Sam Cooke

Blues Music Journalism 

Looking to Get Lost, Mind Over Matter and States of Abandon

November 8, 2020November 8, 2020 Mitchell Cohen 0 Comments Andre Williams, Billy Miller, Boston After Dark, Crawdaddy!, Detroit, Dick Curless, Dion, Elvis Presley, Feel Like Going Home, Fortune Records, Howlin' Wolf, John Hammond, Lenny Kaye, Lonnie Mack, Looking To Get Lost, Lost Highway, Merle Haggard, Michael Hurtt, Mind Over Matter: The Myths and Mysteries of Detroit’s Fortune Records, Nolan Strong and the Diablos, Peter Guralnick, Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone, Sam Cooke, Sam Phillips, Sweet Soul Music, The Rolling Stones

Two insightful new books explore the joy of deep music appreciation

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Pop Soul 

Down Crossover Road: Ray Charles and Sam Cooke in 1960

August 20, 2020August 20, 2020 Mitchell Cohen 0 Comments 1960, Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records, Copacabana, Jerry Wexler, Leiber and Stoller, Ray Charles, RCA Victor, Sam Cooke, Tom Dowd

How two soul giants set the stage for pop music at the cusp of the Civil Rights era

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Blues Rock 

Dion’s American Tune

June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 Mitchell Cohen 0 Comments Billy Gibbons, Blues With Friends, Bruce Springsteen, Dion, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Vivino, Patti Scialfa, Paul Simon, Rory Block, Sam Cooke, Samantha Fish, Van Morrison

On Blues With Friends, Mr. DiMucci enters his seventh decade in rock with a gang of famous pals

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Soul 

The New National Anthem

June 1, 2020June 1, 2020 Trevor Seigler 0 Comments A Change Is Gonna Come, George Floyd, Malcolm X, Minneapolis, RCA Victor, Sam Cooke, Soul, Spike Lee

How the enduring message of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” still brings us light in our darkest hour

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Soul 

An Artist in Transition: Sam Cooke’s The Complete Keen Years (1957-1960)

February 13, 2020February 13, 2020 Gillian G. Gaar 0 Comments Billie Holiday, Keen Records, Sam Cooke, Soul, Summertime, The Complete Keen Years 1957-1960, Vaughn Monroe

A concise box set shines a most necessary light on the soul legend’s early secular days

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Soul 

Sam Cooke and The Crossover Dream

March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 Mitchell Cohen 0 Comments 1964, RCA, Sam Cooke

March 1964 was a crucial month in the all-too-short life of the soul giant

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