wilkins
 THE SONGS OF SAM
COOKE
• Lovable, 1956, Specialty Records
• You Send Me,1957, Keen Records
• Summertime, 1957, Keen Records
• What a Wonderful World, 1960, Keen Records
• Chain Gang, 1960, RCA Victor
• Bring It On Home To Me, 1962, RCA Victor
• Having a Party, 1962, RCA Victor
• Another Saturday Night, 1963, RCA Victor
• A Change is Gonna Come, 1964, RCA Victor
 Born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale,
Mississippi
Great-grandmother was a slave
THE EARLY
Fifth of eight children
LIFE OF
SAM COOKE Son of a preacher

Moved to Chicago in 1936

 FROM MISSISSIPPI TO CHICAGO
1930s Mississippi 1930s Chicago
 Age 6, began with Age 14, became
the Singing Children lead singer of the
• Performed wherever his Highway QC’s
father preached • Men’s gospel choir and
recording group

THE EARLY
CAREER OF Age 19, became

SAM COOKE
Sam has been
lead singer of the
credited with
Soul Stirrers
bringing Gospel to a
• Gospel group that wider audience,
travelled the United
States particularly young
women who would
flock to the stage to
see him perform
 RACISM, JIM CROW, AND
ECHOES OF THE PAST
• While travelling the Chitlin Circuit
with the Soul Stirrers, Sam would see
and experience first-hand the
racism that still existed across the
United States

• Chicago wasn’t completely de-

segregated, but the Southern
United States were a different world
and opened Sam’s eyes to what his
family had escaped
 SAM BRANCHES OUT
• Sam decided he wanted to perform more
secular music, so he recorded the single
“Lovable”
• Branching out of Gospel music was
frowned upon so he used a pseudonym to
avoid alienating his fans
• His label, Specialty Records, wanted him to
sound more like Little Richard, but Sam
disagreed
• Sam would leave the label and sign next
with Keen Records
 TRANSITION FROM GOSPEL TO SOUL

• Sam was signed by Keen Records and released

his first big hit, You Send Me, in 1957

• The song made it to #1 on Billboards Pop Charts

• Named one of the 500 most important rock and

roll recordings by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

• Ranked #115 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top

500 Greatest Songs of All Time
WITH KEEN RECORDS
• Sam would spend the next two
years with Keen Records crafting
the hits:
• "For Sentimental Reasons"
• "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha"
• "Only Sixteen“
• "(What A) Wonderful World“
• Left Keen Records in 1960 over a
disagreement with his contract
WITH RCA VICTOR
• After leaving Keen Records, Sam
would be signed by RCA Victor, a
large multinational label
• With RCA he would release the bulk
of his Top 40 hits, including:
• “Chain Gang”
• “Bring it on Home to Me”
• “Having a Party”
• “A Change is Gonna Come”
• This would be the last label he would
record for before his death
 SAM'S INFLUENCE ON THE MUSIC BUSINESS
• Around the time he left Keen Records, Sam
created his own Record Label called SAR
Records
• Allowed him to have more influence over
the music world, releasing albums by
Gospel and Secular artists
• Signed artists such as Bobby Womack and
Johnnie Taylor
• Later created Kags Music Group which
was a publishing and imprint firm to
backup his label
SAM COOKE WITH
MUHAMMAD ALI
• In the later part of his career,
Sam befriended Jim Brown,
Muhammad Ali, and
Malcolm X
• All four men were active in
the Civil Rights Movement
and were subjected to
surveillance by the FBI
because of their activism
THE DEATH OF SAM COOKE
• Much controversy surrounds Sam’s death
• Some believe he was set up by Elisa Boyer, a
woman he met at a club the night of his death
• Others believe it was because of the influence
he was gaining in the Civil Rights Movement
• Etta James, in her book Rage to Survive, says
Sam looked beaten to a pulp at his funeral
• After his death, Muhammad Ali led a chorus of
people asking why there wasn’t a proper
investigation into his murder
• Most believe if Sam was a white man the police
would have treated his death more seriously
 INNOVATIONS AND LEGACY OF
SAM COOKE
• Bridged the gap between White and Black audiences
• One of the first Black celebrities to wear his hair naturally in an “afro” which
was much different from the slick-backed hair many wore before him
• Sam was long an outspoken advocate for Black musician’s rights
• Fought with his labels to get a fair share of his royalties
• One of the first musicians, Black or White, to gain publishing rights and the
master recordings of his music
• SAR Records and Kags Music enabled Black artists to have a greater share of
their profits and paved the way for other Black label owners
• Many consider him the “Father of Soul” or “Inventor of Soul”
 REFERENCES
Eder, B. (2019, March). Sam Cooke. Retrieved from Allmusic.com:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-cooke-mn0000238115/biography
Editors, B. (2014, April 2). Sam Cooke Biography. Retrieved from Biography.com:
https://www.biography.com/people/sam-cooke-9256129
Guralnick, P. (2014). Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. Boston: Little, Brown and
Company.
New World Encyclopedia. (2013, June 19). Sam Cooke. Retrieved from New World Encyclopedia:
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Sam_Cooke

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