Favorite Song Wednesday: The Return of Sam Cooke

I had been giving Sam Cooke a little rest for a few months, but it's hard to put down the man's records.

The live recording from the Copa is an interesting counterpoint to the more popular Harlem Square Live recording. While that one is like a great ball of fire chasing you down a narrow corridor, the Copa performance is a cozy fireplace in your living room.



The story goes that the Copa Cabana in New York was the venue that Sam Cooke most wanted to succeed at. Early in his career he played there, and self-admittedly bombed. This recording is from his second try, where he undeniably knocks'em dead.

I've posted three tracks from the performance. The first is a medley of For Sentimental Reasons, You Send Me, and Otis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness. The second is a beautiful ballad that I hadn't heard before. Lastly, I've included the Bob Dylan cover Blowin in the Wind, a song that Sam apparently admired and wished he had written.

Sam Cooke - Medley (Live at the Copa)
(divshare)


Sam Cooke - When I Fall in Love (Live at the Copa)
(divshare)


Sam Cooke - Blowin in the Wind (Live at the Copa)
(divshare)

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Presidential Tunes

Ethan and I watched the election coverage at my house and had victory tacos. A few small points to make:

At Barack Obama's Grant Park rally, the song played before he took the stage was "Higher and Higher". I believe that the version they played was the Howard Huntsberry version featured in the statue of liberty scene in Ghostbusters 2.



The original version was by Jackie Wilson



On another note, he envoked "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke in his speech with the phrase, "It's been a long time coming... but a change is gonna come."

Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come (Ain't That Good News, 1964)




And lastly, I was really curious the whole time what music would be played when Obama finished his speech. I really wanted to hear "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder, but thought it would just be too funky and that a song with a really triumphant electric guitar would be necessary. But Barack kept it understated and hit us with some sweeping classical music that I know absolutely nothing about.



And lastly, I posted this video before but I've had the song in my head all day so here it is again, Cocoa Tea's "Barack Obama".

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Favoritesong Wednesday #2

How soon the week rolls back around. Here we are, hello Wednesday. Last weeks track was a killer, but on closer reflection I'm not sure it is really my favorite song. I was just really excited about it at the time. I felt like big dancin' on the floor.




Otis Redding - Cigarettes and Coffee
(from the Soul Album, 1966)

This is maybe my favorite song. It probably ranks in my top 5 listened to songs ever. I wrote a paper about it for Clifford Antone's class on the blues that talked about how Dock of the Bay is a natural lyrical progression from songs like this one. I've posted the paper here on this new blog. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning the Casa V, a blogger just needs some room to stretch out you know what I'm saying.

But back to the task at hand. Cigarettes and Coffee. Lyrically this is closer to Sam Cooke's work than your average Otis Redding song, Otis generally doesn't sing about specific scenes as often, his style is more conversational than Cooke's. This plays to his strength on Cigarettes and Coffee, he can focus lyrically on setting a vivid late-night scene and the listener can easily imagine the content of the conversations between Otis and his lover based on the colloquial tone of most of Otis's other writing.


BONUS:



Awe inspiring video from the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967. Otis starts by dedicating it to all the mini-skirts out there, and then you're treated to 3 minutes of the most beautifully happy women the late 60's had to offer. At 3:08 it cuts to Otis for a fiery as hell finale, complete with a fake stage-exit.

(I've realized that this is the second time I've posted this Monterrey Pop video. Relive an old post about me singing the song at a karaoke bar in Boulder here.)

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Proposed Cover Song

Hey Reverse X Rays.
Cover this.
It probably has the most psychadelic and percussive potential of any Sam Cooke song however I welcome challenges to that statement.

Sam Cooke - (Ain't That) Good News

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