Friday 2 January 2015

Hits Of The 50’s – SAM COOKE***

Hey There/Mona Lisa/Too Young/The Great Pretender/You You You/Unchained Melody/The Wayward Wind/ Secret Love/Song From Moulin Rouge/I’m Walking Behind You/Cry/Venus

Not a compilation but an album of newly recorded tracks. The MOR songs on Hits Of The 50’s are a long way from the soul music upon which the reputation of Sam Cooke rests.

“Sam Cooke's second RCA album is mostly a missed opportunity. He wasn't inspired by the material or the way it was chosen, and the result is an album aimed at what the label thought the white teenage market was all about, which is a lot less interesting than some of the singles he was doing around the same time. Hits Of The 50's is still an improvement over its immediate predecessor, but it's also one of the records that for many years - in the absence of his best material being available - blighted Cooke's reputation as a soul singer.”

“I have not been able to get these songs out of my head. This is vintage stuff, to be savoured only by those who know and appreciate Sam.”

“Sam Cooke's voice is excellent. I can listen to the songs all day long without getting bored. Sam Cooke's Mona Lisa is the one that I keep hearing in my head. I think that this is my favourite Sam Cooke album.”

“Sam Cooke as a nightclub crooner, singing gentle versions of fifties standards. Smooth and relaxed, singing slower and lower with a languid band. A reminder, if one was ever needed, that they mysteriously completely forgot how to write standards sometime shortly after the last moon landing. However, in the fifties universal songs came in droves. Pre-teen idol recording artists were vocal athletes who could tackle popular songs in any genre. The art of popular singing and recording vocals was then at an all time high.”

“If you love Sam you will adore this LP as it will give you a further proof of his boundless talent. Sam will show you another side of his immense personality, and every time you listen again you'll discover something new.”

“Wonderful songs and the way Sam sings them is simply sublime. The orchestra and arrangements accompany his incomparable voice, giving full freedom to flow into the sweetest, smoothest and most musical sound possible, just unbelievable.”

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