SAMUEL COOKE, THE TRAGIC END OF THE KING OF SOUL

Today, The Grandma has started her latest course of the year in Sant Boi de Llobregat. It has been a great pleasure to meet again some Stones, some Watsons and some other old and new friends who want to learnt about branding and social networks.

After meeting her old friends, The Grandma has returned at home to prepare new classes for this new course. Meanwhile she has been working, she has been listening to one of her favourite artists, Sam Cook, the American singer and songwriter who was killed on a day like today in 1964 and wrote incredible songs like A Change is Gonna Come, a hymn for Civil Rights.

Artists are eternal because art lives forever meanwhile people remember it. They are eternal brands.

Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931-December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. 

He was also influential as a composer and producer, and is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocals and significance in popular music.

Cooke was born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago with his family at an early age. He began singing as a child and joined the Soul Stirrers before going solo and scoring a string of hit songs including You Send Me, A Change Is Gonna Come, Cupid, Wonderful World, Chain Gang, Twistin' the Night Away, and Bring It On Home to Me.

In 1964, Cooke was shot and killed by the manager of a motel in Los Angeles. After an inquest and investigation, the courts ruled Cooke's death to be a justifiable homicide; his family has since questioned the circumstances of his death.

More information: PAM

Cooke's pioneering contributions to soul music contributed to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Billy Preston, and popularized the work of Otis Redding and James Brown. AllMusic biographer Bruce Eder wrote that Cooke was the inventor of soul music, and possessed an incredible natural singing voice and a smooth, effortless delivery that has never been surpassed.

Cooke was born Samuel Cook in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931 (he added the "e" to his last name in 1957 to signify a new start to his life). He was the fifth of eight children of the Rev. Charles Cook, a minister in the Church of Christ (Holiness), and his wife, Annie Mae. One of his younger brothers, L.C. (1932–2017), later became a member of the doo-wop band Johnny Keyes and the Magnificents.

The family moved to Chicago in 1933. Cook attended Doolittle Elementary and Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, the same school that Nat King Cole had attended a few years earlier.

Sam Cooke began his career with his siblings in a group called the Singing Children when he was six years old. He first became known as lead singer with the Highway Q.C.'s when he was a teenager, having joined the group at the age of 14. During this time, Cooke befriended fellow gospel singer and neighbor Lou Rawls, who sang in a rival gospel group.

In 1950, Cooke replaced gospel tenor R. H. Harris as lead singer of the gospel group the Soul Stirrers, founded by Harris, who had signed with Specialty Records on behalf of the group.

Cooke had 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964, plus three more posthumously. Major hits like You Send Me, A Change Is Gonna Come, Cupid, Chain Gang, Wonderful World, Another Saturday Night, and Twistin' the Night Away are some of his most popular songs. Twistin' the Night Away was one of his biggest selling albums.

Cooke was also among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the Civil Rights Movement.

More information: Chicago Tribune

Cooke was killed at the age of 33 on December 11, 1964, at the Hacienda Motel, in Los Angeles, California. Answering separate reports of a shooting and a kidnapping at the motel, police found Cooke's corpse. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, which was later determined to have pierced his heart. The motel's manager, Bertha Franklin, claimed to have shot him in her defense. Her account was immediately disputed by Cooke's acquaintances, none of whom were present at Cooke's killing.

The first funeral service for Cooke was held on December 18, 1964, at A. R. Leak Funeral Home in Chicago; 200,000 fans lined up for more than four city blocks to view his body.

Afterward, his body was flown back to Los Angeles for a second service, at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church on December 19, which included a much-heralded performance of The Angels Keep Watching Over Me by Ray Charles, who stood in for grief-stricken Bessie Griffin. Cooke was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Two singles and an album were released in the month after his death. One of the singles, Shake, reached the top ten of both the pop and R&B charts. The B-side, A Change Is Gonna Come, is considered a classic protest song from the era of the Civil Rights Movement. It was a top 40 pop hit and a top 10 R&B hit. The album, also titled Shake, reached the number one spot for R&B albums.

More information: WBEZ

 Sam Cooke had a huge influence on me.

Aretha Franklin

ARETHA FRANKLIN, NATURAL WOMAN & QUEEN OF SOUL

Aretha Franklin

Today, The Grandma is still at home reading, watching TV and listening to music. She has chosen Aretha Franklin's greatest hits to pay homage to the Queen of Soul, who died on a day like today two years ago.

Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942-August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist.

Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister.

At the age of 18, she embarked on a secular-music career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While Franklin's career did not immediately flourish, she found acclaim and commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records in 1966.

Hit songs such as I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You), Respect, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think, and I Say a Little Prayer propelled her past her musical peers. By the end of the 1960s, Aretha Franklin had come to be known as the Queen of Soul.

Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972), and Sparkle (1976) before experiencing problems with her record company.

Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. She appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers before releasing the successful albums Jump to It (1982), Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985), and Aretha (1986) on the Arista label.

More information: Aretha Franklin

In 1998, Franklin returned to the Top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced song A Rose Is Still a Rose; later, she released an album of the same name which was certified gold. That same year, Franklin earned international acclaim for her performance of Nessun dorma at the Grammy Awards; she filled in at the last minute for Luciano Pavarotti, who canceled his appearance after the show had already begun.

In a widely noted performance, she paid tribute to 2015 honoree Carole King by singing (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman at the Kennedy Center Honors.

Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries, and 20 number-one R&B singles.

Besides the foregoing, Franklin's well-known hits also include Ain't No Way, Call Me, Don't Play That Song (You Lied), Spanish Harlem, Rock Steady, Day Dreaming, Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do), Something He Can Feel, Jump to It, Freeway of Love, Who's Zoomin' Who, and I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me), a duet with George Michael.

With Luther King, James Brown & Blue Brothers

She won 18 Grammy Awards, including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (1968–1975).

Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.

Franklin received numerous honors throughout her career. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 1987, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked her number one on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number nine on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 

The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2019 awarded Franklin a posthumous special citation for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.

More information: Rolling Stone

Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942, to Barbara and Clarence LaVaughn C. L. Franklin. She was delivered at her family's home located at 406 Lucy Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee.

Her father was a Baptist minister and circuit preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi, while her mother was an accomplished piano player and vocalist.

Just after her mother's death, Franklin began singing solos at New Bethel, debuting with the hymn Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me.

When Franklin was 12, her father began managing her; he would bring her on the road with him during his so-called gospel caravan tours for her to perform in various churches. He also helped her sign her first recording deal with J.V.B. Records. Recording equipment was installed inside New Bethel Baptist Church and nine tracks were recorded. Franklin was featured on vocals and piano.

In 1956, J.V.B. released Franklin's first single, Never Grow Old, backed with You Grow Closer. Precious Lord (Part One) backed with Precious Lord (Part Two) followed in 1959. These four tracks, with the addition of There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood, were released on side one of the 1956 album, Spirituals. This was reissued by Battle Records in 1962 under the same title.

With B. Streisand, W. Houston & The Divas VH1

In 1965, Checker Records released Songs of Faith, featuring the five tracks from the 1956 Spirituals album, with the addition of four previously unreleased recordings. After turning 18, Franklin confided to her father that she aspired to follow Sam Cooke in recording pop music, and moved to New York. Serving as her manager, C. L. Franklin agreed to the move and helped to produce a two-song demo that soon was brought to the attention of Columbia Records, who agreed to sign her in 1960.

Mostly produced by Clyde Otis, Franklin's Columbia recordings saw her performing in diverse genres such as standards, vocal jazz, blues, doo-wop and rhythm and blues.

In the 1960s, during a performance at the Regal Theater, WVON radio personality Pervis Spann announced that Franklin should be crowned the Queen of Soul. 

In November 1966, Franklin's Columbia recording contract expired and she chose to move to Atlantic Records.

In April, Atlantic issued her frenetic version of Otis Redding's Respect, which reached number one on both the R&B and pop charts. Respect became her signature song and was later hailed as a civil rights and feminist anthem.

Franklin's debut Atlantic album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, also became commercially successful, later going gold.

Franklin scored two more top-ten singles in 1967, including Baby I Love You and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.

More information: NPR

In 1968, she issued the top-selling albums Lady Soul and Aretha Now, which included some of her most popular hit singles, including Chain of Fools, Ain't No Way, Think and I Say a Little Prayer. That February, Franklin earned the first two of her Grammys, including the debut category for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

Franklin's career began to experience problems while recording the album, Hey Now Hey, which featured production from Quincy Jones.

Franklin's follow-up albums for Atlantic, including Sweet Passion (1977), Almighty Fire (1978) and La Diva (1979), bombed on the charts, and in 1979 Franklin left the company.

In 1980, after leaving Atlantic Records, Franklin signed with Clive Davis's Arista Records and that same year gave a command performance at London's Royal Albert Hall in front of Queen Elizabeth.

On the 8 February, 2008, Franklin was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year, and performed Never Gonna Break My Faith, which she had won the Grammy for best Gospel performance the year before.

While Franklin canceled some concerts in 2017 due to health reasons, and during an outdoor Detroit show, she asked the audience to keep me in your prayers, she was still garnering highly favorable reviews for her skill and showmanship.

At the Ravinia Festival on September 3, 2017, she gave her last full concert. Franklin's final performance was at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City during Elton John's 25th anniversary gala for the Elton John AIDS Foundation on November 7, 2017.

From her time growing up in the home of a prominent African-American preacher to the end of her life, Franklin was immersed and involved in the struggle for civil rights and women's rights.

Franklin died at her home on August 16, 2018, aged 76, without a will.

Franklin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1979, had her voice declared a Michigan natural resource in 1985, and became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded her a Grammy Legend Award in 1991, then the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994.

More information: Forbes

Franklin was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1994, recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 1999, and was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

She was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015. Franklin became the second woman inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. She was the 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year, performing at the Grammys days later.

In 2019 she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades. Franklin was the first individual woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.

Franklin received honorary degrees from Harvard University and New York University in 2014, as well as honorary doctorates in music from Princeton University, 2012; Yale University, 2010; Brown University, 2009; University of Pennsylvania, 2007; Berklee College of Music, 2006; New England Conservatory of Music, 1997; and University of Michigan, 1987. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Case Western Reserve University 2011 and Wayne State University in 1990 and an honorary Doctor of Law degree by Bethune–Cookman University in 1975.

More information: CR Fashion Book

Being the Queen is not all about singing,

and being a diva is not all about singing.

It has much to do with your service to people.

And your social contributions to your community

and your civic contributions as well.

Aretha Franklin