Listening with Leckrone is back! To kick things off, we’re focusing on the “King of Soul,” Sam Cooke. In his short life, Cooke made a lasting impact on soul and popular music, which still resonates to this day. We hope you enjoy listening to the life and songs of Sam Cooke.
Read more about Sam Cooke’s 1957 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and watch his follow-up performance of “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons.”
In 1964, Sam Cooke debuted “A Change is Gonna Come” on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Although there’s no surviving footage of that performance, it’s recreated by Leslie Odom Jr. in the 2020 film One Night in Miami, directed by Regina King and written by Kemp Powers (adapted from his 2013 play of the same name), which fictionalizes a meeting of friends Sam Cooke, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Muhammed Ali. A version of that song was included on the album Ain’t That Good News (1964) and was later released as a single following Cooke’s death.
Head over to Spotify for a playlist of all the tunes featured in the episode, plus few more.
Song List:
“I’ll Come Running Back To You;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by S. Cook; Specialty Records, 1957
“Jesus Gave Me Water;” Performed by The Soul Stirrers; Written by Lucie Campbell; Specialty Records, 1951
“Loveable;” Performed by Dale Cook; Written by Sam Cook & Tony Harris; Specialty Records, 1957
“You Send Me;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Sam Cooke; Keen Records, 1957
“Wonderful World;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Lou Adler, Herb Alpert, and Sam Cooke; Keen Records, 1960
“Chain Gain;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Sam Cooke and Charles Cooke Jr.; RCA Victor, 1960
“Cupid;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Sam Cooke; RCA Victor, 1961
“Bring It On Home to Me;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Sam Cooke; RCA Victor, 1962
“Twistin the Night Away;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Sam Cooke; RCA Victor, 1962
“This Little Light of Mine;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Traditional Gospel; RCA Victor, 1964
“Summertime;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by George Gershwin, Dubose Heyword, and Ira Gershwin; RCA Victor, 1957
“A Change is Gonna Come;” Performed by Sam Cooke; Written by Sam Cooke; RCA Victor, 1964
