Sam Cooke

USA, 1951–1964

American singer and songwriter who moved from gospel with the Soul Stirrers into pop, and who owned his publishing and record label at a time when few Black artists did. His phrasing and business independence were both models for the Motown generation.

MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Sam Cooke and 23 artists Sam Cooke influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Sam Cooke?

• R.H. Harris — Cooke replaced R.H. Harris as lead of the Soul Stirrers and modelled his floating delivery on Harris's innovations.
• Bob Dylan — Hearing 'Blowin' in the Wind' in 1963 embarrassed Cooke into writing a civil rights song of his own. He put Dylan's song into his own set, then wrote 'A Change Is Gonna Come'.

Which artists did Sam Cooke influence?

• The Rascals — The third of Cavaliere's vocal idols, and the smoothest strain in the Rascals' singing.
• Stevie Wonder — Sam Cooke showed how gospel feeling could reach everyone — the crossover model Stevie followed throughout his career.
• Marvin Gaye — Sam Cooke was Gaye's primary vocal model — the same sweetness, the same crossover from gospel to pop.
• Aretha Franklin — Sam Cooke showed the way from the church to the world without losing soul — Aretha followed the same path.
• Otis Redding — Sam Cooke was Otis Redding's first and primary vocal model.
• The Supremes — Sam Cooke demonstrated that Black artists could reach mainstream success without compromising their identity.
• Curtis Mayfield — Cooke's gospel-to-soul path was the direct model for Mayfield's generation of Chicago singers.
• The Impressions — The Impressions' smooth gospel-derived harmony followed the path Cooke's Soul Stirrers had opened.
• Wilson Pickett — Pickett came up through gospel-harmony groups, following the church-to-secular path Sam Cooke had pioneered from the Soul Stirrers into pop soul.
• The Isley Brothers — Sam Cooke's gospel-to-pop grace was another of the voices Ronald Isley cited as shaping the group.
• Sam & Dave — Both Moore and Prater came up singing gospel and named Sam Cooke an influence — the church-rooted grace they turned into Stax soul.
• The Miracles — Sam Cooke's effortless grace and gospel-to-pop crossover was a defining influence on Robinson's smooth soul phrasing.
• Gladys Knight & the Pips — Coming up on the R&B circuit opening for Sam Cooke, the group absorbed his effortless gospel-to-pop grace.
• Journey — Sam Cooke was Steve Perry's primary influence — the gospel-soul grace at the core of Perry's soaring tenor.
• Al Green — Sam Cooke's gospel-to-pop grace is the model beneath Al Green's honeyed, church-rooted soul phrasing.
• Bill Withers — Withers's plainspoken soul grew from the gospel-and-Sam-Cooke tradition, filtered through folk intimacy.
• Billy Joel — Sam Cooke was among the soul voices in Joel's early influences, feeding the R&B side of his pop.
• Bobby Womack — Sam Cooke discovered Womack's group and mentored him — Cooke's gospel-soul grace is the foundation of Womack's style.
• Darlene Love — Love's gospel-trained voice worked in the church-to-pop soul tradition Sam Cooke defined, the power behind Spector's Wall of Sound.
• Isaac Hayes — Sam Cooke's soul grace was among the voices that shaped Hayes as a singer.
• Jimmy Cliff — Cliff broadened into soul and R&B — Sam Cooke's gospel-soul grace among the American voices that shaped his singing.
• Rod Stewart — Discovering Sam Cooke turned Stewart toward R&B and soul — Cooke's phrasing is the model for his raspy soul singing.
• Smokey Robinson — Sam Cooke's effortless gospel-to-pop grace was a defining model for Robinson's smooth, poetic soul.