Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke was married twice in his lifetime. His first wife was singer-dancer Dolores Elizabeth Milligan Cook, who died in a car accident in 1959. They were already divorced at that time.

His second wife was Barbara with whom he had three children named Linda (born 1953), Tracy (born 1960), and Vincent (1961 - 1963).

He died on December 11, 1964 at the age of 33 leaving behind a marvellous musical legacy. He was fatally shot by Bertha Franklin, the manager of Hacienda Motel, Los Angeles following an altercation. The courts later ruled his death as justifiable homicide. Since then, the circumstances of his death have been questioned by his near and dear ones.

Samuel Cook was born on January 22, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was born to a Baptist minister, the Rev. Charles Cook and his wife, Annie Mae; He had seven brothers and sisters.

The family migrated to Chicago in 1933 where he attended Doolittle Elementary and later Wendell Phillips Academy High School. He began his musical career at the age of nine when he joined a group called ‘The Singing Children’ along with his siblings. At the age of 14 he became a lead singer with the ‘Highway QC’s’.

His early works were inspired by a popular gospel group called the ‘Soul Stirrers’. In 1950, he got an opportunity to join the very same group as their lead singer.

Sam Cooke facilitated a deal between the Soul Stirrers and Specialty Records, recording his first song ‘Jesus Gave Me Water’, in 1951. Other gospel songs like ‘How Far Am I from Canaan?’, ‘Peace in the Valley’, ‘One More River’, ‘Jesus Paid the Debt’ etc. followed. He wrote most of these songs and captured the attention of young audiences.

He remained with Soul Stirrers for the next six years before exploring secular music. His first single, ‘Lovable’ (remake of the gospel song ‘Wonderful’) was released in 1957 under nom de plume ‘Dale Cooke’. Later in the same year, he signed a deal with Keen Records and released his first number one hit, ‘You Send Me’; the song was No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart for six weeks. Around this time, he also sang ‘Only Sixteen’ and ‘Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha’. Amidst growing popularity, he appeared on ABC's ‘The Guy Mitchell Show’.

Being a business enthusiast, he established a publishing company for his music, in 1959. He also signed a profitable contract with RCA in 1960 and delivered the hit singles ‘Chain Gang’. The song occupied the second position on the Billboard pop chart. He also got the ownership of his master recordings.

In 1961, he established his own record label SAR Records, in collaboration with J.W. Alexander and Roy Crain. In the process of working with other artists, he enhanced the careers of Bobby Womack, Johnnie Taylor and Billy Preston.

Like other R&B artists of that era, he stressed on singles, holding 29 US top 40 hits on the pop charts, and more on the R&B charts. He was a creative writer and his songs were sometimes social commentaries.

Sam Cooke’s single ‘You Send Me’ was released on September 7, 1957 by Keen Records and received huge commercial success. It topped Billboard 's R&B Records chart and Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also ranked No.115 in Rolling Stone magazine's ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ in April 2010.

His single ‘Twistin' the Night Away’ was released on January 9, 1962 by RCA Victor. It won the first position in Billboard's R&B chart and ninth position in Billboard Hot 100. It also occupied the sixth position overseas, on the UK Singles Chart.

‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ was released on December 22, 1964 by RCA Victor. The song was inspired by various personal events and highlighted the struggles of African-Americans. It became an anthem for the American Civil Rights Movement and is considered to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important”.