Single, 1960
. . .
I just finished reading Peter Guralnick’s 2005 biography on Sam Cooke, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, and one of my main takeaways was just how driven Cooke was. And not just in his music, but also his business, as he not only wrote and recorded his own songs, he also wrote and released songs for other artists.
He didn’t just leave gospel for pop, he dove head first into the pop ocean and came out with a pirate’s booty, and after his first single, 1957’s “You Send Me,” went to #1 on the pop charts, money essentially ceased to be an issue, and not just for Sam, but for his inner circle.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #2159: Sam Cooke – “Wonderful World”