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Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

All Songs Considered

Death Cab for Cutie, Sam Cooke, John Vanderslice

New music from Death Cab for Cutie; Remembering 9-11 with John Vanderslice; The madcap music of Shel Silverstein; Country rebels The Highwaymen; A 1963 live recording by Sam Cooke and more.

Death Cab for Cutie, Sam Cooke, John Vanderslice

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The Songs That Make Us Cry

The music that makes one of us emotional doesn't always make sense to others. William Lovelace/Getty Images hide caption

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William Lovelace/Getty Images

All Songs Considered

The Songs That Make Us Cry

This week: results from our survey about the songs that bring tears to your eyes. Hear listener submissions, as well as personal picks from the All Songs crew.

The Songs That Make Us Cry

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The Songs That Make Us Cry

The music that makes one of us emotional doesn't always make sense to others. William Lovelace/Getty Images hide caption

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William Lovelace/Getty Images

All Songs Considered

The Songs That Make Us Cry

This week: results from our survey about the songs that bring tears to your eyes. Hear listener submissions, as well as personal picks from the All Songs crew.

The Songs That Make Us Cry

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Sam Cooke And The Song That 'Almost Scared Him'

Sam Cooke in 1964, performing on the ABC variety show Shindig! just a few months before his death that December. ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images

Music Interviews

Sam Cooke And The Song That 'Almost Scared Him'

Cooke recorded "A Change is Gonna Come" 50 years ago this week. The story of the song is as amazing, and unsettling, as the song itself.

Sam Cooke And The Song That 'Almost Scared Him'

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New Mix: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, More

Clockwise from top: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, Marisa Anderson Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

New Mix: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, More

On this week's essential mix we share a rare, previously unreleased cut from The Beatles. We also hear how James Blake was inspired to write this year's amazing "Retrograde," cover tunes from Colin Meloy and Shearwater, a new Bee-Gees styled cut from Broken Bells and more.

New Mix: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, More

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New Mix: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, More

Clockwise from top: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, Marisa Anderson Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

New Mix: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, More

On this week's essential mix we share a rare, previously unreleased cut from The Beatles. We also hear how James Blake was inspired to write this year's amazing "Retrograde," cover tunes from Colin Meloy and Shearwater, a new Bee-Gees styled cut from Broken Bells and more.

New Mix: The Beatles, James Blake, Colin Meloy, More

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Music Articles

Sam Cooke's Swan Song of Protest

Though only a modest hit by his standards, Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" became an anthem of the 1960s civil rights movement, and would come to be heralded as his magnum opus.

Sam Cooke's Swan Song of Protest

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World Cafe

The Case for Sam Cooke, Soul Pioneer

XPN

The story of how Sam Cooke became a musical success story is the subject of a new book by music historian Peter Guralnick, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. In his account, Guralnick details how Cooke struggled against a music industry that often devalued black artists.

The Case for Sam Cooke, Soul Pioneer

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Music Articles

The Measure of Sam Cooke's 'Triumph'

Fresh Air

Biographer Peter Guralnick's new book is Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. Guralnick follows the life of rhythm and blues legend Sam Cooke from his roots in gospel music through his legendary career as a singer and songwriter whose hits include "You Send Me," "Only Sixteen" and many others.

The Measure of Sam Cooke's 'Triumph'

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Music Articles

Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend

With an unforgettable voice, good looks and the spirituality of gospel music roots, Sam Cooke soared to the top of the pop charts. On Morning Edition, NPR's Bob Edwards reports on how Cooke bridged the gap between rock and soul to become a music legend. Hear samples of newly reissued Cooke songs and the story of Cooke's triumphant return to New York's famed Copacabana nightclub.

Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend

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Music Articles

Sam Cooke - Part II

Host Bob Edwards talks to music historian Peter Guralnick about Sam Cooke's 1957 crossover from gospel to rock-and-roll, his immediate first hit, "You Send Me," and the many others that followed. Cooke combined black and white musical styles, aiming his songs at a multi-racial audience. He owned the rights to his compositions and a record label and had creative control over how his music was recorded. (The digitally remastered CD's are on the Abkco label, as are DVD and VHS versions of the documentary, Sam Cooke: Legend.)

Sam Cooke - Part II

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Songs Of The Civil Rights Movement

Martin Luther King Jr. waves from the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. during the March on Washington. AFP hide caption

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AFP

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Songs Of The Civil Rights Movement

Jazz24

Martin Luther King Jr. opened the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival with these words: "Jazz speaks for life." The 1960s civil-rights movement inspired blues and jazz songs about the setbacks, hardships and hard-won victories that moved (and that continue to move) America closer to racial equality.

Browse the section archive or