When Sam Cooke entered the American R&B and pop charts within the early summer season of 1964 with “Good Times,” he was nonetheless solely 33 years previous and probably the most idolized crossover soul stars in America. On the R&B chart of July 11 that 12 months, the tune grew to become his remaining soul No.1. Simply 5 months later, his life was over.
After crossing over to the pop market from his roots in gospel, Cooke quickly confirmed his prowess each as a recording artist and a extremely profitable businessman. His first R&B No.1, 1957’s immortal “You Send Me,” was written by his brother, Charles “L.C.” Cooke. By early the next 12 months, he was again at that chart summit with “I’ll Come Running Back To You.”
Surprisingly, a number of the songs we now affiliate most intently with Sam weren’t amongst his soul chart-toppers, hits like “Wonderful World,” “Chain Gang,” and “Everybody Likes To Cha Cha Cha.” However as his reputation and affect grew, he continued to construct a mighty songbook of hits, and eventually returned to the highest of the R&B bestsellers in 1962 with “Twistin’ The Night Away.”
Successor to ‘Walk On By’
The next 12 months introduced one other No.1 with “Another Saturday Night,” later transformed into an outright pop tune by Cat Stevens. Like Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, and so many extra, Stevens seemed as much as Cooke as one of many most interesting writer-performers of his day.
Within the early a part of 1964, Sam was the king of the R&B charts once more with the subtle, finger-snapping “Good Times.” One other Cooke composition, it was produced as typical by Hugo & Luigi, the crew of Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. The monitor had a two-week run as America’s R&B bestseller, taking on from Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By.” Sam would by no means prime the chart once more.
Cooke additionally hit the R&B Prime 10 with the B-side of the one, an replace of Patti Web page’s 1940 hit “Tennessee Waltz.” Then in 1965, the Stones weighed in with a canopy of “Good Times” on the Out Of Our Heads album — however after all, Sam wasn’t round to listen to it. He was shot in a still-mysterious incident at a motel in December 1964.
Hearken to the Biggest Soul 45s playlist, starring Sam Cooke amongst a wealth of soul greats.
The tune was later remade by Aretha Franklin, and to underline its (and Cooke’s) persevering with relevance, it was a rustic No.1 for Dan Seals in 1990 and was utilized by Nike in a basketball industrial in 2011.
Purchase or stream “Good Times” on Sam Cooke’s Ain’t That Good Information album.
