Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 (180 Gram Vinyl) (2 Lp's)

Contains an untitled hidden track which follows "Jesus Gave Me Water." Personnel includes: Sam Cooke (vocals); Clif White, Bobby Womack (guitar); Billy Preston (organ); Lou Rawls (background vocals). Producers include: Bumps Blackwell, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, Rene Hall, Sam Cooke. Compilation producers: Jody H. Klein, Teri Landi. Includes liner notes by Peter Guralnick. Sam Cooke was a giant not just in the soul world, but in the larger scheme of American music. His melding of soul, gospel, and pop was as trenchant as it was revolutionary and influential. This unbeatable 30-song compilation touches on every aspect of this phenomenally gifted singer-songwriter's career. The romantic croon of "You Send Me" shares space with the mournful "Sad Mood," the romping "Twistin' the Night Away," and the moving social/spiritual statement "A Change Is Gonna Come" (this compilation is one of the rare collections to have this stirring and sought-after track). For pure fun, it's hard to beat the humor-filled "Another Saturday Night." Perhaps the master stroke, though, is "Havin' a Party." As no less esteemed a personage than Bruce Springsteen once observed, it's an ostensibly celebratory song that seems to bear a deep sadness via Cooke's vocal performance, a sense of laughing to keep from crying. At the same time, Cooke manages the considerable feat of making loneliness sound like fun. It takes some kind of singer to pull off a trick like that. And it takes some kind of production team (take a bow, Teri Landi and Jody Klein) to bring such vibrant new life to the legendary material so lovingly remastered and repackaged for this top-shelf compilation.