In his short but brilliant career was Sam Cooke roughly a dozen plates are among the benchmarks of the soul. He single-handedly laid the foundation for all of rhythm and blues-related music that would dominate the charts in the following decades. In Cookes sound the soul of his beloved gospel music was fused with a sickly sweet but surefire vocal pop style. As a singer, songwriter and producer he
… was one of the most important figures in pop and soul of the twentieth century. In 1964, when he was still on top of his musical abilities, Cooke was murdered in a hotel in California - an abrupt end for a talented and influential artist.more
