I don't have much to say. No news, no witty comments. It's been a wild year of exhilarating highs, disappointing lows and lots of frustrating periods of waiting in between. Just this week we've been through a lot of emotional calisthenics. In times like this I turn to music. Thankfully on this day in 1931, we were given a wonderful gift of music in the form of Mr. Sam Cooke. This humble diary is a celebration of his life and music.
"We're gonna stay here 'til we soothe our souls, if it takes all night long."
I once heard a Thom Hartmann lecture in which he said that everyone's personality is somewhat influenced by the sensory mechanism that is most dominant in that person. Basic cognitive psychology. There is a trick to finding out which sense dominates in a particular person. The next time you find yourself explaining something to someone, just ask if they follow what you're saying and pay attention to their answer. A vision dominant person will say "Yeah, I see what you're saying." A touch oriented person will "feel" you, or say that the "feel" that they understand. It's rare for a person to be smell or taste oriented, as those are weaker senses from a cognitive perspective, but occasionally someone will even say that they "smell what you're cooking" or that they're getting a "taste" of what's going on. Of course, an auditory dominant person will always "hear you." That's me. I'm a visual artist by trade. I love to read and I love good food. But music and spoken language have always grabbed me like nothing else does. I gain more from the speeches of Dr. King and the tapes of Alan Watts than I do from their books. And nothing moves me quite like music. A lot of my memories are based around music, and often I will hear a song and be transported back to a particular place and time when that song had a meaningful connection to an event in my life. I honestly feel that, at times, music soothes my soul. It can wake me up when I'm feeling sluggish, calm me down when I'm feeling restless and more than anything it can cheer me up when I need it.
I love all kinds of music (experimental metal and dub are probably my favorites). But the R&B/soul/proto-rock of the 50's and early 60's is genuinely special. Specialty Profiles is a favorite label. Percy Mayfield, Lloyd Price, all that good old stuff. In my book, none of them top Sam Cooke. Take a moment to have a party for the man on his birthday:
Sam Cooke was a singer-songwriter, composer and entrepreneur. He was one of the first African American artists to get involved in the business side of the music industry, founding his own record label and publishing company.
He was also actively involved in the Civil Rights movment. His song A Change Is Gonna Come is often credited with giving a jump start to the movement:
In 1961, he took a stand against the color line by refusing to play a segregated show in Memphis. During his spring 1963 tour, he watched helplessly as fire hoses and dogs were turned on black children in Birmingham, Alabama. More and more he found himself drawn into the explicit language of protest, which would lead him to write the civil rights anthem and his masterpiece, "A Change Is Gonna Come."
A Change is Gonna Come was played at the funeral of Malcolm X. It's cultural significance is hard to underestimate. Cooke recorded the song after being arrested and thrown in jail for refusing to be turned away at a segregated hotel in Shreveport in October of 1963. Like many masterpieces of popular protest, the song addressed the frustrations and the hopes of the community. The song resonated with the contemporary struggles of the African American community and charted in both the mainstream and R&B categories when it was released around the time of his death in December of 1964. Cooke died young, at the age of 33, at a hotel in Los Angeles under mysterious circumstances which continue to spark conspiracy theories today. But I don't want to focus on that today. I want to focus on the man's uplifting music and his tremendous gift. Though he did not live to see the success of his magnum opus, nor the benefits of the Civil Rights Act, nor the election of the first African American president, his formidable legacy lives on.
Sam's voice is unmistakable. His writing was phenomenal and diverse. At times, he would write rollicking jump blues and rock and roll:
as well as moving original compositions with rich vocalization and instrumentation:
My favorite collection of Sam Cooke's music is Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963. This classic live performance is astounding, and truly one of the best albums of all time.
Mr. Cooke's music was an influence on many later musicians, from the Beatles to Tupac. It has been said that Barack Obama's presidential victory speech paraphrases A Change is Gonna Come:
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
So at this time of high emotions, after this first year of highs and lows (please don't forget the highs), take a moment to step back, step away from the computer, release some of the tensions from the fleeting trials of the day, and enjoy some of the beauty of life. Do yourself a favor. Listen to some of Sam Cooke's music.
You heart is a muscle the size of your fist. You gotta use both. I'm going to keep fighting. I'm going to keep loving. I'm going to keep practicing patience, respect and understanding, even when my patience is wearing thin as it is this week. I'm going to do my best to practice forgiveness and tolerance, which is needed now more than ever. But first I'm going to dance my legs off, with the biggest smile a fool's ever smiled, to Mr. Sam Cooke.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!