Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sam Cooke - The Man and His Music

Sam Cooke – The Man and His Music

RCA, 1986

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2007

Price: $10



So I grew up on Oldies 95, and I’ve had a firm adoration of Sam Cooke since I was about 7 years old after hearing “Wonderful World” for the first time. That and “Another Saturday Night” were in heavy rotation on the station and I didn’t really get into the rest of his jams until early college when I downloaded this compilation. That and Britt Daniel of Spoon did a cover of “Bring it On Home to Me” that I got pretty obsessed with. This thing is just loaded with ex-girlfriend songs. I can’t even count how many times I’ve listened to “I’ll Come Running Back to You,” “Nothing Can Change This Love,” and “Bring it on Home to Me” while heavily drinking. There’s something about the sweetness and the warmth of his voice. How he has to know he’s one of the greatest singers of all time. These songs are about loving in the past, present and future and when I listen to him sing I can’t really think of a better (male) singer. I really think this is one of those records that could bring world peace (which is really sad, given that Sam Cooke was shot to death). It’s one of those records that makes me OK with the world and gives me hope in a REALLY sappy way. And then my girlfriend and I sang along to “Bring it On Home to Me” and it was awesome. So good.

No comments:

Post a Comment