Night Beat | Sam Cooke

Night Beat | Sam Cooke | Bluesy for late-night boozy

popular music:

Night Beat

	Night Beat Sam Cooke RCA, 2001 average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

His Best

Most all of Sam's compact discs are collections of singles, or concert recordings. This is the exception, as it is an ALBUM, in the same way that Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band or the Dark Side of the Moon are albums. It flows from begining to end. Having said that, as with "Live at Harlem" , go ahead and buy the box set, as NIGHT BEAT is included in its entirety.

Bluesy for late-night boozy

Very hard to trundle out enough superlatives for this one. The spacious, full sound of this new remastering is warm and inviting, as well it should be. Cooke's singing is uncanny, not of this world in its beauty. Funnily enough, his voice lightened
with the years: compare a 1954 side of his with one from this album (1964)and check out how his style evolved over the years, how much more subtle and understated his phrasing became. so often in his earlier work he exhibits the superb control that allows him to surge through a longish phrase, which is exhilarating. But here, in "Night Beat", his approach is more conversational, expecially in the ballads and the mid-tempo Blues numbers. He makes his breaths into caesuras, makes them an integral part of his phrasing, which makes for very compelling listening. And the band - featuring a young Billy Preston - is absolutely marvellous. Again, the pervading qualities are delicacy and precision, which is not to imply that these guys don't get into a good gut-bucket soul groove.
They swing like hell, in fact. This is, in short, a classic,
a gem. It's one of those records that transcends genre categories, simply because of the caliber of the musicianship.
Sheer artistry is the order of the day. You MUST buy this disc!

for more information click here

A Classicq

I got a number of other albums by Sam, but this was is the best, it's amazing what a man can do, his voice, his charm, he still has it all. If some people are not sold on this album, buy it and you will be. All 12 songs are great, Little Red Rooster, Shake Rattle and Roll are great. It's an all time classic. Thanks Sam where ever you are.

Sam Cooke's "Night Beat" is unrivaled perfection

The vocal powerhouse is in rare form here. An ingenious, late-night, blues/soul album bordering even the boundaries of perfection that he recorded in a matter of days. From beginning to end, the architect of soul music is without equal in these 38 minutes of bitter-sweet agony. The listener is raptured up in this dismal, gray, dark, bitter, regretful, unforgiving, at times comical tornado of human emotion. Sam interprets these songs as a man sitting a few stools down from you in the bar. Eyes red and cloudy, getting to know his good friend 'Jack Daniels' even better. Where happy hour is his time of peace and serenity. "Bartender, another one......please"

Brilliant....absolutely brilliant.

for more information click here

Simply beautiful

I think I put this album on my wishlist after seeing a documentary on the history of soul music on TV. This is the first Sam Cooke CD I've ever bought and after just one listen I was amazed that I had waited so long. His voice is raw and natural like molasses and just as sweet. When he sings of the pain of loneliness and love lost, I truly believe him and actually feel sorry for him. The evocation of such a response is just what a real soul singer is supposed to do, (or so I'm told), especially when he sings the blues, which is essentially what Cooke is doing here.

Production is sparse, light, especially by today's standards, allowing Cooke's voice to reign supreme, but is nonetheless clear and tight. This is great music. Personal favourites include "Mean Old World", "Please Don't Drive Me Away", "Little Red Rooster" and "You Gotta Move" but I genuinely love this entire album from start to end.

And it's not all melancholy, doom and gloom either. Just at the end, Cooke sends you off on a high note by getting all up-tempo and gay with "Shake, Rattle and Roll". Excellent late-night listening. Simply beautiful. I need to look for more of his albums now.

for more information click here

products you might be interested in