Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke - Hardcover

Peter Guralnick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316377945 ISBN 13: 9780316377942

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2005

Synopsis

One of the most influential singers and songwriters of all time, Sam Cooke was among the first to blend gospel music and secular themes--the early foundation of soul music. He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny. No biography has previously been written that fully captures Sam Cooke's accomplishments, the importance of his contribution to American music, the drama that accompanied his rise in the early days of the civil rights movement, and the mystery that surrounds his death. Bestselling author Peter Guralnick tells this moving and significant story, from Cooke's childhood as a choirboy to an adulthood when he was anything but. With appearances by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Fidel Castro, The Beatles, Sonny and Cher, Bob Dylan, and other central figures of this explosive era, DREAM BOOGIE is a compelling depiction of one man striving to achieve his vision despite all obstacles--and an epic portrait of America during the turbulent and hopeful 1950s and 1960s. The triumph of the book is the vividness with which Peter Guralnick conveys the astonishing richness of the black America of this era--the drama, force, and feeling of the story.

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Reviews

Guralnick, the veteran music biographer best known for his two-volume study of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, combines meticulous research with a passion for his subject in the most complete and insightful biography of Cooke to date. Critics roundly praise the depth of Guralnick’s reporting and his willingness to track down previously unused sources (the book was more than a decade in the making), though some comment that the author’s exhaustive attention to detail at times slows an otherwise engaging narrative. Guralnick succeeds, however, in shedding new light on a short, brilliant life defined by its complexity and its contradictions.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Starred Review. There's no real substitute for the sound of Sam Cooke's music, but the detailed descriptions of his recordings throughout this masterful biography are the next best thing to wearing headphones while you read. Guralnick's first book after a two-volume bio of Elvis honors Cooke's (1931–1964) musical genius, especially his ability to grasp the changing music scene of the late 1950s and early '60s. For those who only know the singer through his pop hits—"You Send Me"; "Twistin' the Night Away"—the extensive account of his childhood background in gospel music will prove fascinating, and the evocation of the harsh realities faced by African-American musicians touring the South a powerful reminder of just how explosive this music could be. Yet wide-ranging interviews reveal that behind Cooke's talent and energetic vocal style, many of his peers in the music biz saw a more troubling personality. The biography does not judge, but neither does it hold back on recounting Cooke's ruthless interactions with record companies or the deep rifts in his marriage to his former childhood sweetheart. Guralnick's revelation of the complicated man behind the music ultimately enables readers to rediscover songs like "A Change Is Gonna Come" as even more remarkable than before. Photos. (Oct. 18)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Until Sam Cooke was shot dead in a Los Angeles motel, in 1964, at the age of thirty-three, his life had been an ascending series of crossover moves: he conquered the postwar gospel-music scene, scored bigger hits by moving into secular rhythm and blues, and then, after signing with R.C.A., in 1960, proceeded to go pop, and released a string of smooth, catchy singles that placed him on the cusp of mainstream superstar status. Guralnick, as in his biography of Elvis Presley, displays a feel for the culture that gave rise to the musician, and his account is a revelatory portrait of the rough-and-tumble yet familial world of black show business before and during the civil-rights era. In darker corners lurk the antecedents of today's gangster-rap subculture—racketeers who funded black record labels and tour packages, and performers like Johnny (Guitar) Watson, who made more as a pimp than he did singing.
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Guralnick follows his monumental, two-volume Elvis Presley biography with the portrait of another towering musical figure. Sam Cooke achieved massive success in gospel before crossing over to pop with his 1957 smash, "You Send Me." He also made his mark as a songwriter and record-industry entrepreneur and was on a path to even greater renown before his murder in a seedy motel at age 33. Guralnick conducted exhaustive interviews with surviving family and associates and thoroughly mines other sources, but Cooke comes off as ultimately unknowable: charismatic and charming but also capable of stunning cruelty and selfishness, especially regarding women. An expert biographer, Guralnick shines at assessing Cooke's music, particularly the incessant live performances that took him from the chitlin' circuit to the Copa. Cooke's career paralleled the rise of the civil-rights movement, and Guralnick shows how Cooke's political awareness expanded as his musical sophistication grew. Not as musically significant or personally vivid as Guralnick's previous subject, perhaps--well, who is?--Cooke stands to benefit more, however, from such thorough, respectful treatment. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0316377945
• ISBN 13: 9780316377942
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 768