Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Come, Let Us Go Back to God
2. Peace in the Valley
3. I'm Gonna Build on That Shore
4. I'm Gonna Build on That Shore
5. I'm on the Firing Line
6. I'm on the Firing Line
7. Joy, Joy to My Soul
8. Until Jesus Calls Me Home
9. Jesus Done Just What He Said
10. Jesus Gave Me Water
11. He's My Rock (Wait on Jesus)
12. How Far Am I from Canaan?
13. Christ Is All
14. It Won't Be Very Long
15. It Won't Be Very Long (take 2 - alternate)
16. It Won't Be Very Long (take 3 - alternate)
17. Jesus Will Lead Me to That Promised Land (take 1 - alternate)
18. Jesus Will Lead Me to That Promised Land [incomplete] (take 2 - alternate)
19. Jesus Will Lead Me to That Promised Land
20. Just Another Day
21. Let Me Go Home (take 1 - alternate)
22. Let Me Go Home
23. Jesus Paid the Debt
24. Jesus Paid the Debt (take 2 - alternate)
25. How Far Am I from Canaan?
26. How Far Am I from Canaan? [incomplete] (take 1 - alternate)
27. How Far Am I from Canaan? (take 3 - alternate)
28. Someday Somewhere
29. Someday Somewhere

Disc 2:

1. End of My Journey
2. He'll Welcome Me
3. He's My Friend Until the End
4. He's My Friend Until the End (take 2 - alternate)
5. I Have a Friend Above All Others
6. Come and Go to That Land
7. Come and Go to That Land (take 1 - alternate)
8. Come and Go to That Land (take 3 - alternate)
9. I'd Give Up All My Sins and Serve the Lord
10. I'm So Happy in the Service of the Lord
11. All Right Now
12. All Right Now (take 2 - alternate)
13. All Right Now (take 4 - alternate)
14. He'll Make a Way 2:36
15. He'll Make a Way (take 2 - alternate)
16. Jesus, I'll Never Forget
17. Jesus, I'll Never Forget (take 5 - alternate)
18. Any Day Now
19. Any Day Now (take 6 alternate)
20. One More River
21. Nearer to Thee
22. I'm So Glad (Trouble Don't Last Always)
23. Be with Me Jesus
24. He's My Guide (take 4 - alternate)
25. He's My Guide [incomplete] (take 12 - alternate)
26. He's My Guide (take 13)
27. Pilgrim of Sorrow
28. Pray [incomplete]
29. The Last Mile of the Way [incomplete] (take 1 - alternate)
30. The Last Mile of the Way (take 2A - alternate)

Disc 3:

1. The Last Mile of the Way
2. He's So Wonderful
3. Touch the Hem of His Garment
4. Jesus, Wash Away My Troubles
5. Farther Along
6. Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone?
7. Pilgrim of Sorrow
8. Happy in Love
9. I Need You Now
10. I'll Come Running Back to You
11. Lovable
12. I Don't Want to Cry
13. That's All I Need to Know
14. Forever
15. Lord Remember Me
16. That's Heaven to Me (take 1 - alternate)
17. That's Heaven to Me
18. Were You There? [false starts] (takes 1-4)
19. Were You There? (take 5 - alternate)
20. Were You There?
21. Mean Old World (take 3 - alternate)
22. Mean Old World
23. I Have a Friend Above All Others
24. Be with Me Jesus
25. Nearer to Thee

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13254 in Music
• Released on: 2002-10-22
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
While the pop classics by the grit-and-honey singer reached a broader audience, Sam Cooke's formative music with the Soul Stirrers, recorded for the Specialty label, ranks with both his best and gospel's best. Only 19 when he was recruited in 1950 to replace the group's venerable R.H. Harris, Cooke developed the signature style he would carry into the popular arena while he was still singing church music. Disc 1 shows the raw passion of a vocalist who has yet to apply the polish for which he would become known. By disc 2, Cooke is no longer tentative in replacing a legend but asserting an irrepressible musical identity. Disc 3 demonstrates his growth as both a vocal master and an ambitious songwriter--most famously on "Touch the Hem of His Garment"--while documenting his transition as a solo artist into the secular arena. Among the revelations of the set's 83 tracks, the stripped-down arrangements on the alternate takes of "Come and Go to That Land" anticipate the rise of "sacred steel," while the vocal call-and-response over the organ bedrock of "All Right Now" is as rapturous as gospel gets. After the various takes of "Were You There?" show how Cooke could take the most familiar material and make it his own, the final three tracks capture his electrifying impact in live performance. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Remarkable collection
This is a fascinating document. Presented in chronological order (aside from a few live songs tacked on to the end), it charts the growth not just of Sam Cooke as an artist, but the slow birth of secularized soul from 50's gospel roots. All the recordings sound great, and credit most be given to the folks at Specialty for preserving the masters - outtakes included - with such obvious care. The earliest material here, from 1951, would probably be considered "pop gospel" for the time. It flows nicely, isn't much for histrionics and makes for smooth listening. If you didn't know better, it might take you a song or two before it becomes obvious that it's Sam Cooke singing, and not just some guy who maybe sounds like him. But by 1953, Cooke's vocal style is impossible to mistake; he dominates the songs, and when Paul Foster pops up now and then, the contrast between his "blacker" gospel voice and Cooke's velvet tone is amazing - and it's not that Foster isn't amazing too, by the way. By the third disc, the line between gospel and pop has become utterly blurred - a song like "I'll Come Running Back To You" has as good a claim to be the first "soul" song as any. It's obviously gospel-influenced, and the lyrics are ambiguous enough that you could make a claim for it being a gospel tune, but . . . something, somehow has changed. Aside from historical importance, it's a riveting song and possibly Cooke's single best performance.

The attractions of this box are its completeness, great sound and nice packaging. If you're inclined to by anything of Cooke's beyond a simple greatest hits collection, I'd urge you to buy this package - there isn't really one single-disc distillation of this material that covers all the bases covered here, so by the time you buy the two or three that might, you'd pay about as much as you would for this.

There are only a few rare packages that convey so beautifully an important aspect of important American music, whether it's the Nuggets box or the Anthology Of American Folk Music. This is clearly in the league; any music fan with expansive tastes should own it.

The Birth of Soul
This is the heart of soul singing. There is not a bad or boring track on this CD Box Set. Sam Cooke was the inspiration for nearly every soul singer you will ever hear. If you think you know his work from You Send Me and his pop work, you are in for a surprise. These are some of the finest recording he ever made and they all pre-date You Send Me. The Soul Stirrers had been around for decades when Sam joined them and this is the finest example of their work. Sam fairly floats like a jazz singer over their meaty chords. Yet this is not jazz, this is gospel and you will cherish every word.

Close Your Eyes And Listen
To the voice that kills all others from Elvis to Sinatra.
In my honest opinion Sam Cookes gospel recordings leave his secular work far far behind. From the first to last track this is a lesson in musical history.
Thr last 3 songs taken from the shrine concert live will dispel any doubts that Sam Cooke was only a smooth singer . Man he proves here that he can shout better than Otis, Al Green, or Wilson Pickett.
At last he seems to be getting the dues he so rightly deserves , but don't take my word for it . Buy this set and listen without prejudice. If you are not truly amazed then you shouldn't be listening to Sam Cooke , maybe Liberace would be more your cup of tea