Ahead of his death, Sam Cooke had quite the full life. He seemed to be an at least somewhat admirable person. He was married twice, and paid for his ex-wife’s funeral following a fatal traffic ...

Originally, Cooke was a gospel singer, joining the Soul Stirrers ... both had Top 10 hits with Sam Cooke songs later in the sixties, but it is one of the great pop tragedies that we never got ...

Revisiting these songs reminded me why Sam Cooke’s music still matters—not just because of his extraordinary voice, but ...