Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964

RS 500: Part 2 (100 music items)

"'"Sam Cooke was the best singer who ever lived, no contest," asserted Atlantic Records' Jerry Wexler. Cooke was a gospel star who crossed over to rock & roll, helping to invent the music that would known as soul. He kept the floridly emotional vocal style of gospel in his pop work, writing his own best hits ("Wonderful World," "You Send Me"). This collection spans his whole career, from his early work with gospel kings the Soul Stirrers to the civil-rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come," which "

TIME's 100 Greatest Albums (100 music items)

"“Sam Cooke could sing anything. Within the span of a few months in 1963, he recorded Night Beat, a wonderful collection of Sinatra-style late-night crooning, and Live At The Harlem Square Club, a raw, down and dirty R&B set for a hard-partying crowd. The 31 tracks on Portrait of a Legend impressively capture Cooke's range on a single disc. Beginning with "Touch the Hem of His Garment," his own classic gospel composition, the collection winds through such irresistible hits as "You Send Me," "Cu"