NON-DREAD IN A BABYLON

The other night, Saturday to be exact, I was in the shower and for some reason Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night" popped into my head. No clue why. Despite the fact that he was an extraordinary singer singing a great song, the song itself, lyrically, has for me lost its relevance over the years, albeit "another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody" is the story of my life. But it was different for me back then when I first heard it. If, like most Saturday nights, I didn't have anybody, it meant one of two things. Either someone had just broken up with me, or I was on the prowl. To be on the prowl and be successful, one has to assert themselves. This I did to some degree when I was younger. As I got older it was less about getting laid and more about being able to laugh after getting laid, and that meant you had to really know the other person. Full stop. Shit, a snippet of a song nearly turned into True Confessions.

I'd known of Sam Cooke since my teens. They would play "You Send Me" and "Cupid" on the oldies station and that was about it. When I hit my mid-teens Rod Stewart released his Never a Dull Moment LP, his last solo album that came anywhere near the sound of his work with the Faces. Believe it kids, Rod Stewart did not always suck. At that point in his career he still had it. I listened the shit out of that LP and one song I particularly liked was "Twistin' the Night Away". Perusing the liner notes, which I sill do with every album, I saw that the song was written by Cooke. So Sam Cooke was now officially on the list.  I picked up a best-of which has served me well over the years but I know it's not enough. Having just one Sam Cooke LP, a greatest hits package at that, leaves a whole lot more untouched. It's like having the #1 combination plate at the taco shop for years without ever trying a tamale. So, yeah, though Cooke has been on the list for decades now, on my sad sack ain't got nobody Saturday I finally started digging around listening to more of his non-hit stuff. Hearing his "Yeah, Man" I realized how ignorant I'd been. I had no idea that Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music" was adapted from a Sam Cooke song. Rather than beat myself up for not knowing that I was stoked. After listening to music for [mumble, mumble] years there is still much to be uncovered. 

A few things you should know about Sam Cooke: He is credited by many as the first soul singer. How the fuck that's determined is beyond me. There was a big gray area when rhythm and blues morphed into soul, so I ain't committing to that one. Cooke wrote a lot of his own songs and had his own record label. He was about having control over his own music. He could have been one of the greatest but he died young (age 33), shot by a woman running a hotel. The incident was a bit of a mess and you can find out the details on other sites, but it involves him possibly raping a woman, the woman possibly escaping through a bathroom window and then Cooke shows up at the managers office missing some of his clothes and one shoe. She shot him, possibly in self defense, and that was the end of Sam Cooke.

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Listen:
Sam Cooke - Another Saturday Night mp3 at Tumblr
Sam Cooke - Twistin' the Night Away mp3 at Rocky 52 Check the horns-to-drums intro.
Sam Cooke - Yeah Man mp3 at Tumblr
Rod Stewart - Twistin' the Night Away (streaming) at YouTube When the drums come in at 2:40.
Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music at Tumblr