Wade in the Water (Chatter) - Sam Cooke, Alexander, James W.
Wade in the Water - Sam Cooke, Alexander, James W.
I'm a Pilgrim - Sam Cooke, Crain, S.R.
Praying Ground - Sam Cooke, Gibbs, Richard
Somebody (Chatter) - Sam Cooke, Harris, R.H.
Somebody - Sam Cooke, Harris, R.H.
Sometime - Sam Cooke, Harris, R.H.
Amazing Grace - Sam Cooke, Newton, John [Compo
Pass Me Not - Sam Cooke, Harris, R.H.
Oh Mary, Don't You Weep (Chatter) - Sam Cooke, Cooke, Sam
For a few years during the early 1960s, Sam Cooke, the man with the golden croon, ran his own small record label, SAR Records. In addition to aiding the career of the post-Cooke Soul Stirrers, SAR unleashed an impressive a... more »rray of talent--Bobby Womack and the Valentinos, Lou Rawls and the Pilgrim Travelers, and a young organist named Billy Preston. The singles they cut for his label are here, alongside unreleased demos from Cooke such as a spare, transporting take of "That's Heaven to Me." Story presents much evidence of the Soul Stirrers' continued greatness with Jimmie Outler as lead singer. And the tracks by R.H. Harris & His Gospel Paraders are stone groove gospel-soul cuts. Disc 2 presents the secular material, with solid jazz-funk cuts alongside swell pop-soul numbers. To top it all off, the packaging is deluxe, the notes informative, and the remastering first-rate. --Mike McGonigal« less
For a few years during the early 1960s, Sam Cooke, the man with the golden croon, ran his own small record label, SAR Records. In addition to aiding the career of the post-Cooke Soul Stirrers, SAR unleashed an impressive array of talent--Bobby Womack and the Valentinos, Lou Rawls and the Pilgrim Travelers, and a young organist named Billy Preston. The singles they cut for his label are here, alongside unreleased demos from Cooke such as a spare, transporting take of "That's Heaven to Me." Story presents much evidence of the Soul Stirrers' continued greatness with Jimmie Outler as lead singer. And the tracks by R.H. Harris & His Gospel Paraders are stone groove gospel-soul cuts. Disc 2 presents the secular material, with solid jazz-funk cuts alongside swell pop-soul numbers. To top it all off, the packaging is deluxe, the notes informative, and the remastering first-rate. --Mike McGonigal
Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 05/19/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This 2 CD set collects highlights from the SAR Records vault. This record label was co-owned by Sam Cooke. In addition to being the owner, Sam also wrote and produced many of the records. Disc One features gospel songs and Disc Two features secular material. Some of the songs are preceded by bits of studio dialogue where Sam explains to the performers how he wants them to sing. Most of the songs are quite good, although not as good as Sam's own versions of the same songs, when they exist. This is a very nice collection, but some Sam Cooke fans may be disappointed that there are only a few songs performed by Cooke himself."
Wow, thats really all i can say
Logan Seguin | Michigan | 01/27/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is incredible. Even though i'm not particularly religious, but this Gospel is amazing. The first disc, to me, is alot better, just because it is the gospel, and there are no duds. The "chatter" before the songs really add alot to the whole experience, and give you a deeper look into Sam Cookes producing style. My favorite soul album, and completely flawless."
Transcendent Glory!
D. Hawkins | Denver, CO United States | 08/22/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When you hear the magic on these two CD's, you know there is a God! As a game, you can count how many times the hairs stand up on your neck while you're listening to these "Soul Stirrers" (the most apt title of a group in history). The beautiful thing about this collection is it's just Sam's show, but he brings out the best in so many others. In addition to this masterpiece, try to find RCA's now deleted "The Man and his Music" at a used CD store. It's the best single disc collection of the greatest singer who ever drew breath. I am mind-boggled that someone would let that go out of print!! Find it!!"
Yet Another Side of the Man who invented Soul
M. Buisman | Amsterdam, NL | 11/30/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sam Cooke once said that one of the things he wanted to accomplish was that all the singers he recorded had hits. For that reason he started his own recordlabel called SAR. The S for Sam. The A jwAlexander and the r for sR crain.
He produced most of the sessions himself and they have added some fun bits on the CD where Sam is talking to the artists and telling them how to sing and what to do.
CD1 is the gospel part and features himself but also the Soul Stirrers and the Womack Brothers. On CD2 we find them again but this time as The Valentinos. The song everyone will know if "It's all over now" that the Rolling Stones heard and then recorded.
It also features songs he wrote for others and then recorded himself a little later like "That's Where It's At", "Soothe Me", "When A Boy Falls In Love" and "Rome Wasn't Build In A Day".
The production was great because the songs all sound awesome. It really shows yet another side of the man who invented soul. This time the producer and label owner."