Dream boogie: the triumph of Sam Cooke (121 page)

441
SAR Pictures had acquired the film rights:
Cash Box,
June 9, 1962. J.W. told me: “I got a guy named Phil Waddell to [put it out] that I had purchased an original story from him, but then the story broke so damn big I gave Phil some money and said, ‘You [better] start writing something!’”

441
They had given up on Jess at this point: The change in Jess’ role is indicated by Paul Cantor’s attempt to recruit Sam as a client and Jess’ total noninvolvement in the English tour. Jess, however, was never made aware of his change in status by either Sam or J.W.

442
with Linda frequently in tow: You can hear Linda slating Takes 11-13 of “I Wish You Love.”

442
Aretha Franklin was playing the Alexandria:
Los Angeles Sentinel,
December 13, 1962. Other club dates cited are from the same issue.

442
“Sam (Mr. Feeling) Cooke, who left the gospel field”:
St. Louis Argus,
December 21, 1962, et al. It was written up in
Variety
December 19.

442
“an entirely new program of song”:
Los Angeles Sentinel,
December 27, 1962.

443
“undoubtedly the most sensational gospel show”:
St. Louis Argus,
December 21, 1962.

444
“on a sort of freelance basis”:
Billboard,
December 1, 1962.
Variety
reported the same story on December 5.

444
that was the end of the deal: By the beginning of April, Sam and J.W.’s friend Ed Townsend had moved east to take the job.

445
“I only ever travel with those I like”: This and all other quotes from King Curtis are from Charlie Gillet’s 1971 interview with Curtis, published in
The Sound
(“a newsletter for King Curtis record collectors” published by Roy Simonds) no. 4, June/July 1985. The interview was concluded in the following issue.

446
“Never had I read words that sounded so real”: Magnificent Montague with Bob Baker,
Burn, Baby! Burn: The Autobiography of Magnificent Montague,
p. 52. All other quotes are from my interviews with Montague.

448
“he urged all tan performers to pay more attention”:
Philadelphia Tribune,
June 15, 1963, as well as
Cleveland Call, Norfolk Journal and Guide,
and
Jet,
January 31, among others. The story was not attributed to the ANP in the weekly newspapers, but the simultaneity of publication (and replication of language) argue for its syndication in this manner.

449
“This innocent country set you down in a ghetto”: James Baldwin,
The Fire Next Time,
pp. 21-22.

450
the “coldest New Year’s Eve in history”:
St. Louis Argus,
January 11, 1963.

451
“I shall return”:
Chicago Defender,
January 10, 1963;
St. Louis Argus,
January 11. Like the initial announcement, this report was orchestrated in a manner that indicates its importance.

451
Hugo and Luigi had agreed to record Sam’s live show: Luigi wrote to Mr. Stewart Goldman, vice president of the Harlem Square’s ownership corporation, on January 2, 1963. The contractual form letter that Goldman signed granted RCA permission to record the show, with no remuneration for the club.

453
whatever the sonic shortcomings: As J.W. said: “We could have had more crowd noise, but we were popping.”

455
the BMI Awards dinner: The January 23 dinner was reported in
Variety,
January 23, 1963, and
Billboard,
January 26 and February 2.

457
It was as overt a disagreement: J.W. Alexander disagreed that there was ever any overt disagreement, but as likeable as he found L.C., he did not see him as very hardworking.

457
“[L.C.] didn’t want to sing like him”: BBC interview with René Hall.

SCENES FROM LIFE

1 | JOCKO’S PARTNER

464
“He couldn’t lie if he wanted to”: Lex Gillespie interview with Doug “Jocko” Henderson, 1995, for the Smithsonian series produced by Jacquie Gales Webb for National Public Radio,
Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was.
Used by permission.

468
an improbable . . . wish list of stars:
Variety,
February 27, 1963.

468
“Politicians and Dogs Nearly Steal State Theatre Show”: In addition to this story by Chris J. Perry, see also Mark Bricklin, “Sam Cooke Tops, Trib Critic Says,” and an unattributed “Battle Rages at Rock ’n’ Roll Show,” all in the
Philadelphia Tribune,
March 12, 1963.

471
complaining to Sam that Curt had the lead vocal: The Valentinos’ second record, a re-release of “Somewhere There’s a Girl” on Sam and J.W.’s new Derby label, was actually credited to Curtis and the Boys. According to Bobby: “I was trying to say, ‘Don’t let Curtis sing too many songs.’ But Sam kept saying, ‘Bobby, in later years you’ll happen, but they’ll play Curtis’ record faster.’”

473
“Why doesn’t Sam Cooke appear on television?”: Darcy DeMille, “Just Ask Me,”
Sepia,
April 1963. In fact, Sam had just appeared on Merv Griffin’s about-to-be-canceled afternoon talk show on March 18.

473
“the excellent song material written” by Negro songwriters: “Sam Would ‘Cook’ Revival of Oldies,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 13, 1963 (ANP).

2 | LESSONS OF THE ROAD

475
“Onstage there’s nobody who could touch him”:
Tri-State Defender,
April 27, 1963.

475
a new Prudhomme twins-authored . . . song: The song was “Nobody But Me,” and it was listed in
Billboard
July 20, 1963.

476
his real [name] of “Little” Julius High: This appears to have been a short-lived reclamation of his given name, but Lotsa had just appeared as Little Julius High at the Uptown in Philadelphia with James Brown, March 22-31.

477
“Henry started calling me Gorgeous George [because] I was sharp”: George steadfastly refuses to acknowledge any nominal connection to the popular white wrestler from the fifties Gorgeous George, whose flamboyant style was such an influence on Little Richard, James Brown, and Muhammad Ali. But perhaps he’s right, for this Gorgeous George, too, is an original in every way.

490
Al Hibbler standing side by side with Dr. King: David L. Lewis,
King: A Biography,
pp. 183-184;
The Carolinian,
April 27, 1963;
Chicago Defender,
April 13-19. There is some disagreement about whether or not Hibbler actually went to jail. Some accounts have him being rejected for imprisonment because of his blindness.

490
“Well, now, Mr. Mayor”: Taylor Branch,
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63,
p. 722.

490
“Are Show Biz Folk Sincere?”:
Norfolk Journal and Guide,
April 20, 1963; also
Philadelphia Tribune,
April 30, and I’m sure others.

490
an exclusive nightclub in Atlanta: His engagement at the Copa (
Atlanta’s
Copa) was advertised in the
Atlanta Constitution,
March 15, 1963.

490
“the right to be treated like an American”:
Norfolk Journal and Guide,
April 20, 1963.

490
Nat “King” Cole . . . defended “stars who shun[ned] Dixie picket lines”:
Chicago Defender,
May 11-17, 1963.

491
Fats Domino . . . announced his own break: “Fats Domino Abandons Freedom Push: Will Take Segregated Dates,”
Kansas City Call,
January 11, 1963 (ANP).

491
he rescinded his new policy: “Fats Domino Denies Break with NAACP,”
Kansas City Call,
January 18, 1963;
Carolinian,
January 19 (ANP).

491
“treat[ing] King’s campaign as a disturbing rumor”: Branch,
Parting the Waters,
p. 710. My account of the Birmingham campaign is largely culled from Branch; David J. Garrow,
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leaadership Conference;
and Lewis,
King: A Biography.

491
“reporters saw no news”: Branch,
Parting the Waters,
p. 744.

492
“both wasteful and worthless”: Garrow,
Bearing the Cross,
p. 240, citing the
Birmingham World,
April 10.

492
the single word “freedom”: Branch,
Parting the Waters,
p. 759.

492
“Do not underestimate the power of this movement”: Ibid., p. 791.

492
“sabotaged by a few extremists on either side”: Ibid., p. 800.

492
“the nonviolent movement coming of age”: Lewis,
King: A Biography,
p. 196.

492
Brook Benton . . . had only recently played Clemson: Account of his Clemson engagement in the
Miami Times,
March 9, 1963.

493
“We’re waking up”: Morton Cooper, “Brook Benton Afraid He Can’t Be Non-Violent,” C
hicago Defender,
May 25-31, 1963.

493
“We’re in the middle of a social revolution”: Paul Learn, “Mixing Melody, Love Puts Sam Cooke on Top,”
Atlantic City Press,
July 30, 1964. It’s interesting that Dick Clark, a friend and great admirer of Sam’s, described Sam as the “first angry black man” Clark had ever met.

494
he and Alex had figured out a way of operating: As Alex said: “Neither one of us looked militant. They didn’t know quite [what to make of me], because I went into so [many] areas. They just look at me and assume maybe I was something else.”

495
Sam would get a $15,000 guarantee: J.W. saw the new deal with BMI as the end of Jess Rand. From his perspective they had hired Allen Klein as an accountant, and Allen had come through. From this point on, Allen had their full trust. Concurrent with the BMI agreement, Allen prudently had L.C. Cooke sign over all interest in any of Sam’s songs credited to him on May 29.

3 | VINCENT

497
“the one and only black history [bookstore]”: This was the Aquarian Bookstore and Spiritual Center (later shortened to the Aquarian Book Shop), which had been founded in 1941 by Alfred Ligon. Ligon, born in Atlanta in 1906 and a devotee of African-American culture, metaphysical philosophy, and the occult, financed the shop originally with the savings from his job as a waiter on the Southern Pacific. He and his wife, Bernice, who went to work for him in 1943, five years before they married, formed a lending library, a black Book-of-the-Month Club, and various other enterprises to keep the store going. Typical titles were
The Stolen Legacy
and
Black Gnostic Studies.
The bookstore became a well-known center for black activist political study in the mid-’60s. There is a fascinating oral history by Alfred Ligon at the Oral History Program, UCLA.

498
Barbara “had a custom outfit made”: Gertrude Gipson, “The Sam Cooke I Knew,”
Los Angeles Sentinel,
December 17, 1964.

499
according to the
Sentinel
’s “Theatricals” column:
Los Angeles Sentinel,
June 20, 1963. Gertrude Gipson’s “Candid Comments,” in the same issue, has Sam and Barbara at the pre-opening, with Barbara wearing the wig and mink stole, and Earl Grant not on hand, but I have assigned Barbara the same accoutrements for the show.

500
it was too late: Vincent’s death is noted in many brief news stories, including the
California Eagle
and
Los Angeles Sentinel,
June 20, 1963, but I have relied for the most part on the accounts of those who were there.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

503
“the best sepian night club show I’ve ever seen”: “A History of Kentucky Avenue,” compiled by Nancy Loorie, Atlantic City Library (no further information available), provides both the quote from the 1947
Daily News
column and a brief history of the club.

504
“tall, cool, cigarette holder-carrying Larry ‘Good Deal’ Steele”: Masco Young, “The Grapevine” (syndicated column),
The Carolinian,
March 23, 1963.

504
as important to Atlantic City as the Miss America pageant: “Larry Steele’s Smart Affairs,”
Sepia,
September 1964.

506
“a prizefight is like a cowboy movie”: Thomas Hauser,
Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times,
p. 58. Hauser’s book, a mesmerizing oral history, has been an invaluable source throughout.