Ain't That Good News

Certain Songs #2166: Sam Cooke – “A Change Is Gonna Come”

August 17, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Ain’t That Good News
1964

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Despite all of his talent, looks, charm and entrepreneurial acumen, Sam Cooke was still a Black man in America. I was going to hedge that by saying “mid-century America,” but c’mon, already: while things might have gotten better, they sure as shit haven’t gotten better enough, else we wouldn’t need mass marches trying to remind the white power structure that Black lives matter.

And so, every single day of his life, Sam Cooke had to do calculations that I can’t even imagine, though whenever I read something about in Peter Guralnick’s biography, how they’d have car trouble on the road or their hotel was booked, I thought “oh my god, that must have been so much worse than had it happened to me.”

Certain Songs #2165: Sam Cooke – “Meet Me At Mary’s Place”

August 16, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Ain’t That Good News
Year: 1964

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It’s ironic that the first album of Sam Cooke’s contract with RCA — which gave him the most control he’d ever had — was also the final album recorded and released in Sam Cooke’s lifetime. And while Ain’t That Good News wasn’t nearly as focused as 1963’s Night Beat, which was recorded in the space of three nights as opposed to nearly a year, it did have a structure. The first side featured uptempo songs — nearly all written or co-written by Cooke — like the rollicking title track, the previously-released “Another Saturday Night” and “Good Times,” which was covered by the Rolling Stones on their immortal Out of Our Heads.

Side two featured soaring string-laden soul ballads, mostly covers, and peaked with the Cooke-written all-time all-time that we’ll discuss tomorrow. Of course I like the first side better, and probably my favorite song on the whole thing was the amblin’ “Meet Me At Mary’s Place.”

Certain Songs #2164: Sam Cooke – “Another Saturday Night”

August 14, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Ain’t That Good News
Year: 1963

. . .

Because he had that voice, those looks and was also charismatic as hell, Sam Cooke never lacked for female companionship, and indulged in behavior that would have gotten him cancelled — and eventually got him dead — had it surfaced at the time. And so, it’s kinda ironic that one of his greatest songs was well, total horseshit.