Samuel Cooke (born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi; died Decemb… Read Full Bio ↴Samuel Cooke (born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi; died December 11, 1964 in Los Angeles, California) was a popular and influential American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop, songwriter and singer, recognized as one of the true founders of soul music. Often referred to as The King of Soul, Cooke had 29 Top 40 hits in the U.S. between 1957 and 1964 including major hits You Send Me, A Change Is Gonna Come, Chain Gang and Wonderful World. Cooke was also among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career, he founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the American Civil Rights Movement.

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.

With You
Sam Cooke Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

With you
With you, although I am poor, I feel like a king
With you
With you, though I have nothing, I feel I have everything

But without you my dreams will soon fade away
I'd be here crying day after day, ohh
Promise me you'll never, never, never

Never leave me

Oh, when I'm with you
With you, oh life means everything to me
With you
With you, just like a child, I'm happy as I can be

But without you I'm lost like a child left alone
Crying for its mother and wishing she was home
I know, I know, I know, I know
I know you'll never, never, never leave me

Ohh, you are my love
For your wonderful, wonderful, wonderful love, I live
You are my life
For your wonderful love my life I'd gladly give

For only when I'm with you
With you, oh do I, do I, do I feel the way that I do
With you
With you, I found, I found, I found, I found the love that's always true

But without you I'm lost, so you find my way
I'd be here crying day after day, ohh

Promise, promise, promise me you'll never
Never leave me

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Sam Cooke's song "With You" beautifully express the importance of love and companionship in life. The song emphasizes the idea that even though the singer is materially poor and has nothing, with his special someone, he feels like a king with everything. He can face life's challenges and enjoy the moments of joy because of the presence of that special someone. He feels lost and wishes for his love to find his way when he is without them.

The singer acknowledges the transformative power of love in his life. His love is his life and he finds meaning in his existence because of it. He seeks assurance from his love that they will never leave him because of the void their absence will create in his life. The song is a personal confession of love, dependence, and vulnerability.

In summary, the lyrics emphasize that love is an essential and transformative element in our lives. The presence of love gives us a sense of completeness and joy, while its absence can make us feel lost and alone.

Line by Line Meaning

With you
Being in your presence

With you, although I am poor, I feel like a king
Your love and companionship give me a sense of worth beyond material possessions

With you, though I have nothing, I feel I have everything
Your love and companionship fulfill me in a way that nothing else can

But without you my dreams will soon fade away
Without your love and support, my hopes and aspirations lose all significance

I'd be here crying day after day, ohh
My life would be filled with anguish and despair without you

Promise me you'll never, never, never
Please vow that you'll never leave me

Never leave me
Stay with me always

Oh, when I'm with you
When I'm in your company

With you, oh life means everything to me
Your existence and love make my life complete

With you, just like a child, I'm happy as I can be
Being with you fills me with a youthful joy and exuberance

But without you I'm lost like a child left alone
Without your guidance and love, I feel confused and helpless

Crying for its mother and wishing she was home
Longing for the presence and nurturing of a loved one

I know, I know, I know, I know
I'm fully aware

I know you'll never, never, never leave me
I'm confident that you'll always be by my side

Ohh, you are my love
You're the one I love

For your wonderful, wonderful, wonderful love, I live
I exist thanks to the incredible love you give me

You are my life
You're the most important thing in my life

For your wonderful love my life I'd gladly give
I'd do anything for the sake of your love, even give up my own life

For only when I'm with you
I can only experience this feeling when I'm near you

With you, oh do I, do I, do I feel the way that I do
Only by being with you can I feel the intense emotions that I have

I found, I found, I found, I found the love that's always true
I discovered a love that will never waver or fade

But without you I'm lost, so you find my way
I'm lost and aimless without you; you give me direction and purpose

Promise, promise, promise me you'll never
Please make me a solemn vow

Never leave me
Stay with me always

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOSHUA SCOTT JONES, GARY CORMAN, MEGHAN MOORE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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