Sam Cooke and Southern Soul

There is so much to be said about Sam Cooke and many of the other soul artists that emerged in the late 1950's and into the 60's and someday I want to write a book about them, but for now all I have is this blog and not enough time. Sam Cooke in my opinion is the greatest singer to ever live, and I have spent hours listening to his music, sometimes smiling, sometimes crying, but always in awe of his vocal ability and his versatility. To me Sam was the first singer to really use his voice as an instrument and as you listen to his catalog, you'll see that he helped make those long, drawn out vowel sounds a staple in soul music. The I-i-i-i-i-i-i, or the O-o-o-o-o-o-o, or the Yooooooouuuuuuuu in "You Send Me." He had a brilliant mind for pop music and he carried over what he had learned from years of singing in gospel quartets like the Q.C.s and the Soul Stirrers and brought it to the pop arena. But it wasn't just the call and response, and it wasn't just passion either. Lots of singers sang with passion, but Sam sang like he was auditioning for God. No one sang like that in pop music ever and really one of the only people who ever came close was Otis Redding. Sam grew up in Chicago and he was the son of a minister, who also sang. A common denominator between a lot of these poor, black soul singers is that from an early age they learned to be competitive and standout, and they also used the church as their footstool towards greatness. The gospel scene in Chicago was huge, so for Sam to be good he knew he was going to have to wow people. His first challenge became trying to sing "This Little Light of Mine" better than his father. His next challenge became trying to compete with the plethora of gospel quartets in Chicago as the main attraction, and he went on to try and conquer secular music and eventually issue a statement of hope with his song "A Change Is Gonna Come." Bob Dylan had released "Blowin' In The Wind" in 1963 and Sam covered it, not necessarily in tribute to Bob Dylan, but because he thought that the song was much to weighty for a white midwesterner to sing. The message was clearly aimed at the civil rights struggle, so someone within the struggle needed to claim it. But he and other black artists singing the song wasn't enough. They needed their own statement, and as one of the premeir black performers of the time, Sam took on the daunting responsibility of verbalizing their message. Dr. King did it with his moving and powerful speeches, but it was time for someone from the pop culture world to really give their stamp of approval. The result was "A Change Is Gonna Come" the most powerful, moving, sad, and beautiful song I have ever heard. Not only did it change the way people thought of Sam Cooke, but it changed the way black artists thought, wrote and performed. It also gave black people a sense of solidarity. It is the 2nd greatest song of all time next to "A Day In The Life" but if not for that song only you guys should give Sam Cooke a try. Some of his songs are dated sure, but they are all vocally brilliant, and if you care about soul music at all, he is where you start. Also, if you want to read about his transcendent talent and the social and musical precedents he set, please read Peter Guralnick's "Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke." It is one of my favorite books and it's written by one of the best writers in the business. I don't think Peter Guralnick has written a bad book.

From Sam Cooke came the idea of the soul singer. The deeply passionate, emotional, and most of the time vulnerable singer who places their being and their voice on display for the world. Motown started banking on this idea with their A list artists, but not long after the South had an answer. It was Stax Records in Memphis. Founded in 1957 by Jim Stewart as Satellite Records, Stewart later changed the name to Stax in 1961. The name comes from the first two letters of Stewart and the first two letters of his sister Estelle Axton's name. She was also his business partner. The studio was an old movie theater, so the odd proportions gave the studio wonderful acoustics and a big, powerful sound which came to be associated with most of the records and the southern soul sound in general.

Among the first artists to record at Satellite/Stax were Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla. Their success attracted Atlantic records, and Stewart set up a distribution deal with Stax. They also recorded a band called the Mar-Keys. An 8 piece R&B outfit half way made up by Steve Cropper on guitar, Booker T. Jones on piano/organ, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, and Al Jackson Jr. on drums. These four would later record with Stax as Booker T. and the Memphis Group or Booker T. & the MGs. They recorded their own music and served as the Stax house band, much like The Funk Brothers for Motown. They are largely the reason why the southern soul sound was so distinguished because the rhythm section couldn't have been better and Steve Cropper and Booker T's minimalist sytles accented the rhythms perfectly.

Among artists to record for Stax were The Staple Singers made up of Pop Staples and his three daughters. Mavis Staples' voice rivaled Aretha Franklins. Also there was Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, blues legend Albert King, Booker T. & The MGs and Otis Redding. Other artists that were on Atlantic Records went to Stax to record, although they weren't on the label officially, like Wilson Pickett who became famous with "In The Midnight Hour" which he co-wrote with Steve Cropper and Save and Dave, who were loaned to Stax. Sam and Dave, like Wilson Pickett were famous for their raw, raspy, gospel like style. Sam and Dave used call and response in many of their songs. Hits of theirs include "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Coming." Their greatest hits record is fantastic.

Otis Redding was Stax's prized possession, and the second greatest soul singer of all time behind Sam Cooke. He is the all-time ballad soul singer and his songs "Pain In My Heart" "Try A Little Tenderness" "I've Been Loving You Too Long To Stop Now" and "These Arms Of Mine" are classics. He was also great at singing upbeat songs like "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" Sam Cooke's "Shake" "Respect" "Mr. Pitiful" and "Hard To Handle." He sang with a power, force and grace that was never heard again in soul music, and he was truly devoted to his music, almost constantly recording from 1963-1967 when he died. He is probably most famous for his song "Sittin'On The Dock Of The Bay" which was released posthumously. He was the only soul artist at the Monterey Pop Festival. He sadly died in a plane crash in 1967 at the height of his fame. The soul genre lost one of its giants when he died. I can't really find the words to talk about Otis right now and maybe there are none, you'll just have to listen to his music. That should speak to you enough. Otis Redding Live at The Whiskey A-Go-Go is great along with his "Best Of" along with the Anthology "Dreams to Remember" which is 50+ songs and contains his live material from the Monterey Pop Festival. And...if you haven't noticed already, this blog is named after the Otis song "You Left The Water Running" which he happened to record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio which is is a perfect segueway...

The other flagship studio of the southern soul sound was Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, where mostly Atlantic artists were recorded. This is the studio where Aretha Franklin recorded her signature works and became known as the "Queen of Soul." Other artists to record there were Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Clarence Carter, James Carr, Arthur Alexander and Solomon Burke. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was not as narrow in their scope of artists as Stax though, pretty much anyone who is anyone in the world of rock n' roll and country music has recorded there. The reason for the great studio and sound is probably because of the enormous amount of talented session players in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and the Quad Cities of Florence, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. Also the quality of the sound of the studio was superb and comparable to the sound of Stax.

For more particulars on the studios themselves you can use Wikipedia, which will explain more of the business side of both the Atlantic and Stax labels and both studios. Also, you can use allmusic.com for a cursory knowledge of the songs these artists recorded in case you didn't write them down in class or I forgot them. I forgot to give you some recommended purchases for Sam Cooke. Here they are "Sam Cooke: Portrait of a Legend" is a great anthology, "Night Beat" stands alone as an album, "Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club" is the 2nd best live album ever, and "Sam Cooke Live At The Copa" is good but a bit more subdued because he is singing to a white audience. He does a lot of covers during that performance that are noteworthy, like "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Tennessee Waltz."

We could do an entire class on soul music and I really have so much more to say but I need to get this posted. If you ever want to talk about soul, let me know I am always up for it. Not a lot of people our age are passionate about this type of music, especially of the southern variety. You've been great...I'd have you anytime. DXL