Dream boogie: the triumph of Sam Cooke (119 page)

346
where he had fucked up: Leo has continued to think to this day that it was Clif White who wanted him out. No one else I spoke to would venture an explanation.

347
Cassius Clay . . . jumped up onstage:
Louisville Defender,
September 29, 1960. Everyone remembers meeting Clay around this time—Sam’s brothers, June Gardner, Lloyd Price, Billy Davis, Leroy Crume, and Norman Thrasher, to name a few—and everyone remembers him as a good, eager kid.

348
“Sam was in and out”: Harry Bacas, “Top Tunes—‘Sad Mood,’”
Washington Sunday Star,
n.d.

349
“All people are alike to us”: James Booker, “‘We Are All Brothers’ (Exclusive): Castro Talks,”
Amsterdam News,
September 24, 1960.

351
It was midnight when he arrived: François Postif, “New York in Jazz Time,”
Le Jazz Hot,
December 1960. The translation is mine, with
much
help from Ellen Mandel. I should point out, too, that the explicit description of miming masturbation (to which Postif alludes only with reference to its “disgusting” nature), stems from my own observation of the act three or four years later, and my checking with Hank Ballard about it.

352
a female fan emerging from the crowd to punch him savagely:
The Carolinian,
November 12, 1960.

352
a former gospel singer named Theola Kilgore: J.W. introduced her to her producer, Ed Townsend.

352
a press release announcing that Sam would soon be interviewed:
California Eagle,
October 27, 1960.

352
“eye-popping splendor”: “Royal Peacock, Treasure Island, Henry’s Lounge Win Rave Notices,”
Atlanta Daily World,
October 22, 1960.

352
Clyde had taken his place on a downtown picket line:
Jet,
December 15, 1960, has a picture of Clyde picketing with Martin Luther King Sr.; the
Chicago Defender,
December 9-16, 1960, has an article entitled “Clyde McPhatter Advises Kids in Dixie on ‘Bias,’” which refers to Clyde giving several speeches on local campuses while playing the Peacock and cites his gift of NAACP memberships for Christmas.
The Carolinian,
November 19, 1960, quotes from a letter he wrote to his fellow performers, which I have used in part for the text of his unrecorded campus speech.
The
Atlanta Daily World,
November 26, covered the renewal of the demonstrations after a lull.

352-353
many big-name stars were bypassing the Deep South:
Jet,
December 22, 1960.

354
“I ain’t never gonna sing at the Waldorf”: This comes from interviews with Luigi Creatore but is also quoted from Hugo Peretti, with only a slight variation, in Hirshey,
Nowhere to Run,
p. 114. “They’re not my people,” Sam says of the Waldorf clientele in this version. To which Hugo adds, “He would rather work.”

ANOTHER COUNTRY

355
“she shot him twice”: Art Peters, “Jackie Wilson Near Death” (two front-page stories),
Philadelphia Tribune,
February 18, 1961. Jackie did not return to the road until July. When he did, he practically caused a riot in his first scheduled performance, at the Uptown Theater, as he leapt offstage, according to the
Philadelphia Tribune,
July 4, 1961, and the fans, as usual, tore his clothes off. When he scrambled back onstage, though, he gave the audience a scare of its own,
Jet
magazine, July 20, 1961, reported, as he “coughed violently in the middle of a tune, swayed,” then fell backward onto the floor before miraculously reviving and going on with the show.

356
the formation of Cooke-Rand Productions:
Variety,
February 1, 1961.

359
his long association with Sammy Davis Jr. and its bitter dénouement: This is alluded to in Wil Haygood,
In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.,
p. 298.

360
“I am aware that owning a record company”:
Radio Luxembourg Book of Record Stars,
1962. See also Don Nelsen, “A Successful Cooke,”
Sunday Daily News,
July 16, 1961, for Sam’s early- and subsequently oft-stated intention to give himself over to his record company and leave the singing “to the younger fellows.”

360
She went to work the following Monday: Payroll records show Zelda receiving her first paycheck on January 20, 1961, for $85.

362
“with no formal musical training whatsoever”: BBC interview with René Hall.

363
a gospel duo Alex had discovered: The Sims Twins recalled that the gospel program on which they appeared also included the Mighty Clouds of Joy.

364
Kenneth mimicked the sound of the arrow: Steve Propes interview with the Sims Twins. René Hall volunteers the same description in his 1987 interview with Propes. Luigi Creatore and Al Schmitt recalled Sam making the sound, but this is impossible because there is an overlap beween his vocal and the whoosh even on the outtakes.

365
She gave up Kools for Kents: Aretha spoke of this in both our interview and in her autobiography with David Ritz,
Aretha: From These Roots,
p. 67.

365
she kept a scrapbook: Mark Bego,
Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul,
p. 27.

367
throwing up a partition for her: Ritz,
Aretha: From These Roots,
p. 92.

367-368
The New Yorker, Playboy,
and Aristotle’s
Poetics
: J.W. Alexander, Aretha Franklin, June Gardner, Jess Rand, and Barbara and Linda Cooke, among others, all attested to Sam’s specific reading habits and cited individual titles. J.W. named Aristotle,
The
New Yorker,
and
Playboy;
Linda and June both spoke of
War and Peace.

369
“to carry on the fight for Negro rights”: Juan Williams,
Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965,
p. 114.

369
Ray Brown . . . explained that the show had been advertised: “Cooke and McPhatter Kept Quiet,”
Memphis World,
May 20, 1961. It should be noted that Ray Charles refused to play Augusta, Georgia, on March 15, 1961, under similar circumstances, described fully in Michael Lydon,
Ray Charles: Man and Music,
pp. 196-197. The promoter sued, and Charles paid a $757 fine. Ray subsequently played Memphis on August 20 in what
Variety
referred to, in an August 23, 1961, front-page story, as the first fully integrated show at Ellis Auditorium. “Policemen were all over the place,” the August 26
Memphis World
reported with full cognizance of Sam and Clyde McPhatter’s earlier stand, “but they weren’t needed. Old Man Segregation had gone for a swim in the muddy Wolf River.”

371
“Sam Cooke, singer and idol of thousands”: “Walker, Turner Paid Glowing Tributes: City Heads Present,”
Memphis World,
May 20, 1961.

371
The city’s two white newspapers reported: “2 Negro Singers Fail to Appear,”
Memphis Press-Scimitar
; “Two Negro Stars Cancel Show Here,”
Memphis Commercial Appeal,
both May 13, 1961.

371
Sam released his own statement:
Tri-State Defender,
May 20, 1961, and
passim.

371
“Singers Say No to Jim Crow”:
Amsterdam News,
May 27, 1961.

371
“Top Singers Spurn Segregated Audience”:
Los Angeles Sentinel,
June 1, 1961.

371
“Singing Stars Balk”:
Kansas City Call,
June 2, 1961.

371
“Clyde McPhatter, Sam Cooke Clip Memphis”:
Houston Forward-Times,
May 27, 1961, with the same story in
New Jersey Afro-American,
June 3, and
Louisiana Weekly,
June 10, among others.

374
“one continuous floor show”:
Los Angeles Sentinel,
June 15, 1961.

374
the Brook Benton-Dinah Washington hit:
Norfolk Journal and Guide,
July 8, 1961. In addition, the Prudhomme twins gave a full account of the evening in my interviews with them.

374
RCA had a full-page ad:
Cash Box,
June 4, 1961.

374
Jess’ crazy friend Mike Santangelo: Almost all information on Santangelo comes, with great affection, from Jess Rand.

374
the
Hollywood Reporter
ran a similarly unsourced note:
Hollywood Reporter,
December 28, 1960.

375
“That’s the sound of broken glass”: I’ve never quite understood Jess’ story. I did notice in still photographs that the cue card for the start of the show says in part: “That’s the sound of a man named Sam Cooke. A modest”—but that appears to be an echo of the “Chain Gang” lyric, and, in any case, that’s where the edge of the picture intrudes. The show’s subtitle, incidentally, I assume was “Phenomenon,” but it was printed as “Phenomena” more than once.

375
ten or twelve numbers: the
Hollywood Reporter,
June 13, 1961, anticipated ten;
Cash Box,
July 15, counted a dozen.

375
He talked about some of the artists: “‘PM East’ Solid Artist Showcase,”
Billboard,
June 26, 1961.

376
“one of the few instances where a top Negro entertainer”:
Hollywood Reporter,
June 13, 1961.

376
“the show was an unalloyed smash”:
Billboard,
June 26, 1961.

377
They had originally met Sam: Both Bobby Womack and his oldest brother, Friendly Jr. (in his ca. 1984-1985 interview with Barbara Cooke), vividly recalled the incident. Friendly said that the promoter, William Turner, introduced them to the Stirrers. The Womacks were not nonentities in the gospel world, to which they had been introduced by their uncle Solomon Womack, one of the early members of the Swan Silvertones, whose spectacular falsetto lead, Claude Jeter, was a source of unending inspiration to Bobby in particular.

378
The Womacks caught up with Sam: Friendly Womack Jr. recalled many of the details in his interview with Barbara Cooke. So did Bobby and L.C. in our many conversations on the subject.

379
he was looking to score some money for himself: This gibes with Tony Heilbut’s account of Sam’s generosity toward Cheeks in Heilbut,
The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times,
p. 125. “The first $500 bill I ever had,” said Cheeks, “Sam gave it to me. . . . [Of all the r&b singers] Sam’s the only one treated me right.”

381
“Soothe Me” . . . was just beginning to break into the charts: The record was referred to as “hitting nationally” in
Cash Box,
September 9, where it was also listed at number 32 on the “Looking Ahead” chart. SAR ran a small ad in the September 23 issue with a one-word text, “Tremendous!!!” The session to record “I’ll Never Come Running Back to You” was held on August 15, almost certainly with J.W. alone supervising. It replaced “(Don’t Fight It) Feel It” on the B-side of the single in September.

382
who was going to close the show: Both June Gardner and Lithofayne Pridgon recalled the specifics of this date.

382
This was how he earned his living:
New York Sunday News,
July 16, 1961.

383
“I feel that we left our discussions in New York”: Letter from Bob Yorke to Jess Rand, June 8, 1961. In a March 1, 1962, intra-office communication, Yorke wrote: “The last time I talked to Sam was regarding a contract and terms which he subsequently refused. It was not a friendly conversation.”

384
The lawsuit that they had filed: This was still
B. Wolf v. Rex Productions, Inc.,
No. 741782, California Superior Court, originally filed March 16, 1960. At the time of filing, Sam and J.W.’s claims amounted to only $13,000 in publishing and artist royalties due through December 31, 1959, but as the case wended its way through the courts, sales records were demanded for all of Sam’s recordings through February 15, 1961. With the success of “Wonderful World” in particular, the new filing had the potential to triple the amount involved, and the trial was scheduled to start on October 2.

386
Sam had found a new home: In addition to interviews with J.W. and Barbara, probate records from California Superior Court,
In the Matter of the Estate of Glen Glenn, Deceased,
No. 433, 391, October 27, 1961, supplied the specifics of the purchase.

387
Lew Chudd had decided to bid against him: I’ve never understood why Lew Chudd got involved, and J.W.’s chuckle in response to my questions indicated that to him it was a matter of little consequence, perhaps not much more than a practical joke.

388
the record was reviewed in both
Billboard
and
Cash Box: Billboard,
November 27, 1961; the
Cash Box
review and squib were in the December 2 issue.