Rare documentary airing on PBS
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Sam Cooke
WarpedRecord — 16 years ago(January 07, 2010 05:59 PM)
"Sam Cooke: Crossing Over," a documentary that manager Allen Klein and his estate has tried to keep out of the public's eye for years, will have a rare public showing on PBS the week of Jan. 10 on the "American Masters" program.
This is being shown only because educational broadcasts have an exemption from Klein and company's stranglehold over Cooke's catalog. It's been tied up in litigation for so long that many of the interview subjects are dead: James Brown, Lou Rawls, Jerry Wexler, Billy Preston.
So check your local PBS listings and watch it, because it won't be repeated and won't be relea5b4sed on DVD. And if you're reading this after the week of Jan. 10, sorry you missed it! -
Banquo13 — 16 years ago(January 11, 2010 08:05 PM)
Just finished watching the PBS special. Brilliant look at Sam's life. Thank you for the background information about its makingI had been wondering why so many of the interviewees had passed on.
Anyone know whatever became of the prostitute and the manageress involved with his murder or have they become lost to history?
Lastly, I would hope that Sam's work would be more recognizable to later generations of people. How come he (in my opinion, anyway) hasn't gotten his due the way Elvis has, or even Michael Jackson?? -
WarpedRecord — 16 years ago(January 11, 2010 10:32 PM)
I'm glad you were able to see this! Here is an article about the film that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and contains some of the background about the attempts to suppress it by the Allen Klein estate:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/09/DDQP1BEJ5L .DTL
I think your final point, about why Sam's music and legacy are not better known today, are excellent and worth revisiting now that hopefully many people have seen this film. I suspect the circumstances of Sam's death unfortunately made him a bit of a taboo artist, and his tremendous contributions to soul and R&B have been ignored or downplayed for years.
I was hoping the documentary would shed some light on the prostitute and the motel manager involved with his death, but this case has been "officially" closed for decades and I don't think we'll ever know what really happened or what became of the parties involved.
I don't want to get into what happened at that motel, whether he was at fault or set up, and honestly, I don't think that will ever be resolved. What I care most about is the music, and Sam gave us some great tunes when black artists were still largely shut out of mainstream radio and clubs.
Obviously Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson had the flash as well as the talent, and this is another reason I think they're better known. Sam had nothing but the talent, and sadly without the "pelvis" or the "moon walk," the tabloid stories and the plastic surgeries, he doesn't have as music draw in modern culture.
But anyone who's heard him singing songs like "You Send Me," "Wonderful World," "Chain Gang," "Only Sixteen," "Cupid," "Summertime" and scores of other evocative, soulful songs knows that this is a man who made his mark and left us too soon. His talent will always be there for those who seek it out.