Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come. Sam Cooke born Samuel Cooke 1931-1964. Since I posted the Otis Redding video and review the other day I asked, “Why Otis Redding, why not Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come?”

Answer was simple, “I was motivated to write about Otis due to the release of the Kanye and Jay-Z song as a professional DJ.” Then it occurred to me, “Why not Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come too!”

His contribution in pioneering Soul music many believe led to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green,Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and popularizing the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown. Cooke had 29 top-40 hits in the U.S. between 1957 and 1964.  Cooke was also among the first modern Black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the American Civil Rights Movement.

On December 11, 1964, Cooke was fatally shot by the manager of the Hacienda Motel at the age of 33. At the time, the courts ruled that Cooke was drunk and distressed, and that the manager had killed Cooke in what was later ruled a justifiable homicide. Since that time, the circumstances of his death have been widely questioned.

Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come was Released Posthumously.

Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come was played upon the death of Malcolm X, and was featured in Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X. Rock star Rod Stewart once revealed to VH-1 that as a teen in the UK, he would lock himself in his room and spend hours studying Cooke’s vocal phrasings.

• In 1986, Cooke was inducted as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.]
• In 1999, Cooke was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #16 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
• In 2008, Cooke was named the fourth “Greatest Singer of All Time” by Rolling Stone.

 Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come Music Video with A Powerful Slideshow

http://youtu.be/JkWZjTPlQhc

There are enough names and recognition included in this post to not add my appreciation for him personally. I would like to say that some of my favorite and most influential artists, film-makers and leaders seem to be connected to Sam Cooke and his legacy. That would be plenty to include him in our music video archive but his music is what moves me the most, especially Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come and its message.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ