510 The March took place four days later: Much of the detail on the March is taken from Thomas Gentile, March On Washington: August 28, 1963, as well as Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63, David L. Lewis, King: A Biography, et al.
511 “I’ve Been ’Buked and I’ve Been Scorned”: Mahalia Jackson gives her own eloquent reasons for picking this song in her autobiography, written with Evan McLeod Wylie, Movin’ On Up, pp. 197ff.
511 “The button-down men in front”: Gentile, March On Washington, p. 219, quoting Lerone Bennett in Wade in the Water.
511 a speech that . . . “carried every ear and every heart”: Gentile, March on Washington, p. 241, provides this quote from William Martin Miller, Martin Luther King Jr., pp. 166-167. David L. Lewis identifies Miller as a pacifist colleague of Bayard Rustin in King: A Biography, p. 72.
512 “Tell them about the dream”: Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, p. 882, cites as his principal source for Mahalia’s exhortation a 1983 interview with New York labor leader and march organizer Cleveland Robinson. King himself in a November 1963 interview spoke of how he “took up the first run of oratory,” Branch wrote, “that ‘came to me.’” Others have suggested the “dream” was part of the prepared text.
512 “rhetoric almost without content”: Lewis, King: A Biography, pp. 226-227.
512 It is impossible to calculate the full effect: The effect of the March, and the Movement, on Sam comes largely from interviews with J.W. Alexander, and, of course, from his frequent expressions of his views on race to Bobby Womack and others.
513 “I still feel that there is something more”: CORE papers, 1941-1967, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. Hamilton’s sign-off to the letter was, “You’ll never walk alone.”
514 Allen and Alex were in the lobby afterward: The specific chronology of this adventure remains somewhat indeterminate. When, or whether, lunch actually took place is the crux of the disparity. I have tried to meld Allen Klein’s, J.W. Alexander’s, and Joe D’Imperio’s (via Jonny Meadows) differing versions in the most plausible fashion, with J.W. supplying the shoeshine. Everyone agreed on the fundamental facts, though, as well as the execution and result of Allen’s strategy.
516 a very belated reckoning: Again, without belaboring the point, Jess Rand’s perspective and Sam and Alex’s were altogether different.
516 a big rock ’n’ roll show at the Sports Arena: Lee Cotten, Twist & Shout: The Golden Age of American Rock ’n Roll, vol. 3, 1960-1963, p. 514.
516 the new Buick Riviera he had gotten as a gift: Gertrude Gipson, “Candid Comments,” Los Angeles Sentinel, June 20, 1963.
516 J.W. announced to the press: Los Angeles Sentinel, August 15, 1963.
518 “totally contrary to everything going on in the record business”: Will Friedwald, Sinatra! The Song Is You, p. 367.
518 a partnership between Harry Belafonte and Nat “King” Cole: Daniel Mark Epstein, Nat King Cole, pp. 303-304, cites a February 4, 1960, down beat article and one in Jet, March 10, 1960, concerning the formation of a company that was probably dissolved by April.
520 “I thought Allen was not up to it”: Other voices of opposition were Florence Greenberg, who had her own interest in Sam, Zelda Sands, of course, and Paul Cantor, who went to work for Greenberg in early 1963.
521 the Sweet Chariot, a brand-new gospel nightclub: Sam Chase, “Club’s Smash Opening in New York Sparks Hope of Big Gospel Trend,” Billboard, May 18, 1963.
521 “What murdered these four girls?” Branch, Parting the Waters, p. 891.
522 “He knows consciously what he’s going to do”: Don Paulsen, “An Exclusive Interview with Sam Cooke,” Rhythm & Blues, February 1965.
523 A teenage white girl who saw the show: This was Flo Murdock, who went on to become a club booking agent.
523 five hundred black churchgoers were attacked: “Break Up Memorial March,” Louisiana Weekly, September 28, 1963.
523 “dragged out of [his] church, clubbed to the ground”: Louisiana Weekly, October 12, 1963.
523 “We congratulate the mixed crowd”: Elgin Hychew, “dig me! . . ,” Louisiana Weekly, September 21, 1963.
524 a four-page document which stipulated: This was dated September 26, and presented in the form of a letter to Tracy [sic] Limited c/o Allen Klein from the Radio Corporation of America (RCA Record Division). It was signed by Norman Racusin, Division Vice President and Operations Manager, for RCA, J.W. Alexander for Tracy, Kags, and Malloy, and Sam Cooke individually.
524 a song they had written together, “Memory Lane”: This had been the B-side of Lou Rawls’ first single for his new label, Capitol, the previous year.
525 30 percent of the 6 percent royalty: Just to give an idea of the actual amount of money involved, a single that sold one hundred thousand copies would generate a figure of roughly $100,000 (this is based on a $.98 retail price), on which Tracey’s 6 percent (but not Sam’s 5 percent) royalty would be calculated. Of the $6,000 total of royalties due, Sam would receive roughly $4,230, Tracey $1,770.
526 it was Sam who refused to back down: Interviews with Charles and Barbara Cooke. Also New York Times (UPI), October 9, 1963: “The police said the rock ’n’ roll band leader, his wife and associates repeatedly blew the horn of their car, yelled and woke guests. . . . The police said remarks were exchanged between Mr. Cooke and the hotel manager.” The October 12 Shreveport Sun, the black weekly, also had an extensive account.
526 $9,989.72 in coins and wrinkled bills: Shreveport Journal, October 8, 1963.
527 a bomb threat was called in: Shreveport Times, October 9, 1963.
527 a kind of myth grew up: In addition to the well-known, if apocryphal, story that Solomon Burke told in Gerri Hirshey’s Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music about Sam, Solomon, and the entire troupe being forced to disrobe and sing, Gladys Knight had Jackie Wilson humiliated in exactly the same manner by “some cops in Louisiana” in her autobiography, Between Each Line of Pain and Glory.
527 enough money in his briefcase “to buy the damn motel”: This was B.B. King recalling the incident, but conceding that he wasn’t there.
530 Zelda caught the first plane back to L.A.: Again, perhaps needless to say, Barbara’s perspective on this incident is different from Zelda’s, though it does include the gun, the firing, and her presumption of Zelda’s interest in Sam.
530 “‘Zelda’—Sam Cooke’s gal Friday”: Cash Box, November 16, 1963.
530 Crain, too, found himself unexpectedly on the outside: Sam was still speaking of Crain as part of SAR while on the English tour (Chris Hutchins, “Little Richard Is Amazing!” New Musical Express, October 12, 1962). Even at that point, though, change was clearly in the air, because it was on the English tour that Sam and J.W. first broached the idea of Kags Music Corp. backing Crain in his own agency.
531 “Several women in the audience became hysterical”: Jesse H. Walker, “Theatricals,” Amsterdam News, November 30, 1963.
531 “I had to consult Sam. He was working on a percentage”: Glenn Douglass for ANPI, “‘Was Just Beginning to Live,’ Friends Say,” The Carolinian, December 19, 1964. The percentage appears to have been on something like a fifty-fifty basis. Universal agent Dick Alen speculates that there was very likely a break point at which Sam’s percentage increased to 60 percent, but in any case, if the theater were to do $30,000 at the box office over the course of the week, Sam stood to personally clear as much as $10,000 after paying all the talent on the show. Which stands in sharp contrast to the $3,000 King Curtis received the week before or Sam would most likely have agreed to just two years earlier.
531 “Negroes will mourn doubly the loss”: Los Angeles Sentinel, November 28, 1963.
531 impromptu remarks to reporters: According to Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 272-273, Malcolm was substituting for Elijah Muhammad, who saw his lieutenant’s off-the-cuff response, however true it may have been to Elijah’s own private opi
nion, as a public relations disaster and “a blatant act of defiance.”
531 almost like a big brother: Hauser, Muhammad Ali, pp. 97-98.
531 a “likeable, friendly, clean-cut, down-to-earth youngster”: Malcolm X with Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 303.
532 “He saw greatness”: Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 98. Malcolm even placed road manager Osman Karriem (Archie Robinson) with Clay. Alex Haley, coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, speaks in Hauser, Muhammad Ali, pp. 109-110, of “the adoration between Malcolm and Muhammad Ali.”
532 it was on this trip, too: Here, once again, there’s no reconciling of dates. Lithofayne Pridgon vividly recalled introducing Jimi Hendrix to Sam at the Apollo in 1963. Sam played the Apollo twice that year, and by Lithofayne’s figuring, and mine, June was too early. This all made sense until I read Robert W. Fisher, My Jimi Hendrix Experience, a memoir in which Fisher, the leader of the Bonnevilles, out of Parsons, Tennessee, recalls a monthlong tour with Hendrix that ended December 22. Hendrix’s arrival in New York in January 1964 is well documented and was clearly not his first time in the city. I suppose it’s possible that he joined the Bonnevilles’ tour a little late—but this is baseless speculation. And I’m afraid I’ll have to leave it at that.
533 an evening of poetry and entertainment with Cassius Clay: Los Angeles Sentinel, December 12, 1963.
533-534 introducing Linda to Cassius: Barbara Cooke recalled Clay coming out to the house and inviting them to a Los Angeles mosque.
534 the cover of Cash Box: Cash Box, December 7, 1963.
LONG TIME COMING
537 “For people fighting for their freedom”: George Plimpton, “Miami Notebook: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X,” Harper’s, June 1964.
538 a kind of glorified demo: Johnnie Morisette would record a song that Sam wrote called “Keep Smilin’,” which was at least in the spirit, if not a direct reworking, of “Keep Movin’ On,” at his January 21, 1964, session.
541 “He was very excited”: In addition to J.W.’s testimony, Lou Rawls, Leroy Crume, Bobby Womack, and Barbara Cooke each spoke of Sam’s unreserved mix of excitement and concern when he played the song for them for the first time.
543 “It was part of my little civic thing”: This is from Nick Spitzer’s 2001 interview with Harold Battiste for his weekly NPR series, American Routes. The rest is from my interviews with Harold.
544 Arthur Prysock’s celebrity-packed opening: Los Angeles Sentinel, January 23, 1964.
544 He caught the Soul Stirrers: The show was listed in the Los Angeles Sentinel, January 9, 1964. Bruce Bromberg was at the concert and vividly recalled Sam being introduced.
547 “I wanted it to be the greatest”: BBC interview with René Hall.
551 an interview with the New York World-Telegram: William Peper, “Sam Cooke Sings the Blues, Too,” New York World-Telegram, February 6, 1964.
551 “[He] said he would rather be the creative producer”: “Sam Cooke Yearns for Creative Roll,” Cash Box, February 15, 1964.
552 an NBC timekeeper marked down: NBC Master Books, Television-Motion Picture Collection, Library of Congress.
553 Douglas . . . had first met Sam: Mike Douglas, I’ll Be Right Back: Memories of TV’s Greatest Talk Show, p. 18.
555 a brief family vacation: Malcolm X with Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 308.
555 “Cassius Clay Almost Says He’s a Muslim”: Amsterdam News, January 25, 1964.
555 The promoter threatened to cancel the fight: The complications that arose from Malcolm X’s presence in Miami and Clay’s public announcement of his religious affiliation are detailed in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, pp. 64ff, 100; Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65, p. 252; The Autobiography of Malcolm X, pp. 308ff; and Mike Marqusee, Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties, p. 77.
556 there was no doubt in Sam’s mind that Cassius was going to shake up the world: Sam’s feelings about Clay/Ali were expressed in Paul Learn, “Mixing Melody, Love Puts Sam Cooke on Top,” Atlantic City Press, July 30, 1964; Brad Pye Jr., “Pretty Cassius Stung ‘Like a Bee,’” Los Angeles Sentinel, February 27, 1964; and interviews with J.W. Alexander and Bobby Womack, among others.
556 “a clown never imitates a wise man”: Plimpton, “Miami Notebook: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X,” Harper’s, June 1964.
556 the title of a Look magazine story: Nick Tosches, The Devil and Sonny Liston, p. 202. The NAACP’s “disowning” of Liston is described on p. 159.
556 “Sonny Liston isn’t the worst person in the . . . world”: “Give Sonny Liston a Chance, Pleads Singer,” Norfolk Journal and Guide, August 26, 1961 (ANS).
556 “An aura of artificiality surrounds Tuesday’s . . . fight”: Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 68, quoting Arthur Daley, New York Times, February 23, 24, 1964.
556 “This fight is the truth”: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 311.
557 genetic “tricknology”: Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 74-75.
558 they joined together in silent prayer: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 312.
558 “the Mohammedan abroad believes in a heaven and a hell”: Plimpton, “Miami Notebook: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X,” Harper’s, June 1964.
558 Cassius Clay won the fight right then and there: Pye, “Pretty Cassius ‘Stung Like a Bee,’” Los Angeles Sentinel, February 27, 1964.
559 They sat in Malcolm’s room: Branch, Pillar of Fire, p. 252, cites the FBI report. See also Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 106; Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 312; Jack Olsen, Black Is Best: The Riddle of Cassius Clay, p. 150.
559 he had made him afraid: This is offered as Sam’s analysis in both the Los Angeles Sentinel, February 27, 1964, and the Atlantic City Press, July 30, as above.
559 Jim Brown . . . appeared . . . more elated: Los Angeles Sentinel, February 27, 1964.
559 “Well, Brown,” said Malcolm: Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 106.
559 “There are seven hundred fifty million people all over the world who believe in it”: Quotes from the two press conferences are taken from Hauser, Muhammad Ali, pp. 82, 83, who in turn is quoting from the Washington Star, February 27, and New York Times, February 28, 1964.
560 the little bungalow in the North Miami ghetto: Plimpton, “Miami Notebook: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X,” Harper’s, June 1964.
560 his smart new chartered bus: Jet, March 26, 1964.
560 he gave an interview to the Amsterdam News: Les Matthews, “The ‘Greatest One’ Pays a Visit to the Amsterdam News,” Amsterdam News, March 7, 1964.
561 he and Sam made the record: “Cassius Cuts a Disk, a Caper and a Defeated Sonny Liston,” New York Times, March 4, 1964. Also photographs and session tapes plus interviews with Dave Kapralik, Horace Ott, and J.W. Alexander.
561 “I’m champion of the whole world”: Marqusee, Redemption Song, p. 83. See also Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 101.
563 Malcolm’s suspension from public speaking would be ended: Evanzz, The Messenger, p. 287.
563 an official announcement of the name change: Ibid., p. 286.
563 Malcolm announced his break with the Nation of Islam: Marqusee, Redemption Song, pp. 84-85.
563 the break was not of his own volition: Ibid., p. 87.
563 “morally bankrupt”: Evanzz, The Messenger, p. 287.
563 “Did you get a look at Malcolm?”: New York Times, May 18, 1964, as quoted in Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 109.
563 “That hurt Malcolm more”: Hauser, Muhammad Ali, pp. 109-110.
565 Georgie Woods’ “Freedom Show of ’64”: Philadelphia Tribune, March 21, 1964, reported under the headline “14,000 Jam NAACP Convention Hall Freedom Show; $30,000 Raised.”
566 newly named head of SAR Productions: Billboard, June 6, 1964.
566 after a couple of rehearsals: There were no formal takes of the song, and no trace of it exists on the session tapes.
569 The only arrange
ment of René’s that they would keep: René’s bill for the arrangement is dated May 9, 1964.
569 he was planning to include very few of his hit songs: He did do “Good Times” as an encore at the outset of the Copa run.
569 The Upsetters were at the California Club: Advertised in the Los Angeles Sentinel, May 21, 1964, with Jackie Shane; Sentinel ad, June 11, with T-Bone Walker.
570 The Sims Twins had a regular gig: Advertised in the Sentinel April 9 and June 4, 1964, with Johnnie Morisette advertised April 16.
571 He . . . took up archery: Sam’s GAC press release included among his hobbies sports cars, archery, and swimming.
571 RCA had kept up its end: There was a full page in Cash Box, June 20, 1964, advertising both the single and the album.
573 “the tallest figure of an entertainment personality”: This, and other quotes and information, from press information sheet from Marvin Drager Inc., the public relations firm that Allen Klein hired.
573 “Technical difficulties kept the figure from being raised”: Record World, June 27, 1964; see also Cash Box, June 27.
573 a late-night meeting with a British reporter: Ray Coleman, “Sam Seeks a New Twist,” Melody Maker, July 4, 1964.
THE PIPER
1 | THAT’S WHERE IT’S AT
576 it was a disaster by any standard: This account of Sam’s show at the Laurels is based on interviews with Allen Klein, Bobby Womack, Jerry Brandt, June Gardner, Al Schmitt, and Charles Cook. The one person missing is J.W. Alexander, and he never spoke of it in all our conversations—but then again, I never thought to ask. Everyone remembered it slightly differently. Al Schmitt recalled the first show as being terrible but couldn’t remember why. For June it was just normal first-night jitters. To Charles Sam was impervious to any tensions or pressure; the show simply didn’t reflect him properly. Jerry Brandt didn’t recall René at all, and, twenty-five years after the fact, René, almost eighty at the time, vividly remembered the disaster of the opening as the motivating force for his redoing the show but appeared not to recall his absence from it. When I asked everyone about J.W., they all responded, Oh yeah, he must have been there—but no one could recall any specific role that he played, and, not knowing what it might have been, I couldn’t invent one. Maybe he remained in California until the beginning of the week, maybe he had other business to attend to in the city, but unfortunately J.W. wasn’t around to provide his own account by the time I noticed his absence.
Dream boogie: the triumph of Sam Cooke Page 90
