This 4 CD bookset is essential to fans of Sam Cooke, despite the fact that it contains none of his gospel recordings or any of the work from the final year of his career. Scattered every few minutes across this four-disc collection are reminders of just how far ahead of all existing musical forms Cooke was, creating sounds that stretched the definitions of song genres as they were understood and created completely new categories. Indeed, he was so successful that it’s easy to underestimate the impact and importance of many of his early triumphs. “You Send Me,” which opens this set, may seem today like the safest, tamest pop music, but in 1957 it was a genre-bending single, a new kind of R&B/pop music hybrid and one that quietly shook the foundations of the music business when it hit number one. In addition to his world-famous own compositions “You Send Me,” “Only Sixteen,” “Cupid,” “Wonderful World”, he also sang songs by Gershwin (Summertime), Willie Dixon (Little Red Rooster) and Jimmie Cox (Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out). The development of Cooke’s writing and singing and his growing confidence and range culminate. Disc 4 is the Night Beat album and Cooke’s live performance from the Harlem Square Club. The sound is extraordinary throughout, expansive, rich-textured, and vividly detailed.
