Sam Cooke tried disguising his voice as Dale Cook and fooled nobody
Gospel singers who crossed into pop risked scorn, so in 1956 Sam Cooke cut his first secular song under the fake name Dale Cook. His voice was too recognisable for the ruse to work. A year later You Send Me topped the charts and raised his earnings from 200 dollars a week to more than 5,000.
Born Samuel Cook in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931, he was the fifth of eight children of a Baptist minister, and the family moved to Chicago two years later. He sang in his father's church, performed with his siblings as the Singing Children from age six, and at 14 joined the Highway Q.C.'s, befriending a neighbour and rival gospel singer named Lou Rawls. In 1950 he became lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, drawing young female fans who rushed the stage just to see him.
Leaving gospel in 1956 brought a backlash from church leaders, yet his pastor father backed him, telling him that the true use of a God-given voice was to make people happy. Specialty Records boss Art Rupe wanted another Little Richard and was furious to find Cooke singing Gershwin, so Cooke and producer Bumps Blackwell departed. He added an e to his surname as a symbol of a fresh start. An early Ed Sullivan appearance was cut off when the live broadcast overran, and angry viewers forced a rebooking.
In 1960 RCA Victor lured him with a 100,000 dollar advance, and hits such as Chain Gang, his first British top ten, and Twistin' the Night Away followed. Cooke wrote most of his own material and, unusually for a Black performer then, ran his own business interests, including SAR Records, whose roster featured Bobby Womack's family group the Valentinos, and a publishing and management firm called Kags. His 1958 Copacabana residency flopped, but a triumphant return in 1964 produced a live album that became one of the first number ones on the R&B albums chart.
His velvety tenor could reach high C without losing purity, and Otis Redding, Al Green, Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder all drew on it. Friends with Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, he used his wide appeal to support civil rights. In December 1964 a Los Angeles motel manager shot him dead, circumstances his family still questions. Rolling Stone later ranked him the third greatest singer ever.
Source: Sam Cooke
