You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke

Rating:
Summary: Thorough but not interesting.
Review: Excellent read! Sam happens to be my favorite male singer and this book gave me the deep, in-depth look into this musical genius' life that I was searching for. Amongst the most enlightening topics was the controversy that arose when Sam decided to sing secular music. I had no idea that the church community turned their back's on him the way they did. Secondly, It was no surprise that Sam was a playboy, however, I did not know he fathered as many of the children mentioned. Most sadly, the tragic death of Sam still remains a mystery to me, and I would love to know if his killer is still incarcerated on her unrelated sentence, or even still alive for that matter. But the real shocker in the book deals with Bobby Womack's marriage to Sam's widow shortly after his death! And to even wear his clothing in public- how bizarre! The foolish things we do in our youth. This was a thoroughly researched, well written book, with great attention paid to detail. This book is a must have to add to your home libraries.

Rating:
Summary: God-given talent but all too human
Review: I didn't know Sam Cooke beyond a few of his old hits (I was born in 1971) but picked up this book on the advice of a friend. 'You Send Me' is a fascinating study of the man and his music.

There is stuff in there for everyone... his religious roots... early fame at the helm of the most famous gospel group of his day... the illegitimate children... his tragic marriages... his relationships with Aretha, Lou Rawls and Muhammed Ali... his refusal to play to segregated audiences, blazing the way for integration across the South... spirited, behind-the-scenes stories of his recordings and live performances... his everlasting love of soul and gospel music and how he founded his own label to showcase otherwise overlooked talents. And, of course, his controversial death in a cheap motel and subsequent investigations.

'You Send Me' is a wonderful picture, as well, of the South at the turn of the 20th century, Depression-era Chicago and a teenage America finding a common love of rock and roll.

In the end, the reader is left with a satisfying read as well as a sense of tragedy over a life so filled with potential cut so short by misadventure (he was not yet 34 when he died). I almost cringe to draw this comparison, but like Princess Diana, another charismatic celebrity, Sam Cooke is beloved because despite the glamour, he was altogether too human.

This book stands up to repeated readings. Then, listen to his music. You will smile, because Daniel Wolff will have taken you there.

Rating:
Summary: Great Artist - Average Book
Review: Sam Cooke has always been something of an enigma. Simply stated, Sam was one of the greatest talents America has produced: powerful singer with a gift from God voice, combined with a poetic talent for songwriting. One of the few African-Americans who dared to venture into the business side of the music industry. Sam was man of rare musical genius. Yet, despite his Gospel-roots and clean-cut image he is shot to death in a seedy motel by a former prostitute, the motel-manager. So who was Sam Cooke? - after reading the 300 or so pages of Mr. Wolf's book the question, for me, remains unanswered. I suspect it remains unanswered for Mr. Wolff as well.

Wolff's strength lies in putting Sam, his family, friends and music in the context of African-American history. However, one reads through the accounts of Sam's rise to glory on the Gospel Music circuit and his later rise to fame in Pop music without ever really getting a sense of who Sam Cooke really was.

Wolff starts recounting the origins of the Holiness Church how it branches off from more mainstream African-American Southern Baptists. Then neatly relates this with Sam's origins in Clarkesdale, MS and his youth in the Bronzeville area of Chicago. But the book gets mired in details when Sam's music career gets fully underway. We get lost in the increasing crowd of mentors, musicians, associates, record executives and hangers-on - and so does Sam's personality. Sam's growth as a business man, an important aspect of the story, is difficult to trace through the details.

In the final chapters the book again begins to glow. The last year of Sam's life, his growth as an artist and his increasing involvement in the Civil Rights movement, making friends with Cassius Clay and Malcolm X is fascinating and comes across well. The account of his tragic death is equally gripping. I appreciated the attention given to the trial and to the various threories of why and how Sam was killed. His murder makes no sense and no attempt can ever remove the seediness from this event. Sadly it mars the image of one of a truly great man.

This is the only book on Sam Cooke in print today. It is a neccisary book, but unneccisarily difficult to read. A good telling of the facts of Sam's life, but oddly the soul of the greatest Soul Man seems absent from these pages. To be fair, it is a cut above most Rock and Roll biographies. It is well researched and complete. However, I give it three and a half stars and recommend it only to true fans of soul.

Rating:
Summary: Moved Me
Review: Sam Cooke have paved the way for other artists.Sam didn't do it alone and that's the beauty of this book,because it focus on Sam Cooke's life but also recognize other artists in that era as well. I love this book.

Rating:
Summary: You Send Me
Review: The question of the day is: can someone who leaves this world early in their years possibly have lived a full life? Without getting too philosophical, this question often haunts us when we attempt to examine the lives of many great entertainers who transcended their craft but clearly died before their time.

The mysteries surrounding the death of Sam Cooke will never equal his accomplishments during the short life he lived and the impact he had and continues to have on the music world today. Documented through the eyes of Daniel Wolff with the help of those who knew him best, "You Send Me" provides an accurate chronology of possibly Rock-N-Roll's greatest phenomenon.

I will start by admitting that Sam Cooke is absolutely my favorite singer and that I've looked forward to reading this biography for months. Given this, you might assume that this extreme personal admiration might somewhat cloud the judgement of the average book critic. Not the case Book Circle readers. I approached this book with the utmost objectivity and an open minded attitude.

The first several chapters of "You Send Me" provides an excellent look at the backround of the Cook Family. It provides interesting details of Sam's father Charley and the hardships he faced raising a family in Mississippi's racially charged Delta during the Depression. Charley is painted as a very moral, hard working man who found religion late in life but found his home and his livelihood preaching the gospel. Charley's commitment to the church is what eventually started the gospel singing career of his children who would travel with him to sing at different churches. As opportunities in the church and better job opportunities for working class African Americans became available in the Midwest, the Cooke Family traveled to Chicago where the young Sam Cooke found his true calling.

As Sam grew older he traveled locally with his own group before he was chosen by his mentor to replace the lead in one of gospels most famous groups, The Soul Stirrers.

Throughout, Daniel Wolff provides a detailed timeline of dates and facts that shows an extraordinary research effort. At no time during this read do you feel that the author's accuracy or the truthfulness of any events was in question.

As much as I would like to say to casual readers and non-Sam Cooke Cooke fans that this biography will captivate you and leave you with a great sense of the type of person he was, I unfortunately cannot. "You Send Me" seems to bury itself in so much detail about dates, times and locations that it fails any attempt to explore the personal side of Sam Cooke. It is a safe bet that the type of person who purchases this book would be somewhat interested in what Cooke's personal interests were as well as his personality traits, but the biography served as purely a historical account. The book did get more personal toward the end as it looked at the incidents surrounding his death; unfortunately, I'm not sure many readers will actually make it that far.

If you're writing a paper about "The Life and Times of Sam Cooke" then Daniel Wolff's biography would make a fantastic reference. If you were looking to find out about Sam's moods, thoughts, insights and ideas then you would be better off buying his CD.

Rating:
Summary: Moved Me
Review: There are a couple of reviews included here that criticize Wolff's (et al) biography of Sam Cooke. However, I couldn't have been more pleased with it!

As a musician/songwriter/singer, myself, "You Send Me" provided exactly the type of information I wanted to learn about my beloved Sam: how he composed, recorded, released and performed his music. I also enjoyed learning about Sam's background in Clarksdale and Chicago as well as the exhaustive research regarding his time with the QCs and the inimitable Soul Stirrers. My favorite aspect of "You Send Me" is the detail regarding the recording of each song -- Wolff described the musicians on the session, the producers, arrangers and record company personnel - how many takes - how they achieved some of the interesting sounds, etc. But, reading the line-by-line synopsis of "A Change Is Gonna Come" is what really knocked me out. For the first time, I realized that in the first line of the song ("I was born by the river in a little tent"), Sam was referring to being saved in his father's Holiness revival tents down by the river - the line finally made sense to me, after all these years. It took me a good hour to finish those 2 pages - my favorite Sam Cooke song -- I wanted to savor every word.

The info provided by Crain, White, Tenenbaum and Sam's former bandmates and label folks is fascinating. Sam's relationship with Barbara, Dee Dee, his children and the other women in his life is his business. I didn't want to delve into Sam's ultra personal life, I wanted to delve into Sam's musical genius and hear a few stories about his gigs, writing, recording and business practices. I wanted to remain a respectful distance away from his family and personal life. Maybe I'm just a true musical fan of his and not a bio reader. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed "You Send Me".

I'd like to thank Mr. Wolff for dedicating a large portion of his career to bringing our Sam back to life for us. Sadly, I have not yet finished the book -- I'm about a dozen pages before Sam dies -- I can't bring myself to read it just yet -- it's too painful. I feel if I linger in early 1964 for a while, I can keep Sam alive a little bit longer...

Lysa Parker
Singer & Songwriter ...

Rating:
Summary: Sent Me There!
Review: This was a well researched and written book. I enjoyed it because it was packed full of history on music industry, the Civil Rights Era and The Man (Sam Cooke). This book sent me there. It was so descriptive, that I felt like I was actually there viewing the events as they unfolded.

I am a Sam Cooke fan, but I did not know much about him. This book provided me with an in-depth look at the man from a personal and professional standpoint. His life was not picture perfect and his death is still surrounded by too much mystery. I appreciate the author revealing such sensitive info and in such a way that it did not tarnish my image of the singer.

This man's life had all the makings for a movie. The book left me not wanting for anything. I walked away full...no questions pending.

Rating:
Summary: Bringing It On Home
Review: When I first read this book,I was so entranced that I stayed up all night reading.Sam Cooke had long been my musical idol and many stories about him are a) sketchy or ;b)center around the bizarre circumstances surrounding his death.
Granted this book doesn't answer many questions about his cause of death,but it does open up alot of things about his life.It showed a human side to the man behind the voice(fathering many illegitimate children,his shrewed business instincts,the death of his son Vincent,and the heavy drinking before his own death),as well as a detailed account about the genisis of his greatest songs(guitarist Cliff White thought You Send Me was repetitive during the sessions for the song,Wonderful World was a demo which was rushed released by his former record label to cash-in on his RCA success,and A Change Is Gonna Come was inspired by Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind).
You Send Me, like the now deleted Man and His Music CD are essential to any Sam Cooke fan,especially when many of todays music stars could never hold a candle to this talent.

Rating:
Summary: God-given talent but all too human
Review: Who doesn't love Sam Cooke? Well, a lot of people, but they are a misguided bunch. This book provides finely researched insight into the talented mind of Mr. Cooke. Why hasn't his story been made into a major motion picture? And I don't mean one of those crummy VH1 movies, either. Sam's life was a story of scandal, faith, outstanding talent, women, shady record deals and murder. Author Daniel Wolff writes with flair and honesty throughout the entire book. I loved his descriptions of Sam's songs and their different stages of creation. For fans of Sam, as well as devotees of pop and gospel music, "You Send Me" is well worth reading.