PLAYLIST NEW ALBUM RELEASES HE SENDS US.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer SAM COOKE: ``Portrait of a Legend (1951-1964)'' (ABKCO) Sam Cooke, soul music's first superstar, is the focus of a new CD series that restores the smooth-toned crooner's best-known material to the audio equivalent of a golden glow golden glow: see black-eyed Susan. . The impetus for the Cooke project, which includes five albums and a DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. , came two years ago with the VH1 broadcast of ``Sam Cooke: Legend,'' a documentary penned by author Peter Guralnick Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. that generated renewed interest in the late singer. Utilizing master tapes uncovered in record vaults across the country, ABKCO, the label behind last year's 22-title Rolling Stones Rolling Stones, English rock music group that rose to prominence in the mid-1960s and continues to exert great influence. Members have included singer Mick Jagger (Michael Phillip Jagger), 1943–; guitarists Brian Jones remasters series, has issued five titles, including ``Sam Cooke at the Copa,'' a supper club Noun 1. supper club - usually a small luxurious nightclub cabaret, night club, nightclub, nightspot, club - a spot that is open late at night and that provides entertainment (as singers or dancers) as well as dancing and food and drink; "don't expect a good meal at set taken from July 1964 shows at New York's famed Copacabana. Cooke, 33, was shot and killed five months later in a bizarre incident at a seedy Los Angeles motel and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. The most useful of the Cooke series is the 30-track, two-CD ``Portrait of a Legend (1951-1964),'' in which the singer wrote or co-wrote 24 songs, including the gems ``A Change Is Gonna Come A Change Is Gonna Come may refer to:
Cooke is also a major topic of the well-reviewed new book ``Boogaloo Boogaloo (shing-a-ling, popcorn music) is a genre of Latin music and dance that was very popular in the United States in the late 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City among teenage Cubans and Puerto Ricans. : The Quintessence quin·tes·sence n. 1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing. 2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil. 3. of American Popular Music'' by Arthur Kempton. We reached restoration producer Jody Klein, son of ABKCO founder (and Cooke's former manager) Allen Klein, who controls the Cooke and aforementioned Stones material. The discs, incidentally, are designed for use in standard CD and hybrid Super Audio CD players. Q: Why is Sam Cooke still relevant? The music he made is timeless and great, and I know that word is overused but it's absolutely true here. His songs are standards and his delivery is just wonderful. He was one of the greatest pop singers of all time. In a broader way, his life was a reflection of black struggle in the mid-20th century. You know, he was born in the Mississippi Delta and moved to Chicago as a child and started singing in gospel groups professionally as a teenager. He crossed over into the pop charts (in 1957) with ``You Send Me,'' which he also wrote. He was someone who realized the importance of keeping his own publishing rights, and he started his own record company. And he tried to break down segregation in the South however he could. Q: What did the restoration process bring out in the original tapes? The fidelity was lacking on what was available before. When we uncovered the source tapes, some of which hadn't been played for 40 years, it became clear the best way to present this was through the Super Audio CD format. For us, the crown jewel Crown jewel A particularly profitable or otherwise particularly valuable corporate unit or asset of a firm. Often used in risk arbitrage. The most desirable entities within a diversified corporation as measured by asset value, earning power, and business prospects; in takeover of the series is ``At the Copa,'' where if you close your eyes and listen in Surround Sound, it's as if you're there at the club in 1964. On ``Portrait of a Legend'' and the other studio albums, you hear the brilliant production that went into the sessions. Q: There's a hidden track on ``Portrait of a Legend.'' In 1962, Sam was doing an interview with an r&b DJ called the Magnificent Montague, a popular radio guy at the time whose on-air catch phrase was ``Burn, baby! Burn!'' He asked Sam to hum a definition of ``soul'' and this is that moment. CHECK THESE OUT: (other new releases) CHUCK BERRY, ``Blues'': This fine anthology of low-lights blues and tear-stained ballads shows off Berry's lyrical and instrumental dexterity. A side of the rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. great you might've missed. GRANT GREEN, ``Grantstand'': Backed by Brother Jack McDuff on B-3 organ, Blue Note house guitarist Green offers a flawless cooking lesson highlighted by the great ``Blues in Maude's Flat'' and a gorgeous ``My Funny Valentine.'' LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS, ``Blues Kingpins'': Raw, brilliant Texas blues from one of the genre's founders. These menacing and mournful mourn·ful adj. 1. Feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful. 2. Causing or suggesting sadness or melancholy: the mournful sound of a train whistle. cuts from the late 1940s still have the power to shock. Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Sam Cooke) (2 -- 3) no caption (CD covers) |
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