''Cooke's Tour'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...
, released in May 1960 in by
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
. ''Cooke's Tour'' was the singer's first album on the
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
label.
The album was
remastered
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
in 2011 as a part of ''The RCA Albums Collection''.
Background
As Keen's marketing was limited, Sam Cooke began to shop around to other labels in February 1960. Interest was immediate from labels such as Atlantic and Capitol, but Cooke signed with Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore at RCA Victor, who offered a $100,000 advance. RCA Victor had previously signed Jesse Belvin, Della Reese and the Isley Brothers, and Peretti and Creatore were set on making Cooke an international album artist.
''Cooke's Tour'', recorded on March 2 and 3, 1960, is an "adventurous travelogue" that explores various territories around the world.Glen Osser wrote arrangements and conducted the album's orchestra, which was an R&B rhythm section and a fifteen-piece string ensemble. Cooke was closest to the album's final track, "The House I Live In," as he had just moved into his dream home in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
Far Away Places
"Far Away Places" is an American popular song. It was written by Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer and published in 1948.
The recording by Bing Crosby & The Ken Darby Choir was recorded on November 25, 1948 and released by Decca Records as catalog ...
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Joan Whitney Kramer
Joan Whitney Kramer (June 26, 1914 – July 12, 1990) was an American singer and songwriter.
Early years
Kramer was born Zoe Parenteau in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her early music training came while singing in the choir in her church. She ...
,
Alex Kramer
Alex J. Kramer (May 30, 1903 – February 10, 1998) was a Canadian songwriter.
He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His parents were Adolph and Freda Kramer. At age 17 he was hired as a pianist in a silent movie theater in Montreal. He tra ...
) – 3:28
# "
Under Paris Skies
''Under Paris Skies'' is the seventh studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the fall of 1960 by Cadence Records. This, his final LP for the label, is a collection of songs that Joseph Laredo describes in the liner ...
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Hubert Giraud
Hubert Yves Adrian Giraud (3 March 1920 – 16 January 2016) was a French composer and lyricist.
Career
Giraud began his career playing the harmonica with Django Reinhardt's jazz group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France. In 1941, he was recru ...
,
Kim Gannon
James Kimball "Kim" Gannon (November 18, 1900 – April 29, 1974) was an American songwriter, more commonly a lyricist than a composer.
Biography
Gannon was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Irish-American family from Fort Ann in upstate New ...
,
Jean Dréjac
Jean Dréjac, stage name of Jean André Jacques Brun (3 June 1921, in Grenoble – 11 August 2003, in Paris) was a French singer and composer.
He is noted for writing the songs " Ah! Le petit vin blanc", "Sous le ciel de Paris" and "La Chansonnet ...
Bali Ha'i
"Bali Ha'i", also spelled "Bali Hai", is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' South Pacific''. The name refers to a mystical island, visible on the horizon but not reachable, and was originally inspired by the sight of Amba ...
" (
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
,
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...
Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American songwriter.
Early life
Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his bar exams to practice in ...
Jamaica Farewell
"Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song (mento). The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie), an American-born, half- Barbadian songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands.
Harry Belafonte ...
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Irving Burgie
Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess, was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.Galway Bay" ( Dr. Arthur Colahan) – 3:00
# " Sweet Leilani" (Harry Owens) – 2:48
# "The Japanese Farewell Song" (Hasegawa Yoshida, Freddy Morgan) – 2:57
# "The House I Live In" (Lewis Allen,
Earl Robinson
Earl Hawley Robinson (July 2, 1910 – July 20, 1991) was a composer, arranger and folk music singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is remembered for his music, including the cantata "Ballad for Americans" and songs such as " Jo ...
) – 3:19
Personnel
All credits adapted from ''The RCA Albums Collection'' (2011) liner notes.
*Sam Cooke –
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
*Al Hanlon, Charles Macey, Clifton White, Al Chernet – guitar
*
Lloyd Trotman
Lloyd Nelson Trotman (May 25, 1923 – October 3, 2007), born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, was an American jazz bassist, who backed numerous jazz, dixieland, R&B, and rock and roll artists in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He resided ...
,
George Duvivier
George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz double-bassist.
Biography
Duvivier was born in New York City, the son of Leon V. Duvivier and Ismay Blakely Duvivier. He attended the Conservatory of Music and Art, where ...
Hank Jones
Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...
, Morris Wechsler – piano
*Jerome Weiner, Joe Small – flute
*Hinda Barnett, Arcadie Berkenholz, James Bloom, Fred Buidrini, Morris Lefkowitz, Felix Orlewitz, Frank Siegfried, Ralph Silverman, Harry Urbont,
Paul Winter
Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...
, James Bloom, Anthony DiGirolamo, Ben Miller,
David Nadien
David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1966 to 1970. His playing style, characterized by fast vibrato, audible shifting noise ...
Glenn Osser
Abraham Arthur "Glenn" Osser (August 28, 1914 – April 29, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger, orchestra leader, and songwriter. His birthname was Abraham (Abe), but much of his work was under the name Glenn; he can be found with re ...