A special double clear vinyl edition of Sam Cooke’s career-spanning Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 compilation will be released on October 8 in celebration of Black History Month.
The new release offers both comprehensive liner notes by the renowned author and music historian Peter Guralnick and detailed musician credits. The 31-track collection embraces the greatest work of the enduringly influential music pioneer, and is now available for pre-order.
Portrait of a Legend includes recordings from Cooke’s gospel years, his early R&B career, and his soul and crossover pop hits from the SAR, Specialty and RCA labels. It combined these with music from the peak of his career on his own label, Tracey Records.
Containing more than 80 minutes of music, the retrospective embraces all of Cooke’s essential hits to give an essential overview of one of the most singular careers in American music history. Signature tracks from his songbook in the set, endlessly covered by admirers over the ensuing half-century, include “You Send Me,” “Chain Gang,” “Shake,” “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “(What a) Wonderful World,””Another Saturday Night,” “Cupid,” “Only Sixteen,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and “Having a Party.”
The songs in the collection have logged a total of 273 weeks, or more than five years, on Billboard’s pop charts and 508 weeks, the better part of ten years, on the pop and R&B charts combined.
Pre-order the clear vinyl edition of Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964, which is released on October 8.
The full tracklist is:
Disc One
LP 1
Touch The Hem Of His Garment
Lovable
You Send Me
Only Sixteen
(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
Just For You
Win Your Love For Me
Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha
LP 2
I’ll Come Running Back To You
You Were Made For Me
Sad Mood
Cupid
(What A) Wonderful World
Chain Gang
Summertime
Little Red Rooster
Disc Two
LP 1
Bring It On Home To Me
Nothing Can Change This Love
Sugar Dumpling
(Ain’t That) Good News
Meet Me At Mary’s Place
Twistin’ The Night Away
Shake
Tennessee Waltz
LP 2
Another Saturday Night
Good Times
Having A Party
That’s Where It’s At
A Change Is Gonna Come
Jesus Gave Me Water
Unlisted Track
