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"The Complete Keen Years" collects Sam Cooke’s early body of work as a secular artist after a glorious six-year run fronting the Soul Stirrers. His voice had become the dominant force in the gospel sales prior to the release of “You Send Me” and ‘Summertime.” He was destined to become a major force in pop just as he had been in gospel.
While this newly re-mastered collection includes standards and hits that had been associated with artists who came before Sam Cooke, Sam’s fresh approach made the repertoire his own and helped shape his own song-writing skills in a very tangible way.
Within this period, Sam Cooke defined himself as a voice ahead of his time. His album debut "Sam Cooke" (self-titled, also known as Songs by Sam Cooke) was released in 1958, "Encore" followed quickly. It was absent any Sam Cooke originals and the cover depicted Sam swinging with jazz musicians behind him, an honest depiction of what was in the grooves of the LP within.
Cooke’s 1959 album "Tribute To The Lady" is just that, a tribute to Billie Holiday, a/k/a ‘Lady Day.’ This session was recorded in stereo and reimagines Billie Holiday’s catalogue as Sam’s own. "Hit Kit", also released in 1959, is a collection of his hits from this period, most of which were originals. Cooke’s fifth album from this prolific time, "The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke" contains the original hit recording of “(What A) Wonderful World,” from his last session for Keen.
Sam Cooke found his voice not by imitating popular singers but, rather, by his own singular interpretations of songs made notable by others. The thoughtful essay by Michael Corcoran that is included with this collection underscores this fact and suggests that "Tribute To The Lady" specifically offers an essential look at how Sam Cooke found his voice.
Tracklist
CD1 - Sam Cooke:
You Send Me (Cooke)
The Lonesome Road (Austin/Shilkret)
Tammy (Evans/Livingston)
Ol’ Man River (Hammerstein II/Kern)
Moonlight In Vermont (Blackburn/Suessdorf)
Canadian Sunset (Gimbel/Heywood)
Summertime (Part 2) (Gershwin/Gershwin/Heyward)
Around The World (Adamson/Young/Young)
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Brooks/Razaf/Waller)
The Bells Of St. Mary’s (Adams/Furber)
So Long (Harris/Melsher/Morgan)
Danny Boy (Weatherly)
That Lucky Old Sun (Gillespie/Smith)
CD2 - Encore
Oh, Look At Me Now (Bushkin/Devries)
Someday (Hodges)
Along The Navajo Trail (Charles/De Lange/Marks)
Running Wild (Gibbs/Grey/Wood)
Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive (Arlen/Mercer)
Mary, Mary Lou (Mangiaracina)
When I Fall In Love (Heyman/Young)
I Cover The Waterfront (Green/Heyman)
My Foolish Heart (Washington/Young)
Today I Sing The Blues (Lewis/White)
The Gypsy (Reid)
It’s The Talk Of The Town (Livingston/Neiburg/Symes)
CD3 - Tribute To The Lady
God Bless The Child (Herzog Jr./Holiday) [Mono]
She’s Funny That Way (Moret/Whiting) [Mono]
I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (Arlen/Koehler) [Mono]
Good Morning Heartache (Drake/Fisher/Higginbotham) [Mono]
T’aint Nobody’s Business (If I Do) (Grainger/Robbins) [Mono]
Comes Love (Brown/Stept/Tobias) [Mono]
Lover Girl (Man) (Davis/Ramirez/Sherman) [Mono]
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off (Gershwin/Gershwin) [Mono]
Lover Come Back To Me (Hammerstein II/Romberg) [Mono]
Solitude (DeLange/Ellington/Mills) [Mono]
They Can’t Take That Away From Me (Gershwin/Gershwin) [Mono]
Crazy She Calls Me (Russell/Sigman) [Mono]
God Bless The Child (Herzog Jr./Holiday) [Stereo]
She’s Funny That Way (Moret/Whiting) [Stereo]
I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (Arlen/Koehler) [Stereo]
Good Morning Heartache (Drake/Fisher/Higginbotham) [Stereo]
T’aint Nobody’s Business (If I Do) (Grainger/Robbins) [Stereo]
Comes Love (Brown/Stept/Tobias) [Stereo]
Lover Girl (Man) (Davis/Ramirez/Sherman) [Stereo]
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off (Gershwin/Gershwin) [Stereo]
Lover Come Back To Me (Hammerstein II/Romberg) [Stereo]
Solitude (DeLange/Ellington/Mills) [Stereo]
They Can’t Take That Away From Me (Gershwin/Gershwin) [Stereo]
Crazy She Calls Me (Russell/Sigman) [Stereo]
CD4 - Hit Kit
Only Sixteen (Cooke)
All Of My Life (Adler/Alpert)
Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha (Cooke)
Blue Moon (Rodgers/Hart)
Win Your Love For Me (Cooke)
Lonely Island (Ahbez)
You Send Me (Cooke)
Love You Most Of All (Cooke)
(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (Best/Watson)
Little Things You Do (Alexander)
Let’s Go Steady Again (Alexander)
You Were Made For Me (Cooke)
Lonely Island (single version) (Ahbez)
Win Your Love For Me (stereo) (Cooke)
Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From “Houseboat”) (stereo) (Evans/Livingston)
Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha (stereo) (Cooke)
Little Things You Do (stereo) (Alexander)
Only Sixteen (stereo) (Cooke)
Let’s Go Steady Again (stereo) (Alexander)
With You (stereo) (Cooke)
Ee-I-Ee-I-Oh aka Ee-Yi-Ee-Yi-Oh (stereo) (Cooke)
CD5 - The Wonderful World Of Sam Cooke
(What A) Wonderful World (Adler/Alpert/Cooke)
Desire Me (Culver)
Summertime (Part 2) (Gershwin/Gershwin/Heyward)
Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From “Houseboat”) (Evans/Livingston)
That’s Heaven To Me (Cooke)
No One (Can Ever Take Your Place) (Cooke)
With You (Cooke)
Blue Moon (Rodgers/Hart)
Stealing Kisses (Brooks)
You Were Made For Me (Cooke)
There I’ve Said It Again (Evans/Mann)
I Thank God (Blake/Hoffman/Lewis)
Steal Away (album version) (Cooke)
Deep River (Cooke)
One Hour Ahead Of The Posse (Charig/Golden/Ormont)
Ee-I-Ee-I-Oh aka Ee-Yi-Ee-Yi-Oh (Cooke)
So Glamorous (Goldsmith/Smith)
Steal Away (single version) (Cooke)
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