Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke

(Oct. Guralnick's revelation of the complicated man behind the music ultimately enables readers to rediscover songs like "A Change Is Gonna Come" as even more remarkable than before. . 18)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Yet wide-ranging interviews reveal that behind Cooke's talent and energetic vocal style, many of his peers in the music biz saw a more troubling personality. The biography does not judge, but neither does it hold back on recounting Cooke's ruthless interactions with record companies or the deep rifts in his marriage to his former childhood sweetheart. From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. There's no real substitute for the sound of Sam Cooke's music, but the detailed descriptions of his recordings throughout this masterful biography are the next best thing to wearing headphones while you read. Guralnick's first book after a two-volume bio of

One of the most influential singers and songwriters of all time, Sam Cooke was among the first to blend gospel music and secular themes--the early foundation of soul music. Rare audio clips.. He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny. With appearances by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Fidel Castro, The Beatles, Sonny and Cher, Bob Dylan, and other central figures of this explosive era, DREAM BOOGIE is a compelling depiction of one man striving to achieve his vision despite all obstacles--and an epic portrait of America during the turbulent and hopeful 1950s and 1960s. The triumph of the book is the vividness with which Peter Guralnick conveys the a

E. Kutinsky said Bringin it on home. I'm a big fan of Sam Cooke (you'd have to be to even pick up all 650 pages of Dream Boogie) and tend to think of "Bring It on Home To Me" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" as two of the most beautiful songs ever written. I was disappointed in an Entertainment Weekly review I'd read of the book that called the book a little plodding and concluded that Cooke didn't deserve the type of meticulous attention that Peter Guralnick had brought to Elvis Presley over his two heralded biographies of Presley. Well, I still don't much agree with that review, but after finally reaching the end after picking up and putting down the book for about 1. Lanny said Four Stars. OK but a bit tedious. Really more detail than I wanted.. Dennis E. Pettyjohn said EXCELLENT read on the life and music of The King of Soul. The author did an outstanding job in detailing the gospel roots, the challenge of cross-over recording and performing. and the later social activism of Sam Cooke.I don't personally like the current trend in book publishing of scattering pictures throughout the book instead of having them in a single, easily accessable, location for reference, or, conversely, of putting all footnotes in the back of the book without even noting them in the text, but that's a very minor criticism and I loved the Discography at the end and have ordered a couple of gospel and pop CD's for traveling!A great read for anyone who loves the music and want