At the Copa

by

Sam Cooke

Edit

Early is his career Sam Cooke performed at the Copa and he 'bombed'. It took a lot of experience and a few years later before he returned. A few weeks before he performed a similar show in upstate New York and again that was not a success. With arranger Rene Hall he started working on new arrangements and other songs and we should be really glad he did.

At The Copa is fantastic and shows Sam as the ultimate cross-over artist. There are some musical hits, some of his own hits and a very good Bob Dylan cover. The end of the show he starts doing more of his gospel style singing and that's where it really gets interesting. The 70%white/30%black audience does the answer to his calls.

But...

for me this album has always been a little too neat. I think the real Sam can better be heard on the Live at the Harlem Square club album where he performs in the black ghetto of Miami and turns it into a real gospel/soul show.

For Sam as gospel star get 'The Complete Recordings of Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers', for Sam as songwriter get 'Portrait of a Legend' and if you want to hear Sam as the smooth crossover artists definitely get this album.