Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers

Obviously, many early soul, doo-wop amd rock'n'roll singers came from a Gospel background, but I have not heard all that much from many of them - something that I am trying to rectify. Just as Ray Charles took the up-beat wailin' gospel as his template for his style of rockin' soul, Sam Cooke (and many others) had a more sedate style that prefaced their secular doo-wop/sweet soul stylings.

It is somewhat remarkable just how similar some of the tunes here are to Cooke's later hits, down to his vocal acrobatics. The Soul Stirrers add fine background harmonies making this a excellent package that does not beat you over the head with the sanctified message.

This is definitely not the jumpin'-up-and-down, arms-flailin', fallin'-out kinda gospel, but if you're a fan of his work in the 60's, such as "You Send Me", "Cupid", and "Wonderful World", then you're sure to dig this, as well.