Man who invented soul sam cooke

If you have a microscope, that is. And the booklet design -- strictly bush league: mostly pix from one photo session bolstered by a few duotoned archival postage stamps that could pass for passport pictures. The music, well, the music is pure Sam Cooke, possessed of a singular musical talent that makes his sordid death gunned down by a woman he is said to have attacked at a motel in December at the age of 33 an eternal crime.

Born the son of a Pentecostal preacher man in the cradle of American blues and gospel music -- Mississippi -- Cook e began singing in churches at an early age, and by the time he was 20 had joined the No. And It's Deep Too! Trouble In Mind. Out In the Cold Again.

Exactly Like You. Since I Met You Baby. I'm Just a Lucky So and So. But Not for Me. You're Always On My Mind. Don't Fight It Feel It. It's All Right. Twistin' the Night Away. One More Time. Don't Cry On My Shoulder. Disc 3. Somebody's Gonna Miss Me. Somebody Have Mercy. Sugar Dumpling. Talkin' Trash. Movin' and Groovin'. Soothe Me. Having a Party. Bring It On Home to Me. A Whole Lotta Woman. I'm Gonna Forget About You. Nothin' Can Change This Love.

Baby, Baby, Baby. Send Me Some Lovin'. All the Way. Smoke Rings. I Wish You Love. Driftin' Blues. Little Girl. Cry Me a River. These Foolish Things. Frankie and Johnnie. Both Holly and Cooke frequently insisted on writing their own songs, a radical break from past traditions, and both excelled at fusing different styles into a new and exciting sound with wide commercial appeal.

Both also died young, leaving behind stunning legacies that nonetheless hint at even greater things to come. As with Holly, label muddles have done a disservice to Cooke's catalog, with several out-of-print albums or unavailable recordings leaving massive holes in what should be no-brainer collections.

It features none of Cooke's vital early material with The Soul Stirrers, whose gospel songs were not only an important part of Cooke's life, but also pivotal in his development as an artist. No Cooke collection is complete without either of those songs, no matter what the excuse, especially since they're key to the thesis of the collection's title: What's left may be utterly essential, but little here points to Cooke as the inventor of soul.