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Record LabelXtra

UPC4006408264712

eBay Product ID (ePID)11050123711

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FormatCD

Release Year2005

GenreSoul, R&B & Soul

ArtistSam Cooke

Release TitleMy Gospel Roots

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DistributionPhantom Import Distributi

Number of Discs1

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom

EngineerSam Cooke

Additional informationLiner Note Author: Neil Kellas. This 23-song CD may prove essential to any Sam Cooke fan who doesn't already own his Specialty sides, covering most of the highlights of the singer's first two years as a gospel singer with the Soul Stirrers. The order of the material isn't chronological, Cooke's breakthrough record with the group ("Jesus Gave Me Water") coming very late on this disc, but that isn't too important -- the quality of the music is so consistent and compelling that the songs can be taken in any order one chooses. Additionally, the quality of the transfers is uniformly high, whether the song at hand is a cappella or presented with organ or guitar accompaniment. Obviously, the Specialty Records set offers more music, and all of it in a rational order, but as a budget collection this CD is competitive, certainly as an addendum to the Specialty reissues. As to its relationship to Cooke's later pop- and soul-oriented work, one can hear him working out the technique by which he would come to dominate those fields here, in sharp relief and very spare arrangements that, amazingly, don't lack a bit for richness, mostly thanks to his singing -- Cooke never had a chance to get old, but hearing him this young, in his early twenties, is still a bracing experience. Indeed, for those who only know Cooke's later secular music, the work here may prove to be revelation, musically or otherwise. ~ Bruce Eder

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My Gospel Roots by Sam Cooke (CD, 2005)

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