Similar Albums:
- Artist: Sam Cooke
- Rating:
- Release Date: June 17, 2003
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Rhythm & Blues
Review
Some 46 years after his first pop hit, and 39 years after his death, comes only the second attempt at a comprehensive Sam Cooke collection. Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 eclipses RCA's early-'80s The Man and His Music, going it better in running time but losing some important recordings -- "That's Heaven to Me" and "Soothe Me," arguably one of Cooke's most important songs -- in the process of summing up his career. From 1951's Soul Stirrers' gospel classic "Touch the Hem of His Garment" through to 1964's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "Shake," we get highlights of Cooke's career presented in state-of-the-art digital audio; superior in every way possible to the audio quality of The Man and His Music. What's more, this is a hybrid disc with SACD capability, and the sound on that layer is almost as much of a jump above the quality on the CD layer as this remastering is from the old The Man and His Music disc; and either the standard CD or the SACD playback makes that 1980s-issued compilation sound faint and anemic. There's also annotation here -- which was totally lacking on the earlier CD -- by Peter Guralnick, which delves very effectively into the background of each song. And the producers have taken the trouble to be a little inventive in the programming -- it would have been easy enough to follow a strict chronological approach, but instead the disc opens and closes with tracks that reveal Cooke's gospel roots, which is pretty much where his music started and where it ended up, bookending his first hit with songs from his first session ever. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Touch the Hem of His Garment | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:04) |
| Lovable | Sam Cooke, |
Sam Cooke | (2:26) |
| You Send Me | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:45) |
| Only Sixteen | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:03) |
| (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons | Sam Cooke | (2:40) | |
| Just for You | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:22) |
| Win Your Love (For Me) | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:47) |
| Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha | Sam Cooke, |
Sam Cooke | (2:43) |
| I'll Come Running Back to You | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:14) |
| You Were Made for Me | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:55) |
| Sad Mood | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:40) |
| Cupid | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:38) |
| Wonderful World | Herb Alpert, Sam Cooke, Lou Adler | Sam Cooke | (2:09) |
| Chain Gang | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:36) |
| Summertime | George Gershwin, Dubose Heyward | Sam Cooke | (2:23) |
| Little Red Rooster | Willie Dixon, |
Sam Cooke | (2:53) |
| Bring It on Home to Me | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:45) |
| Nothing Can Change This Love | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:39) |
| Sugar Dumpling | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:45) |
| (Ain't That) Good News | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:30) |
| Meet Me at Mary's Place | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:43) |
| Twistin' the Night Away | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:44) |
| Shake | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:53) |
| Tennessee Waltz | Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart | Sam Cooke | (3:11) |
| Another Saturday Night | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:42) |
| Good Times | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:28) |
| Having a Party | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (2:37) |
| That's Where It's At | Sam Cooke, |
Sam Cooke | (2:37) |
| A Change Is Gonna Come | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | (3:13) |
| Jesus Gave Me Water | Sam Cooke | (2:31) | |
| [Untitled Hidden Track] | Sam Cooke | (0:32) |
