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The book's prologue starts at the end, with the death of Sam Cooke. His body was discovered riddled with bullet holes in a cheap motel after the manageress shot him. She claimed that she was trying to protect herself and a girl who he was trying to rape. With a lack of other witnesses this was the story that the coroner accepted. It was a gripping start, very much in the John Grisham tradition, but unfortunately the more more mundane details of Sam's life which followed could only be an anti-climax. The first two chapters are devoted to Sam's lineage, beginning with his grandparents Hattie and Alex Cook. After the abolition of slavery they became tenant farmers in the town of Jackson but still suffered from repressive laws and segregation Hattie was a strict Baptist but Alex wasn't. It was Hattie who turned out to be the more dominant influence on their youngest son Charley, who later became a priest. Charley was Sam's father and although Sam was born in the South the Lord told Charley to take his family to Chicago where the treatment of blacks was less repressive. It was a place where he could also earn more money as a preacher. Brought up in a strict religious background Sam achieved little at school. As a teenager he became a singer with 'the Soul Stirrers', one of the biggest gospel groups of its day. The book also traces his later transition into secular music when Sam realised that Pop music was far more lucrative than Gospel. He must have been a great disappointment to the church as he later became responsible for poaching lots of other gospel talent for the 'Rock and Roll' market as well. Although clearly motivated by self interest Sam was heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement. He donated money to political groups, knew both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and often incurred the wrath of the whites by refusing to give concerts to segregated audiences. In his private life he spawned several illegitimate children and was a blatant womaniser. Despite his success his life was not without tragedy. When his baby son crawled intro a swimming pool and drowned Sam blamed his wife, an incident from which their marriage never recovered. The book goes into enormous detail about Sam's life, his involvement with civil rights and how he was a forerunner of the Soul music genre. He tried to cross the boundaries between all styles of music and become all things to all men. I found his relationships with other black celebrities of the time particularity interesting, not just other musicians but also people like Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King. The details of his contracts and the inevitable wrangles I found difficult to follow even though I'm sure they had been greatly simplified. The book also contains many un-necessary digressions. Every time a new player in Sam's life is introduced they too are given a mini biography within the biography. Sure, we need to know who they are, but the detail is excessive. My biggest complaint is the book's unquestionable bias. His good looks, charm and quality of his singing are all unashamedly pushed down the readers throat, but the author glosses over the fact that Sam was a gigolo who left a string of illegitimate children and broken hearted women in his wake. The author also uses many pages to question the verdict on Sam's death. He argues that the girl he tried to rape may have been a prostitute, that the two women may have been trying to rob Sam. He also makes great play on the fact that within two months of his death his wife had announced her engagement to Bobby Womack. Had they somehow been involved? All in all a well written book which offers an unusual perspective of Sam's life. It is also interesting from the history of Civil Rights. The details of his contracts were confusing but its biggest weakness is the unquestionable bias with which the author interprets Sam's actions. He should not lose sight of the fact that Sam was just as mortal as the rest of us. |
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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