Dream boogie: the triumph of Sam Cooke (125 page)

634
The funeral was scheduled to begin at 2
P.M.
: In addition to my own interviews, the
Los Angeles Sentinel,
December 24, 1964, is the primary source of information. Once again the funeral Obsequies program supplies a good deal of detail, and Gertrude Gipson, in a follow-up to her moving December 17 recollection in the
Sentinel,
“The Sam Cooke I Knew,” reflects on the funeral in her “Candid Comments” column December 24, suggesting obliquely that while “it was a wonderful tribute . . . on the other hand the disrespect that was given the family was certainly not at all fitting and proper.”

634
“Long lines of convertible Cadillacs”:
Richmond Afro-American
and
New Jersey Afro-American,
December 26, 1964.

635
“I had a fist”: Daniel Wolff with S. R. Crain, Clifton White, and G. David Tenenbaum,
You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke,
p. 332. Many of those present mentioned the drama of Zelda’s entrance in their interviews with me, as did Zelda.

635
J.W. leaned over, gravely holding the mike: There is a photograph, and a story, “Crescendo of Songs for Sam” by Chester L. Washington, in the December 24
Los Angeles Sentinel.
The rest is from my 2004 interview with Ray Charles.

636
“the greatest gospel rendition I ever heard”: Steve Propes interview with René Hall, 1987.

636
a lengthy sermon by Reverend Charles: Paul C. McGee, “Rock ’n Roll Idol Given Giant Rites,”
Los Angeles Sentinel,
December 24, 1964.

636
Barbara picked a rose: There is a picture on the front page of the
Sentinel,
December 24, 1964. The dialogue is from
Sepia,
February 1965.

AFTERMATH

639
“Bobby has been my constant escort”: Gertrude Gipson, “Sam Cooke’s Widow Denies Marriage to Young Musician” [subhead: “Admits New Ring”],
Los Angeles Sentinel,
January 28, 1965. The accompanying article, “Hey! Meet Mrs. C.’s ‘Steady,’” by Paul McGee, was in the same issue.

642
For J.W., there was first disappointment, then disgust: Interviews as well as a veiled reference in A. S. “Doc” Young, “Sam Cooke’s Death—It’s Been a Year Now,”
Amsterdam News,
December 18, 1965 (syndicated), where J.W. is quoted: “We brought him from Cleveland, gave him a place to live and eat . . . ” In the same story, L.C. Cooke says, “Sam gave him a Jaguar to drive.” In later life J.W. and Bobby would once again be friends, and Bobby showed a devotion to J.W. in his final days, even taking him out on the road as Bobby’s “executive” road manager just before his death.

642
“The story goes that Sam Cooke picked Miss Boyer up”: Glenn Douglass for ANPI, “Slaying of Sam Cooke Shocks Fans,”
The Carolinian
and
Norfolk Journal and Guide
(under the title “‘Was Just Beginning to Live,’ Friends Say”), both December 19, 1964.

642
“Sam was a swinging guy”: A. S. “Doc” Young, “The Mysterious Death of Sam Cooke,” part 3,
Chicago Defender,
December 31, 1964 (syndicated). In
Sepia,
February 1965, and elsewhere, the same quote is used with modifications, the principal one being that it was “15-cent tramps” who were Sam’s undoing.

642
“Sam would walk past a good girl”: Wolff,
You Send Me,
p. 339.

643
J.W. Alexander . . . came to see it as little more than a tragic accident: Over and over, both in my discussions with him and in his conversations with others, J.W. saw it this way. Many others within the most immediate circle of Sam’s acquaintance were in general agreement, though only infrequently on the record because of the heat that Sam’s death (and all the talk of racial and Mafia conspiracy) continues to generate. J.W.’s point always had more to do with Elisa Boyer than with Sam. “I believe he went there by invitation,” he said both on the record and off. What happened was in the nature of the sometimes happenstantial nature of life.

643
“the giant-sized entertainment shoes of his slain brother”: Lee Blackwell, “Sam Cooke’s Brother to Follow Him on Stage,”
Amsterdam News,
December 26, 1964 (ANPI); “L.C. Cooke, Sam’s Brother, Seeks to Step Into Dead Singer’s Shoes,” same story, same date,
Philadelphia Tribune.

643
“a crack organization of private investigators”: Dorothy Kilgallen, “The Voice of Broadway,”
New York Journal-American,
December 28, 1964.

645
a song called “Our Years Together”: J.W. gave permission for the lyrics to be printed in a NARA memorial program, August 6, 1965, and then again the following year. He announced his plans for a SAR memorial LP in January, as reported in the
Los Angeles Sentinel,
January 7, 1965, but nothing ever came of it due to the almost immediate disintegration of the label. His own double album,
Our Years Together
(one LP consisted of vocals by J.W., the other of instrumental arrangements under René’s direction), did not come out until 1970.

645
a story headlined “A Change Is Gonna Come for Barbara”: Gertrude Gipson,
Los Angeles Sentinel,
February 11, 1965; see also Brad Pye Jr., “‘Sam Would Want It,’” in the same issue.

646
L.C. had already approached RCA himself: L.C. told me this. Also I have an undated clipping from Bill Millar which refers to Sam’s recent death and, with a New York dateline and headlined “Sam Jnr,” states: “L.C., who is 28, told reporters that he has gone into rehearsal to cut an album in the near future.”

646
“Sam’s good-looking singing brother”: Poster for Raleigh, North Carolina, show, January 22, 1965 (courtesy of Hank Thompson).

647
a claim against the estate for $200,000: Numerous newspaper stories, transcripts of Case No. 857058 in California Superior Court, filed March 25, 1965.

647
“Although Miss Lisa Boyer has no police record”: “What Was Cooke’s Date?,” front-page story,
Los Angeles Sentinel,
January 14, 1965; “Nab Sam Cooke’s ‘Date’ in Hollywood Vice Raid,”
Sentinel,
January 21;
Jet,
January 28; Rudy Villasenor, “Judge Overturns Police Procedure on Call Girls,”
Los Angeles Times,
May 13, 1965.

647
Bobby and Barbara showed up at the Los Angeles county courthouse: “Mrs. Cooke Controls 50G Estate,”
Los Angeles Sentinel,
February 25, 1965, and Gertrude Gipson, “Barbara’s Fiance Becomes of Age,”
Los Angeles Sentinel,
March 4, 1965.

648
the application was “flatly refused”: Getrude Gipson,
Los Angeles Sentinel,
March 4, 1965.
Jet,
March 11, 1965, “Barbara Cooke Sidetracked on Her Way to Altar with Guitarist,” shows René Hall and a tuxedoed Walter Hurst and describes Barbara’s and Bobby’s ensembles.

648
“Womack’s mother . . . allegedly stated she ‘wanted no part of it’”: Gipson, “Barbara’s Fiance Becomes of Age,”
Los Angeles Sentinel,
March 4, 1965.

648
“Let’s go to Cleveland anyway”: “Mrs. Sam Cooke’s Fiance ‘Too Young to Marry,’”
Amsterdam News,
March 6, 1965.

648
to finally wed on March 5: The wedding itself was covered in “Barbara Cooke Marries Dead Hubby’s Guitarist; Says Sam Would Approve It,”
Los Angeles Sentinel,
March 11, 1965.

648
the “big plans” Sam had had for the Valentinos: “Sam Cooke’s Widow Marries Guitarist,”
Amsterdam News,
February 27, 1965.

648
Bobby followed up with an interview: “Mrs. Sam Cooke’s Fiance ‘Too Young to Marry,’”
Amsterdam News,
March 6, 1965.

648
the loss of her “sweet,” “thoughtful,” “wonderful” child: Thelma Hunt Shirley, “Friends, Fans Chorus ‘Sam Was a Good Guy,’”
Chicago Defender,
December 16, 1964.

649
Charles had come to demand his royalties: “Cooke Family Feuds Over ‘Chain Gang,’”
Amsterdam News,
July 17, 1965. Most of the detail comes from interviews with Bobby Womack, Barbara Cooke, and Charles, L.C., and other members of Sam’s family. So far as credit for “Chain Gang” goes, Charles has never fully abandoned his claim of co-authorship, though he says it is of little consequence and it was certainly not his primary motivation for going to Bobby and Barbara Womack’s hotel room that day.

649
the charges were dropped: “Sam Cooke’s Widow Drops Beating Charge” (NPI),
Amsterdam News,
July 31, 1965, plus interviews as above.

650
in July [she] sued to dissolve the Kags Music Corporation: Daniel Wolff, with S. R. Crain, Clifton White, and G. David Tenenbaum,
You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke,
p. 350, refers to court documents indicating that papers were filed in July, though I haven’t found them. The
Amsterdam News,
October 2, 1965, reported that Barbara had filed a petition in Superior Court for the “dissolvement” of Kags.

650
a deadlocked corporation: My perception of the events leading up to Barbara’s sale of her half comes from interviews with Allen Klein, J.W. Alexander, Barbara Cooke, Bobby Womack, and Luigi Creatore. Details of the sale—both sales—come from the legal documents and contracts.

651
Sam’s “smooth voice . . . was like medicine to the soul”: The quote is from Douglas Brinkley,
Rosa Parks,
p. 205. The description is from a conversation with Doug Brinkley.

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