eMusic Review 0
Before 19-year-old Sam Cook (the "e" would come later) joined the Soul Stirrers in January, 1951, older churchgoers sat in the front and youngsters filled the back pews. But after the smooth and suave Sam replaced bald R.H. Harris, the seating preferences flipped. Cooke was gospel's first sex symbol and when he hit the top of the pop charts in 1957 with "You Send Me," he became the first gospel star to cross over. This set, although littered with false starts and alternate takes (including a dreadful "Come and Go To That Land," with the great Willie Eason misused on steel guitar), finds the young Cooke finding firm footing as the leader of gospel's most famous quartet. Somehow the false starts work better with Cooke, whose unspeakable, scuzzy death, so soon after he had written the career-shifting "A Change Is Gonna Come," could be considered one itself.
