Writer: Cooke Producers: Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore Released: Dec. 64, RCA 7 weeks; No. 31 In 1963, Sam Cooke — Americas first great soul singer and one of the most successful pop acts in the nation, with 18 Top 30 hits since 1957 — heard a song that profoundly inspired and disturbed him: Bob Dylans Blowin in the Wind. What struck Cooke was the challenge implicit in Dylans anthem. Jeez, Cooke mused, a white boy writing a song like that? Cookes response, A Change Is Gonna Come, recorded on January 30th, 1964, with a sumptuous orchestral arrangement by Rene Hall, was more personal — in its first-person language and the experiences that preceded its creation. On October 8th, 1963, while on tour, Cooke and members of his entourage were arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, for disturbing the peace after they tried to register at a white motel — an incident reflected in the songs third verse. And Cookes mourning for his 18-month-old son, Vincent, who drowned that June, resonates in the last verse: There have been times that I thought/I couldnt last for long. On December 11th, 1964, a year after he recorded it, Cooke was fatally shot at an L.A. motel. Two weeks later, A Change Is Gonna Come was released, becoming Cookes farewell address and an anthem of the civil rights movement. youtu.be/nOYuhLNwh3A
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 10:20:43 +0000
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