Cooke life and career

Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He added: "e" at the end of his name, although the reason for this is disputed. He was one of eight children of Annie Mae and the Reverend Charles Cook, a Baptist minister. He has a brother, LC, a few years later was to become a member of Doo Wop group from Johnny Keyes and magnificence. His family moved to Chicago in 1933. Cooke attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, the same school as Nat "King" Cole attended a few years earlier.

Cooke began his career singing gospel with his brothers in a band called the children singing. It was first known as a singer with the QC road as a teenager. In 1950, Cooke has replaced the gospel tenor RH Harris as lead singer of the gospel group the Soul stirrers landmark. Edited by Cooke, the group signed with the label specialty and recorded the hit "Peace in the Valley," "How far am I from Canaan?", "Jesus of the debt," and "One More River ", among many other gospel songs of others.

 pop crossover success

pop first single, "beloved" (1956), published under the pseudonym "Dale Cooke" in order not to alienate fans gospel (he sings with a soul stirring until 1957), there is considerable stigma against gospel singers playing secular music. However, Cooke did not mislead the unique and distinctive voice is easily recognizable. Art rupees, head of Specialty Records, a label from the Soul stirrers, gave his blessing for Cooke to record secular music under his real name, but he was not happy about the type of music Cooke and producer Bumps Blackwell did. Rs Cooke secular music is destined to become equal with other artists specializing Records, Little Richard. When the rupees in the recording session and heard Cooke covering Gershwin, he was upset. After the dispute between Rs and Blackwell, Cooke and Blackwell left the label.

In 1957, Cooke has appeared on ABC, The Guy Mitchell Show. In the same year, he signed with the label Keen. The first version was "You Send Me" (B-side is a cover of George Gershwin's "Summertime")  who spent six weeks at # 1 on Billboard R & B This song has also been a mainstream success, spending three weeks at # 1 on Billboard pop map. 

In 1961, Cooke began his own label, SAR Records, with JW Alexander and his manager, Roy Crain. The label soon included The Simms Twins, The Valentinos, Bobby Womack and Johnnie Taylor. Cooke then created a publishing company and management of trails, then left Keen to sign with RCA Victor. One of his first RCA single, "Chain Gang" hit. It reached # 2 on the Billboard pop card and was followed by more hits, including "Sad Mood", "Carry on Home to Me" (with Lou Rawls on backing vocals), "Another Saturday Night" and "Night Twistin 'Away. "

Like most R & B artist of his time, Cooke focused on singles, in everything he had from twenty to nine top-40 hits in the pop charts, and more R & B charts Even so, he published a blues accents LP was well received in 1963, Night Beat, and the studio album the more critical it is recognized Is not Good News, which featured five singles in 1964.
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