Sam Cooke: Portrait Of A Legend 1951-1964
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 10:55 am
Circuit City didn't have any of the new CDs today. Best Buy just had this one (two copies). A brief review as I listen.
First off, as with the Stones, the packaging is a Digipak. A single fold with a (large) booklet glued inside. There's a paragraph for each track, and notes at the end with where each song was recorded.
Win Your Love For Me - This has always been an interesting case. The Man And His Music had a complete version in stereo, although it was a very *strange* stereo. A lot of hiss, a lot of "room sound", and Sam's voice didn't stay dead center. Greatest Hits had the song in dry mono, the same length as Man And His Music. The box set had a better sounding version of the stereo mix, but it faded about 15 seconds early.
And that brings us to the new disc. First off, it's mono. Second, it's almost as long as the "complete" versions. However (and this is a big one), there's an overdubbed vocal track not present on any of the other versions. Was this what the original single sounded like (I don't know)? Whatever the case, it's an interesting difference.
(What A) Wonderful World - THIS is interesting. To my knowledge, this song has only ever shown up in mono, other than an "add-a-track" stereo version. Well, it's in stereo here. Nothing mind blowing, but stereo nevertheless. Almost like the stereo mix of Win Your Love For Me - Sam's vocal centered (dead center this time), with most of the instruments floating in "ambient space". I almost wonder if this was originally a twin-track recordnig (ie, 'hole in the middle') with some type of echo/ADT on the non-vocal track. The mix is pretty narrow, but it does widen up on the computer. One might think it were fake stereo if not for the drums and Sam's vocal being dead center.
The mixes of the RCA material are quite different from the mixes on Greatest Hits and The Man Who Invented Soul. First off, there seems to be more hiss - I had suspected that the BMG discs were processed with noise reduction, and this seems to be confirmed. Second, the stereo mixes are in general not quite as wide as on the BMG discs. It's not that apparent initially, but, a comparison with the BMG discs makes it obvious. That said, some tracks are still very wide (Chain Gang).
Chain Gang - As mentioned above, this one is very wide. However, it is still different from the BMG mix. Sam's voice is lower, as is the instrumentation in the left channel. There's more hiss, and Sam's voice in particular doesn't sound as processed as on the BMG CDs. It's still kind of a strange recording, but IMO this mix/mastering is better and the BMG attempt.
Bring It On Home To Me - Very narrow stereo.
After a brief listen the tracks already issued on Keep Movin' On don't sound very different.
It's interesting that some of the tracks are quite wide, even when they may not be well balanced (Chain Gang), while others are very narrow, yet well balanced (Bring It On Home To Me).
I think that's all for now. Could some of the mixes been better? Probably - I don't see any reason for keeping some narrowed down. But on the whole, I'd say the sound is quite good, IMO better than the BMG discs.
Here's the track list:
1. Touch The Hem Of His Garment (Cooke)
2. Lovable (Cooke & Harris)
3. You Send Me (Cooke)
4. Only Sixteen (Cooke)
5. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (Watson & Best)
6. Just For You (Cooke)
7. Win Your Love For Me (Cooke)
8. Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha (Cooke)
9. I'll Come Running Back To You (Cook)
10. You Were Made For Me (Cooke)
11. Sad Mood (Cooke)
12. Cupid (Cooke)
13. (What A) Wonderful World (Cooke, Alpert & Adler)
14. Chain Gang (Cooke)
15. Summertime (Gershwin, Gershwin & Heyward)
16. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
17. Bring It On Home To Me (Cooke)
18. Nothing Can Change This Love (Cooke)
19. Sugar Dumpling (Cooke) (re-make)
20. (Ain't That) Good News (Cooke)
21. Meet Me At Mary's Place (Cooke)
22. Twistin' The Night Away (Cooke)
23. Shake (Cooke)
24. Tennessee Waltz (Stewart & King)
25. Another Saturday Night (Cooke)
26. Good Times (Cooke)
27. Having A Party (Cooke)
28. That's Where It's At (Cooke & Alexander)
29. A Change Is Gonna Come (Cooke)
30. Jesus Gave Me Water (Campbell)
First off, as with the Stones, the packaging is a Digipak. A single fold with a (large) booklet glued inside. There's a paragraph for each track, and notes at the end with where each song was recorded.
Win Your Love For Me - This has always been an interesting case. The Man And His Music had a complete version in stereo, although it was a very *strange* stereo. A lot of hiss, a lot of "room sound", and Sam's voice didn't stay dead center. Greatest Hits had the song in dry mono, the same length as Man And His Music. The box set had a better sounding version of the stereo mix, but it faded about 15 seconds early.
And that brings us to the new disc. First off, it's mono. Second, it's almost as long as the "complete" versions. However (and this is a big one), there's an overdubbed vocal track not present on any of the other versions. Was this what the original single sounded like (I don't know)? Whatever the case, it's an interesting difference.
(What A) Wonderful World - THIS is interesting. To my knowledge, this song has only ever shown up in mono, other than an "add-a-track" stereo version. Well, it's in stereo here. Nothing mind blowing, but stereo nevertheless. Almost like the stereo mix of Win Your Love For Me - Sam's vocal centered (dead center this time), with most of the instruments floating in "ambient space". I almost wonder if this was originally a twin-track recordnig (ie, 'hole in the middle') with some type of echo/ADT on the non-vocal track. The mix is pretty narrow, but it does widen up on the computer. One might think it were fake stereo if not for the drums and Sam's vocal being dead center.
The mixes of the RCA material are quite different from the mixes on Greatest Hits and The Man Who Invented Soul. First off, there seems to be more hiss - I had suspected that the BMG discs were processed with noise reduction, and this seems to be confirmed. Second, the stereo mixes are in general not quite as wide as on the BMG discs. It's not that apparent initially, but, a comparison with the BMG discs makes it obvious. That said, some tracks are still very wide (Chain Gang).
Chain Gang - As mentioned above, this one is very wide. However, it is still different from the BMG mix. Sam's voice is lower, as is the instrumentation in the left channel. There's more hiss, and Sam's voice in particular doesn't sound as processed as on the BMG CDs. It's still kind of a strange recording, but IMO this mix/mastering is better and the BMG attempt.
Bring It On Home To Me - Very narrow stereo.
After a brief listen the tracks already issued on Keep Movin' On don't sound very different.
It's interesting that some of the tracks are quite wide, even when they may not be well balanced (Chain Gang), while others are very narrow, yet well balanced (Bring It On Home To Me).
I think that's all for now. Could some of the mixes been better? Probably - I don't see any reason for keeping some narrowed down. But on the whole, I'd say the sound is quite good, IMO better than the BMG discs.
Here's the track list:
1. Touch The Hem Of His Garment (Cooke)
2. Lovable (Cooke & Harris)
3. You Send Me (Cooke)
4. Only Sixteen (Cooke)
5. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (Watson & Best)
6. Just For You (Cooke)
7. Win Your Love For Me (Cooke)
8. Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha (Cooke)
9. I'll Come Running Back To You (Cook)
10. You Were Made For Me (Cooke)
11. Sad Mood (Cooke)
12. Cupid (Cooke)
13. (What A) Wonderful World (Cooke, Alpert & Adler)
14. Chain Gang (Cooke)
15. Summertime (Gershwin, Gershwin & Heyward)
16. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
17. Bring It On Home To Me (Cooke)
18. Nothing Can Change This Love (Cooke)
19. Sugar Dumpling (Cooke) (re-make)
20. (Ain't That) Good News (Cooke)
21. Meet Me At Mary's Place (Cooke)
22. Twistin' The Night Away (Cooke)
23. Shake (Cooke)
24. Tennessee Waltz (Stewart & King)
25. Another Saturday Night (Cooke)
26. Good Times (Cooke)
27. Having A Party (Cooke)
28. That's Where It's At (Cooke & Alexander)
29. A Change Is Gonna Come (Cooke)
30. Jesus Gave Me Water (Campbell)