Music : The Man Who Invented Soul

Binding: Audio CD
Brand: COOKE,SAM
EAN: 0078636791128
Format: Box set
Label: RCA
Manufacturer: RCA
Number Of Discs: 4
Publisher: RCA
Release Date: September 26, 2000
Studio: RCA
Sales Rank: 54862
MPN: 078636791128

Disc 1:

Disc 2:

Disc 3:

Disc 4:

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
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Amazon.com essential recording:
Sam Cooke had a voice like clover honey, and he was as ingenious a businessman as he was an artist--carefully treading the line between smooth pop and deep R&B to bring both audiences to him, as well as together. Disc 1 of this set compiles his 1957-1959 recordings for the Keen label, which had tamed the former gospel tiger into a sweet, wry songwriter with a taste for crooning standards and a signature yodel that marked every song as his property. The second and third discs do the same for his RCA career's singles and album tracks, which, for all their orchestrated slickness, left an indelible mark on soul and even rock (compare "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On" to Elvis Costello's "Blame It On Cain"!). Lastly, there's a disc with two complete albums from Cooke's stylistic poles: Night Beat (after-hours cool soul) and Live at the Harlem Square Club (Cooke as hard-hollering crowd mover). As a survey of the middle period of Cooke's career, this set is totally solid; be advised, though, that it skips over both his early years shouting gospel with the Soul Stirrers and the classic recordings from the last year or so of his life--which include hits such as "Shake" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" that are still, flabbergastingly, out of print. --Douglas Wolk

Amazon.com:
Sam Cooke had a voice like clover honey, and he was as ingenious a businessman as he was an artist--carefully treading the line between smooth pop and deep R&B to bring both audiences to him, as well as together. Disc 1 of this set compiles his 1957-1959 recordings for the Keen label, which had tamed the former gospel tiger into a sweet, wry songwriter with a taste for crooning standards and a signature yodel that marked every song as his property. The second and third discs do the same for his RCA career's singles and album tracks, which, for all their orchestrated slickness, left an indelible mark on soul and even rock (compare "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On" to Elvis Costello's "Blame It On Cain"!). Lastly, there's a disc with two complete albums from Cooke's stylistic poles: Night Beat (after-hours cool soul) and Live at the Harlem Square Club (Cooke as hard-hollering crowd mover). As a survey of the middle period of Cooke's career, this set is totally solid; be advised, though, that it skips over both his early years shouting gospel with the Soul Stirrers and the classic recordings from the last year or so of his life--which include hits such as "Shake" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" that are still, flabbergastingly, out of print. --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- An Extremely Romantic Album
I purchased this CD for myself as either a Christmas gift or a birthday gift a couple of years ago, and it made me want to get more albums by Sam Cooke. So I purchased Keep Moving On, which was also wonderful. I was so in love with The Man Who Invented Soul that I bought myself a portrait of Sam Cooke, which is still in my room. This album almost made me lose my mind because it felt as though he was alive, and I wanted to meet him. The feeling I get whenever I listen to this album is priceless. It ... Read More

Rating:

- Mr. Soul
This is the perfect set for anyone who wants to explore the works of Sam Cooke. Wonderfully put together.

Rating:

- The Man Who Invented Soul***Excellent***
Wonderful music by the best songer that ever lived, period.

Rating:

- One of a kind Voice(Angelic)
Sam Cooke is the man. I know that Sam is an original Idol. Marvin Gaye, Johnny Taylor, Otis Redding, Ronald Isley, Smokey Robinson and many more singers idolized Sam Cooke. The man who invented the soft sweet angelic notes. For instance he first created the Whoa a whoa a whoa. And it is so smoothe. Sam is a man that can sing both rough and smoothe. If you put sam against a lot of singers today they would have to go back to pushing grocery carts or pumping gas. Even though Sam loved to sing in the old ... Read More

Rating:

- Sam fought the law(yers) but the law(yers) won
A pretty audacious title for this box. Does it deliver? Frankly no: There are certainly some of his best tracks here that showcase both his smooth soaring side and the times when he'd allow a little sandpaper into his voice. But it also fails to give you any idea where that great voice got its seasoning (none of his Specialty era gospel material) and turns away for the most part from the grittier material it seems Cooke would have aimed at had a hotel manager's gun not claimed his life. In addition, the ... Read More

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