On December 11, 1964, Cooke was allegedly shot to death by the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California at the age of 33. At the time, the courts ruled that Cooke was drunk and distressed, and the manager killed Cooke in what was later ruled a justifiable homicide. Since that time, the circumstances of his death have been widely questioned.
Sam Cooke (he added an "e" onto the end of his name because he thought it added a touch of class) was one of eight children of Rev. Charles and Mrs. Annie Mae Cook. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1933.
Cooke began his musical career as a member of a quartet with his siblings, the Singing Children, followed by a turn as a teenager as a member of the Highway QCs, a gospel group. In 1950, at the age of 19, he joined The Soul Stirrers and achieved significant success and fame within the gospel community.
His first pop single, "Lovable" (1956) was released under the alias of "Dale Cooke," in order to not alienate his fan base; there was a considerable taboo against gospel singers performing secular music. However, the alias failed to hide Cooke's unique and distinctive vocals. No one was fooled. Art Rupe, head of Specialty Records, the label of the Soul Stirrers, gave his blessing for Cooke to record secular music under his real name, but was unhappy about the type of music Cooke and Bumps Blackwell, Cooke's pop producer, were making. Rupe expected Cooke's secular music to be similar to that of another Specialty Records artist, Little Richard. When Rupe walked in on a recording session and heard Cooke covering Gershwin, he was quite upset. After an argument between Rupe and Blackwell, Cooke and Blackwell left the label, and Cooke signed with Keen Records in 1957. His first release was "You Send Me", which spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart but which also had massive mainstream success, spending three weeks at #1 on the Billboard pop chart.
As if a R&B performer writing his own songs and achieving mainstream fame was not innovative enough, Cooke continued to astonish the music business in the 1960s with the founding of his own label, SAR Records, which soon included The Simms Twins, The Valentinos, Bobby Womack, and Johnnie Taylor. Cooke then created a publishing imprint and management firm, then left Keen to sign with RCA. One of his first RCA singles was the hit "Chain Gang." It reached #2 on the Billboard pop chart. This was followed by more hits, including "Sad Mood", "Bring it on Home to Me" (with Lou Rawls on backing vocals), "Another Saturday Night" and "Twistin' the Night Away".
Like most R&B artists of his time, Cooke focused on singles; in all he had 29 top 40 hits on the pop charts, and more on the R&B charts. In spite of this, he released a critically acclaimed blues-inflected LP in 1963, Night Beat. He was known for having written many of the most popular songs of all time in the genre, and is often uncredited for many of them by the general public.
Cooke died at the age of 33 under mysterious circumstances on December 11, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. Though the details of the case are still in dispute (see below), it seems he was shot to death by Bertha Franklin, manager of the Hacienda Motel in South Los Angeles, who claimed that he had threatened her, and that she killed him in self-defense. The verdict was justifiable homicide, though many believe that crucial details did not come out in court, or were buried afterward. Cooke was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California.
Some posthumous releases followed, many of which became hits, including "A Change Is Gonna Come", an early protest song which is generally regarded as his greatest composition.
After Cooke's death, his widow, Barbara, married Bobby Womack. Cooke's daughter, Linda, later married Bobby's brother, Cecil.
The song "A Change Is Gonna Come" was played upon the death of Malcolm X, and was memorably featured in Spike Lee's film Malcolm X. Barack Obama's presidential victory speech paraphrased the song: "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
Rapper Tupac Shakur references Cooke in a line of the song "Thugz Mansion", and Nas references him in the song "We Major" with Kanye West. The Roots song "Stay Cool" suggests, "I got the soul of a young Sam Cooke". Mike Doughty's song "Sweet Lord in Heaven" evokes the memory of Cooke, as does the Wallflowers 2000 song "Sleepwalker": "Cupid don't draw back your bow, Sam Cooke didn't know what I know". The Irish rock-group Jetplane Landing have a song named "Sam Cooke".
A fictional version of Cooke (portrayed by Paul Mooney) appeared briefly in the 1978 film, The Buddy Holly Story, leaving the stage at the Apollo Theater before Buddy and The Crickets got on. After being featured prominently in the 1985 film Witness, the song "Wonderful World" gained further exposure. "Wonderful World" was featured in one of two concurrently running Levi's Jeans commercials in 1985 and became a hit in the United Kingdom because of this, reaching #2 in re-release. Other notable movies that featured his music are Animal House ("Wonderful World" and "Twistin' the Night Away"), American Werewolf in London, and Cadence ("Chain Gang").
Cooke's songs "Bring It on Home to Me" and "Change is Gonna Come" were both featured in the movie Ali. The opening scene of the movie consisted of a live reenactment of "Bring It on Home to Me".
Posthumous honors
Shortly following his passing, Motown Records released We Remember Sam Cooke, a collection of Cooke covers recorded by The Supremes.
In 1986, Cooke was inducted as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Cooke was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #16 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Cooke was named the fourth "Greatest Singer of All Time" by Rolling Stone magazine."
Covers
John Lennon included a medley of two Cooke songs, "Bring It On Home to Me" and "Send Me Some Lovin'," on his 1975 oldies album, Rock 'n' Roll.
Cooke's songs are covered in a tour-available EP from Decemberists frontman, Colin Meloy. It is the third installment of his solo-tour Colin Meloy Sings...!
Johnny Nash covered the song "Cupid" in 1969 with chart success in the US and UK, and it was included as the B-side on some versions of his 1972 hit single I Can See Clearly Now.
The Animals covered the song "Bring It On Home To Me" in 1965.
Amy Winehouse also covered the song "Cupid" for the BBC Radio 1 album Radio 1 Established 1967.
British soul singer Adele covered the song "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On" as B-side to her single "Chasing Pavements" a bonus track for the Asian release of her studio album 19.
Richard Marx covered "Bring It On Home To Me" and "Wonderful World" during his earlier concerts.
"A Change Is Gonna Come" has been covered several times. Solo, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, The Fifth Dimension, The Neville Brothers, Otis Redding, The Fugees, Cold War Kids, Seal, Bill Frisell, and The Band featuring the vocals of Rick Danko have all recorded versions of the song. Seal's version debuted on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (Billboard, Nov. 2008) shortly after the election of Obama-Biden.
Gene Vincent, who was a big fan and a close personal friend of Sam Cooke's, recorded "Another Saturday Night" in 1964 and "Bring It On Home to Me" shortly before his own death in 1971.
Cat Stevens released his Greatest Hits album (1975) with a cover of Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night", only the second song he released that he didn't write himself. He had also released it as a single (July 12, 1974) which reached No.4 in the U.S.
Cooke was an influence on punk vocalist Mia Zapata of The Gits, who honored him with a cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come" on their album Enter: The Conquering Chicken.
In spring 1965 the British group Herman's Hermits reached no. 5 in the US charts and no.7 in the UK charts with their version of "Wonderful World".
In 1978, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, and James Taylor sang "Wonderful World" which hit the Top 40 in the US charts.
In 1966, the now cult 60s British pop show Ready Steady Goes Live, the live version of Ready Steady Go!, devoted a whole programme to a live performance of Soul singer Otis Redding, who regularly covered many of Cooke's songs. One of the highlights was a rousing version of "Shake" on which Redding was joined by British Soul legends Eric Burdon, lead singer of The Animals, and chart topper Chris Farlowe.
Jimmy Buffett covered "Another Saturday Night" on his album Margaritaville Cafe Late Night Menu, in 1993.
Exactly Like You
Sam Cooke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Not a real one, just a dream
A wonderful vision of us as a team
Can you imagine how I feel now
Love is real now, it's ideal
You're just what I wanted
And now it's nice to live
Paradise to live
I know why I've waited
Know why I've been blue
Prayed each night for someone
Exactly like you
Why should we spend money
On a show or two
No one does those love scenes
Exactly like you
You make me feel so grand
I want to hand the world to you
I hope you'll understand
Each foolish little scheme I'm schemin'
And dream I'm dreamin'
Now I know why mother
Taught me to be true
She meant me for someone
Exactly like you
In "Exactly Like You", Sam Cooke is singing about finding his perfect partner after dreaming about them for a long time. He explains that he used to have an idea in his head of who his perfect sweetheart would be, but that she wasn't real – just a dream. This vision of a perfect partner gave him hope and made him idealistic about love, but he never found anyone who met his expectations until he met the person he's singing to in the song.
He says that he knows why he's been waiting and feeling blue all this time – because he was searching for someone who was exactly like the person he's with now. He compares their relationship to a movie or a show, saying that no one else could play the love scenes as perfectly as they do. He's so grateful to have found this person that he wants to give them the world and hopes that they understand all the little schemes and dreams he has for their future together.
Towards the end of the song, he reflects on how his mother taught him to be true to himself and to wait for someone who was exactly like him. He believes that he's found that person in the one he's with now, and he's overjoyed to have finally found his perfect match.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to have a perfect sweetheart
I once had an idealized image in my mind of the perfect partner that I envisioned being with.
Not a real one, just a dream
This image was purely fictitious and never had a real-life equivalent.
A wonderful vision of us as a team
This imagined person was someone I could see myself having a successful and happy partnership with.
Can you imagine how I feel now
I now experience the full range of emotions associated with love that I was never able to experience with this fictitious partner.
Love is real now, it's ideal
I have finally found someone who embodies all the characteristics that I once dreamed of, and it has exceeded my expectations.
You're just what I wanted
The person I am now with is my ideal partner, and I could not be happier.
And now it's nice to live
My life now feels complete since I have found the love of my life.
Paradise to live
My life now feels like paradise because of the presence of this person in it.
I know why I've waited
I now understand why I waited so long to find someone like you.
Know why I've been blue
I understand now why I was unhappy before I found you.
Prayed each night for someone
I used to pray every night to find the person of my dreams.
Exactly like you
And now that I have found you, you are exactly what I had been looking for.
Why should we spend money
We do not need to spend money on elaborate or manufactured expressions of love because
On a show or two
No staged show or any other grand display could ever match the sincerity and warmth of our love.
No one does those love scenes
We do not need to mimic or replicate what others do because our love is unique and special.
You make me feel so grand
Being with you makes me feel elated and full of life.
I want to hand the world to you
I want to give you everything I can and show you how much I care and appreciate you.
I hope you'll understand
I hope you will see how important you are to me and how much I value our relationship.
Each foolish little scheme I'm schemin'
Even my silly and unrealistic dreams and aspirations have been made better by being with you.
And dream I'm dreamin'
All the dreams I have are now filled with the hope and possibility of us experiencing them together.
Now I know why mother
I have come to understand why my mother always emphasized certain values and qualities when it came to love.
Taught me to be true
She wanted me to find a partner who was honest, sincere, and genuine, and that is exactly what I have found in you.
She meant me for someone
My mother had always known that there was someone out there who was a perfect match for me.
Exactly like you
And now I know that person is you - the perfect match I had always dreamed of finding.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jimmy Mchugh
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Phil David
on Goin' Home
The lyric is not “Nothing loss of days...”
It is “Nothing’s lost, all is gain...”
You will notice this actually supports the rhyme.