Editing Sam Cooke (section)

=== Crossover pop success ===
Cooke had 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964, plus three more posthumously. Major hits like "[[You Send Me]]", "[[A Change Is Gonna Come]]", "[[Cupid (Sam Cooke song)|Cupid]]", "[[Chain Gang (Sam Cooke song)|Chain Gang]]", "[[Wonderful World (Sam Cooke song)|Wonderful World]]", "[[Another Saturday Night]]", and "[[Twistin' the Night Away]]" are some of his most popular songs. ''Twistin' the Night Away'' was one of Cooke's biggest selling albums.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eder |first=Bruce |title=Sam Cooke AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-cooke-mn0000238115/biography |access-date=August 21, 2017}}</ref> He was also among the first modern [[Black people|Black]] performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. Cooke founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. Cooke also took an active part in the [[Civil Rights Movement|civil rights movement]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Guralnick |first=Peter |date=September 22, 2005 |title=The Man Who Invented Soul |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7661211/the_man_who_invented_soul |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206220302/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7661211/the_man_who_invented_soul |archive-date=February 6, 2009 |access-date=August 8, 2008 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|ref=none}}</ref>

[[File:Sam Cooke billboard.jpg|thumb|left|Cooke in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', 1965, released posthumously]]
Sam Cooke's first pop/soul single was "Lovable" (1956), a remake of the gospel song "Wonderful". It was released under the [[pseudonym|alias]] "Dale Cook"<ref name="pc17">{{Cite web |date=June 22, 1969 |title=Show 17 – The Soul Reformation: More on the evolution of rhythm and blues |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19767/m1 |access-date=September 22, 2010 |website=[[Pop Chronicles]] |publisher=Digital Library, University of North Texas}}</ref> in order not to alienate his gospel fan base; there was a considerable stigma against gospel singers performing secular music. However, it fooled no one<ref name=bookofhits /> — his unique and distinctive vocals were easily recognized. [[Art Rupe]], head of Specialty Records, the label of the Soul Stirrers, gave his blessing for Cooke to record secular music under his real name, but he was unhappy about the type of music Cooke and producer [[Bumps Blackwell]] were making. Rupe expected Cooke's secular music to be similar to that of another Specialty Records artist, [[Little Richard]]. When Rupe walked in on a recording session and heard Cooke singing [[Gershwin]], he was quite upset. After an argument between Rupe and Blackwell, Cooke and Blackwell left the label.{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|pp=171–180}}

"Lovable" was neither a hit nor  a flop, but it indicated Cooke's future potential. While gospel was popular, Cooke saw that its fans were mostly limited to low-income, rural parts of the country, and he sought to branch out. Cooke later admitted that he got an endorsement for a career in pop music from the least likely man, his pastor father. Cooke stated: "My father told me it was not what I sang that was important, but that God gave me a voice and musical talent and the true use of His gift was to share it and make people happy." Taking the name "Sam Cooke", he sought a fresh start in pop.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

In 1957, Sam Cooke appeared on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC's]] ''[[The Guy Mitchell Show]]''. That same year, he signed with Keen Records. Cooke's first hit, "[[You Send Me]]", released as the B-side of "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)|Summertime]]",<ref name=pc17 />{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|p=167}} spent six weeks at No. 1 on the [[List of No. 1 R&B hits (United States)|Billboard R&B chart]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sam Cooke |url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/sam-cooke |access-date=October 10, 2017 |website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame}}</ref> The song also had mainstream success, spending three weeks at No. 1 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' pop]] chart.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Maury |title=Rock 'N' Roll Gold Rush: A Singles Un-cyclopedia |publisher=Algora Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=0-87586-207-1 |page=176}}</ref> It elevated him from earning $200 a week to over $5,000 a week ({{Inflation|US|5000|1957|fmt=eq|r=-3}}).<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|url=https://archive.org/details/variety209-1958-02/page/n1/mode/1up?view=theater|title=Sam Cooke Finds Single Click Leads to Big Payoff On One-Nighters, Video|date=February 5, 1958|page=2|via=[[Archive.org]]|access-date=September 25, 2021}}</ref>{{Inflation/fn|US}}

In 1958, Cooke performed for the famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert produced by [[Leon Hefflin, Sr.|Leon Hefflin]] held at the Shrine Auditorium on August 3. The other headliners were [[Little Willie John]], [[Ray Charles]], [[Ernie Freeman]], and [[Bo Rhambo]]. [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] was there to crown the winner of the Miss Cavalcade of Jazz beauty contest. The event featured the top four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.<ref name="Guralnick" />
[[File:Cupid - Farewell My Darling - Billboard ad 1961.jpg|thumb|''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' advertisement, May 29, 1961]] 
Cooke signed with the [[RCA Victor]] record label in January 1960, having been offered an advance of $100,000 (equivalent to{{nbsp}}${{Inflation|US|0.1|1960|r=1}}{{nbsp}}million in {{Inflation/year|US}}){{Inflation/fn|US}} by the label's producers [[Hugo & Luigi]].<ref name="BbJan60">{{Cite magazine |date=January 18, 1960 |title=Sam Cooke Signs With Hugo-Luigi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=May 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name="CBJan60">{{Cite magazine |date=January 23, 1960 |title=RCA Victor Signs Sam Cooke |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1960/CB-1960-01-23-OCR-Page-0052.pdf |magazine=[[Cash Box (magazine)|Cash Box]] |location=New York |access-date=May 2, 2020}}</ref> One of his first RCA Victor singles was "[[Chain Gang (Sam Cooke song)|Chain Gang]]", which reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart.{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|p=338}} It was followed by more hits, including "Sad Mood",{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|pp=348, 361}} "[[Cupid (Sam Cooke song)|Cupid]]",{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|p=362}} "[[Bring It On Home to Me]]" (with [[Lou Rawls]] on backing vocals),{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|pp=404–407}} "[[Another Saturday Night]]",{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|p=460}} and "[[Twistin' the Night Away]]".{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|pp=390, 396}}

In 1961, Cooke started his own record label, [[SAR Records]], with [[J. W. Alexander (musician)|J. W. Alexander]] and his manager, Roy Crain.<ref name="musichistory">{{Cite book |last1=Warner |first1=Jay |url=https://archive.org/details/onthisdayinblack00warn/page/10 |title=On This Day in Black Music History |last2=Jones, Quincy |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2006 |isbn=0-634-09926-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/onthisdayinblack00warn/page/10 10]}}</ref> The label soon included the Simms Twins, [[the Valentinos]] (who were [[Bobby Womack]] and his brothers), [[Mel Carter]] and [[Johnnie Taylor]]. Cooke then created a publishing imprint and management firm named Kags.<ref name="Goodman">{{Cite book |last=Goodman |first=Fred |title=Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-547-89686-1 |page=40}}</ref>

Like most R&B artists of his time, Cooke focused on singles; in all, he had 29 top 40 hits on the pop charts and more on the R&B charts. Cooke was a prolific songwriter and wrote most of the songs he recorded. Cooke also had a hand in overseeing some of the song arrangements. In spite of releasing mostly singles, he released a well-received [[blues music|blues]]-inflected LP in 1963, ''[[Night Beat (Sam Cooke album)|Night Beat]]'', and his most critically acclaimed studio album, ''[[Ain't That Good News (album)|Ain't That Good News]]'', which featured five singles, in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sam Cooke – Billboard Charts |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/sam-cooke |access-date=January 3, 2019 |website=2019 Billboard}}</ref>

In 1963, Cooke signed a five-year contract for [[Allen Klein]] to manage Kags Music and [[SAM Records|SAR Records]], and made him his manager. Klein negotiated a five-year deal (three years plus two option years) with [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]] in which a holding company, Tracey, Ltd, named after Cooke's daughter, owned by Klein and managed by J. W. Alexander, would produce and own Cooke's recordings. [[RCA Victor]] would get exclusive distribution rights in exchange for six percent royalty payments and payments for the recording sessions. For tax reasons, Cooke would receive preferred stock in Tracey instead of an initial cash advance of $100,000. He would receive cash advances of $100,000 for the next two years, followed by an additional $75,000 for each of the two option years if the deal went to term.{{sfn|Goodman|2015|pp=44–46}}