194 the release of the first two Keen singles: “You Send Me” (Keen 4013) was the label’s first release, in early September 1957. The next appears to have been “Hey Team” (Keen 4001), with additional releases following more or less in sequential order, I believe, through 4012. The Andex label was begun at about this point at 2001 and merged in May with the 4000 series, which restarted at 4014. There were some additional variants, but if there was any numerical logic to it, I don’t know what it is—nor does John Siamas Jr.
194 Dolphin’s of Hollywood had been well primed: Bob Keane told me about bringing Sam around to Dolphin’s. Rip Spencer said that Dolphin’s was a regular hangout of theirs, and Lou Rawls spoke of frequent visits, which included the Harrison and Ross Funeral Home nearby, where one of the owner’s daughters was crazy about Sam.
195 “Nobody,” said René Hall . . . “realized how big the record was”: This quote combines Hall’s descriptions of the Elks Hall dance from interviews with the BBC and Steve Propes. Bob Keane spoke of Sam playing the dance not for money but for airplay.
196 It was an oversight, Bumps told him: In an October 21, 1957, letter to Higuera Music (Keen’s publishing company), Art Rupe wrote: “We discussed this matter with your Mr. Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell several weeks ago, and he left us with the impression that he would straighten out this misunderstanding.”
196 E. Rodney Jones played “Summertime”: Wolff, You Send Me, p. 155.
198 “I can tell my listeners”: Time, February 14, 1955.
198 Teresa Brewer may not have realized it: Bumps Blackwell interview, Specialty archives (I’ve changed the tense of the verbs to the present throughout); Crume, too, spoke of Sam being upset about Teresa Brewer’s version, which went to number eight on the pop charts.
199 he . . . was about to have his own teen dance show: This was announced in September but did not actually go on the air until January.
199 “Somebody’s kicking on the front door”: Lex Gillespie interview with Doug “Jocko” Henderson, 1995, for the Smithsonian series produced by Jacquie Gales Webb for National Public Radio, Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was. Used by permission.
200 “he emaciated the house”: Michael Ochs and Ed Pearl interview with Bumps Blackwell, 1981. Both here and in his interview in the Specialty archives, Bumps spoke of Sam appearing with the Stirrers, but it was in Philadelphia, not Washington, D.C. Crume had no question, though, that the chance meeting took place in Philadelphia, but Sam appeared with the group in D.C.
201 “I was sitting in my office with a guy named Paul Cantor”: This, and subsequent passages about Sam’s early days at William Morris, is based primarily on my interview with Larry Auerbach but is supported by interviews with Paul Cantor.
202 In Atlanta they . . . set up a show: Sam spoke of “running into” B.B. Beamon, and the $1,000 fee, in his interview with the Amsterdam News, December 21, 1957. The show was advertised in the Atlanta Daily World, October 10, 1957.
202 “The way they are treating my people”: “Which Negro Celebrities Back Satchmo Blast at Ike,” Jet, October 3, 1957.
202 “We don’t take that jive”: The Carolinian (ANP), November 9, 1957.
202 his . . . road manager suggested that he had spoken “in haste”: Kansas City Call (ANP), November 1, 1957. Armstrong responded, according to Jet, October 3, 1957, by calling the white road manager, “whom I’ve respected for 20 years . . . a flunky [and] a menace to the colored people,” while insisting that he would not retract a single word of his criticism—in which he called the president “two-faced” and “[having] no guts” and Governor Faubus “an uneducated Arkansas plowboy.” He then “immortalized the report by scribbling the word ‘solid’ across the bottom and affixing his signature.”
204 Sam was rebooked: The specifics of the public’s response come from my interview with Larry Auerbach and Bumps’ Specialty interview.
204 on October 21, he fired off letters: All letters in this and subsequent exchanges are in the Specialty archives, as is the “Hi Sweet” letter subsequently quoted.
208 Richard had dramatically announced that he was quitting show business: The best sources here are Damien Johnstone, “The Big Show: Rockin’ Australia 1957,” Now Dig This 37, April 1986 (reprinted from the Australian Rock ’n’ Roll Appreciation Society), and Derek Glenister’s thoughtful analysis, relayed via Bill Millar. Charles White’s Life and Times of Little Richard also provides valuable insight.
209 “ANOTHER KEEN HIT”: Cash Box ad, November 30, 1957.
209 a self-made man with the attitude that he had come into this world with nothing: Summarized and quoted from Art Rupe’s notes on the back of John Siamas’ December 5, 1957, letter to Rupe.
210 “In just three sensational weeks”: “Meet Sam Cooke—He’s the Most,” Norfolk Journal and Guide (ANP), November 30, 1957.
213 “I’m going with Sammy-o”: From interview with L.C. Cooke. The group’s reaction comes from my interview with Leroy Crume and Lee Hildebrand’s and Ray Funk’s interviews with Paul Foster.
214 Tony played the Apollo . . . with a little record of his own: Tony Harris’ hit, ironically, was on Art Rupe’s ex-wife Lee’s label, Ebb.
214 “None of my children have turned out badly”: “Rock ’n’ Roll Cinderella,” Sepia, March 1958. I have added the dash at the end of the quote.
214 an extensive interview to one of the country’s most prestigious black newspapers: Margurite Belafonte, “Eye to Eye with Sam Cook,” Amsterdam News, December 21, 1957.
216 “If church people feel that Sam deserted them”: Lillian Cumber quoted from her Los Angeles Tribune column in “Sam Cook Zooms to Fame,” Cleveland Call, November 23, 1957.
217 He gave an interview to the Philadelphia Tribune: Malcolm Poindexter, “Sam Cooke’s ‘Baby You Send Me’ Now Over 1,125,000 Mark,” Philadelphia Tribune, January 4, 1958.
217 Connie Bolling, whose son, Keith: Much of the information on Keith Bolling and his mother, and the intensity of Sam’s feelings, comes from my interview with Keith and his wife, Pam.
217 The sheriff and his deputies: Much of the specific detail of Sam’s arrest is derived from Art Peters, “Singer Sam Cooke Fathered Her Child, Says Unwed Girl,” a front-page story in the Philadelphia Tribune, March 25, 1958, along with the follow-up on April 1 by the same reporter, “Singer Sam Cooke Settles Baby Case for Over $5000.”
THE BIGGEST SHOW OF STARS FOR 1958
218-219 Crain . . . strongly seconded Sam’s demands: In his March 23, 1995, interview with Terry Gross on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, Crain said, “We begged Larry Auerbach . . . ”
219 He spoke to Sam Bramson: This account is culled from my interviews with Larry Auerbach, Paul Cantor, and Jess Rand, which, perhaps needless to say, do not agree in every particular.
220 “the young man with the golden voice”: Philadelphia Tribune, December 21, 1957.
220 headlining at the Crescendo: California Eagle, January 30, 1958.
220 “the red-haired vampire”: Miami Times, August 18, 1958.
220-221 “He’s cute as a button”: “Topic A,” Time, May 26, 1958.
221 “a wardrobe full of Ivy League clothes”: “The Private Life of Sam Cooke,” Tan, April 1958.
222 “Sam took Sister Flute:” Dred Scott Keyes interview with S.R. Crain, 1996.
223 “Bumps didn’t know what he was doing”: BBC interview with René Hall.
223 “Well, girls,” the Amsterdam News announced: Jesse H. Walker, “Theatricals,” Amsterdam News, March 8, 1958.
224 “Jules Podell told me”: William Peper, “Sam Cooke Sings the Blues, Too,” New York World-Telegram, February 6, 1964.
224 “We were pulling for him”: Houston Informer, March 22, 1958.
224 Sam Cooke had “laid a golden egg”: A. S. “Doc” Young, “The Big Beat,” Los Angeles Sentinel, March 20, 1958.
224 “the handsome Negro lad with two hit records”: Variety, March 12, 1958.
224 with Crain consoling him: Te
rry Gross’ National Public Radio interview with S.R. Crain, Fresh Air.
224 “the pretty model with an amazing hair style”: Houston Informer (ANP), March 15, 1958.
226 he ran into Barbara for the first time: In addition to Barbara’s own recollections, her interview of Mildred Richard ca. 1984-1985 was particularly illuminating.
227 The Spring Edition of the Biggest Show of Stars: Background information on this tour, and the history of the package tour in general, comes from numerous Billboard and Cash Box articles culled by Galen Gart in First Pressings: The History of Rhythm & Blues, 1954-1958. “Top R&R Shows Compete for Talent,” datelined February 17 in First Pressings, 1958, p. 15, details the situation in the spring of 1958.
228 an all-star gospel tour: Variety, December 25, 1957.
228 The result of this direct “competition”: “Sharp Downturn in Grosses Plaguing Touring Packages,” Gart, First Pressings, 1958, p. 47.
228 “for the first time in ‘package show’ history”: Norfolk Journal and Guide, March 29, 1958.
229 the “fornication and bastardy” charge: Jet, April 3, 1958; see also Philadelphia Tribune, March 25, 1958.
230 Frankie Avalon was hailed: Billboard, April 21, 1958.
230 the number of notes to which he could draw out a single syllable: Bill Millar, The Drifters, p. 21.
231 the Houston Informer reported: Houston Informer, May 24, 1958.
231 her “sexy gestures”: “Tweedlee Dee Girl,” Ebony, April 1956. Chip Deffaa contributed the eye-rolling and finger-in-the-mouth details in his chapter on LaVern Baker in Blue Rhythms: Six Lives in Rhythm and Blues.
231 “If they can get permission from their respective record firms”: Los Angeles Sentinel, April 17, Norfolk Journal and Guide, and Chicago Defender, April 19, 1958, et al. Sam wrote in “The Trouble I’ve Seen,” Sepia, September 1958: “I’ve succeeded in interesting my friend, LaVern Baker, in joining me [in a gospel album, and] we may also have the voice of our friend, Clyde McPhatter.” But in the end LaVern made her own album for Atlantic the following year with the Alex Bradford Singers.
233 “based on fear [and] hocus-pocus”: Lee Hildebrand interview with Clyde McPhatter, 1972.
233 a lifetime membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: Chicago Defender, June 1, 1957.
233 he was pictured . . . mailing a box of records: Memphis World (ANP), January 1, 1958.
233 he railed quietly against the mistreatment: Colin Escott, Clyde McPhatter: A Biographical Essay, p. 33.
233 he and Clyde would sometimes fool around with country: In addition to Phil Everly pointing this out to me, George Hamilton IV also spoke of Sam and Clyde “strumming Hank Williams songs” and singing country in Spencer Leigh, The Story of Pop, p. 135.
234 Jake Richard induced Sam: Barbara Cooke interview with Lee Richard, ca. 1984-1985.
234 “The transition from gospel to pop tunes was easy”: “Sam Cooke says all tours alike,” Richmond Afro-American (ANP), May 17, 1958.
234 That same night the violence . . . exploded: The Boston riot and its aftermath are well recounted in John A. Jackson, Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll, pp. 192ff.
235 another keen “battle of songs”: Norfolk Journal and Guide, May 31, 1958.
235 Prophet John the Conqueror: Pittsburgh Courier, March 29, 1958.
236 the label’s new West Third Street location: The studio first shows up on an American Federation of Musicians (AFM) session sheet on August 6, 1958.
237 He had been cultivating a Latin dance sound: Raul Trana first appears on a February 4, 1958, session sheet.
237 He carried a blue spiral notebook: Jess Rand interview.
238 He was “stubborn”: BBC interview with René Hall.
242 The July 4 Larry Finley Show: This was reported in Billboard, July 19, 1958, and various other trade items are included in Alan Clark, Rock and Roll Legends 3, p. 45 and Rock and Roll Memories 7, pp. 61-62.
243 Beamon, who . . . bought over $2 million worth of talent: Atlanta Daily World, November 6, 1958.
243 his divorce action with Dolores: Most of the information on the divorce settlement is culled from the divorce action itself, Sam Cook v. Dolores Cook, No. D 0529553, filed in California Superior Court, November 15, 1957.
243 a first-person article for Sepia: “The Trouble I’ve Seen,” Sepia, September 1958.
244 “My mama won’t tell me”: L.C. Cooke described this scene to me. Barbara Cooke recounted it similarly. Barbara’s story here and throughout is based on interviews with her.
246 he was entitled to something like $45,000: This is based on 1.7 million sales. All subsequent Specialty business calculations derive from documents in the Specialty archives, including Art Rupe’s detailed notes with respect to both the case and his options.
246 Bumps was ruining Sam: “Excerpts from shorthand notes, Bob Keane telephone conversation, Sunday, June 8, 1958,” Specialty archives.
247-248 his 25 percent ownership of the company would soon be . . . recognized: Bumps’ expectations and complaints are detailed in his lawsuit, Robert A. Blackwell v. John Siamas et al., No. 743709, filed in California Superior Court, April 15, 1960. His relationship with John Siamas and the company is described in Bob Keane’s June 1958 telephone conversation with Art Rupe; his method of operation was borne out by the observations of everyone I spoke to around Sam and him in the Keen days.
248 “You taking care of all these other people’s business”: Charles and L.C. Cooke quoted Sam. Barbara Cooke and Jess Rand reinforced that this was Sam’s view, as did J.W. Alexander. In the second part of Michael Watts‘ Melody Maker profile, September 2, 1972, Bumps stated, “The only argument he and I ever had was over money.”
249 J.W. immediately released the news to the press: Kansas City Call, September 12, 1958.
251 the eight-piece band he had put together: Sam spoke early and often with Clif White about getting his own band. Much of the information about the band he put together, and their two subsequent tours, comes from Lee Poole’s 1991 interviews with its musical director, Bob Tate. Tate didn’t speak about the Cavalcade of Jazz date at the Shrine; instead, he retained a vague memory of playing Elks Hall. But since the first tour he went out on with Sam came two days after the Shrine show, and since the California Eagle, July 24, 1958, reported that each of the stars would be playing with his own orchestra, my assumption is that Sam’s band debuted here.
254 Johnny Mathis had broken attendance records: Houston Informer, May 10, 1958.
254 “Sam Cooke’s disk stature is of very uncertain value here”: Variety, September 3, 1958.
254 The Chicago Defender . . . was burdened with no such doubts: Sam’s two-week engagement at the Black Orchid was the impetus for a full-blown two-part profile of Sam by Ernestine Cofield: “Close Look at Sam Cooke: From ‘Rags to Riches’ Story of Young Chi Club Singer,” Chicago Defender, October 18, 1958, and “Sam Cooke’s Big Decision,” Chicago Defender, October 25, 1958. Sam’s performance is reviewed in the first, and both pieces include numerous photographs of his homecoming. All quotes, both direct and indirect, are from these two articles.
256 a “thoughtful thief”: California Eagle, October 2, 1958.
256 “Sammy Davis wanted the role”: California Eagle, October 9, 1958.
256 the William Morris Agency . . . had been affiliated with Sammy: According to Frank Rose’s The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business, p. 162, the agency signed the Will Mastin Trio in 1945.
258 he promised his fans: Atlanta Daily World, September 23, 1958.
261 “one of the few ballsy things I ever did”: Dick Clark and Richard Robinson, Rock, Roll & Remember, p. 136. The rest of the account is based on my interview with Dick Clark and coverage in the Atlanta Constitution, October 2-14, which reports on an ecstatic public reception of the show and makes no mention of any public threat.
263 an amateurishly printed souvenir boo
k: I showed this to Jess Rand, but he had no recollection of it, nor did Lou Rawls. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to ask either S.R. Crain or J.W. Alexander.
264 “cheating and swindling” local telephone companies: Atlanta Daily World, November 2 and 15, 1958.
264 Eddie Cunningham got into a fight: St. Louis Argus, November 21, 1958.
265 There had been an accident: The account of the accident and the events preceding it was pieced together primarily from interviews with Lou Rawls, Clif White, J.W. Alexander, and Jesse Whitaker, Lee Poole’s interviews with Bob Tate, and newspaper accounts in the November 11 and 18, 1958, West Memphis Evening Times, the November 15 Tri-State Defender, and the November 15 and 19 Memphis World—some of which are not infrequently in conflict. I’m not going to try to adjudicate, or seek to reconcile, all the conflicts but simply set down my best understanding of what happened, as borne out by both objective and subjective accounts.
266 he was just getting over a bullet wound: Chicago Defender, October 13, 1958.
SAM, BARBARA, AND LINDA
268 a big welcome-home Christmas party: In addition to J.W. Alexander’s and Lou Rawls’ specific recollections, Sam referred glancingly to the party (and the children) in a 1964 interview with journalist Don Paulsen, “You Have to Pay Your Dues,” Hit Parader, January 1965.
269 “It was all I could do to concentrate”: Darlene Love with Rob Hoerburger, My Name Is Love: The Darlene Love Story, pp. 37ff.
270 “simple on the surface”: Leon Forrest, “A Solo Long-Song for Lady Day,” quoted by Farrah Jasmine Griffin in her notes for the ten-CD set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (Sony Legacy 85470).
272 “I said, ‘What about Bumps?’”: There is no way to specifically date Jess Rand’s recollection, but by April 1959 it had been announced in the trades that Jess was Sam Cooke’s new manager (Galen Gart, First Pressings: The History of Rhythm & Blues, 1959, p. 53). In another version of the story, as Jess told it, it was Sam who first approached him, with Crain consummating the deal.
273 Sam celebrated his birthday: California Eagle, January 15, 1959.
Dream boogie: the triumph of Sam Cooke Page 86
