A Window Above: You Send Me

Song: "You Send Me"

Writer: Sam Cooke

Original Release: October 7, 1957

I have discovered a drawback of listening to classical music radio all the time.  I realized the problem one night during holiday season when VPR Classical played a gospel song performed by Mahalia Jackson.  Western art music, as "classical" is more accurately termed, is awfully white.  African-American influence is severely lacking.  Oh sure, there are composers who have worked to incorporate it: Gershwin, Debussy and Dvorak prominent among them.  But most of the stylistic thrust comes from Europe.

Without a doubt, the single greatest cultural force in the musical world over the past century-plus has been African-America: blues, jazz, rock and hip-hop all have their roots in that tradition.  Throw in Afro-Caribbean styles like reggae and calypso and there's no question of Africa's dominant influence for several generations running.  Listen to nearly any other radio station and the African strains are obvious.  Even country music has benefited.  Classical music is certainly not without a "soul" of its own but it still lacks that certain something.  Occasionally, one thirsts for a blues scale or a spot of syncopation.  Fusion won't cut it.  Only the real thing will do.

For me, no music is more spiritually nourishing than soul music, the older the better.  Sam Cooke is as good as it gets.  Cooke is credited by many with inventing soul but of course, that is oversimplifying history.  He came up in gospel, becoming lead singer of the Soul Stirrers in 1950 at the tender age of nineteen.  His vocal talents were obvious but it was his good looks that drew young female admirers to the group's performances.  His crossover to secular material, a genuinely crucial moment in the history of soul music, came in 1956 with the song "Loveable," a rewriting of the gospel song "Wonderful."  As both singer and songwriter, Cooke established himself as a force in the music industry, ultimately signing with RCA in 1963.

Alas, the extraordinary success ended soon after.  The events surrounding his death in 1964, ultimately ruled a justifiable homicide, have been called into question by Cooke's family and supporters in the years since.  Whatever the truth may be, the details suggest that he may not have been the world's nicest person.  His musical contributions, though, are undeniable.

"You Send Me" was Cooke's first and amazingly only #1 hit on the Billboard charts.  "Summertime" was the B-side of the single.  The song is a lock for nearly any all-time greats list and has been covered by numerous artists, including Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding.