Sam Cooke’s breakthrough ‘Reel Keen’ tracks are now available digitally exclusively from ABKCO: The Complete Remastered Keen Collection offers Sam Cooke’s early catalogue, sourced from the original master tapes – release date, 25 July
Sam Cooke’s 1957 Keen Records debut You Send Me was a landmark recording on multiple levels. The song, written by the artist, was Cooke’s very first Number 1 record and was groundbreaking in no uncertain terms: a pop record by a gospel great that created the template for what would come to be known as ‘soul’. Cooke’s easy manner, bell-clear intonation and truly spectacular vocal ability set him apart from all others in both pop and R&B. This holds true today just as it did at the dawn of his secular career.
Sam Cooke was very much at home in the recording studio; the 65 tracks he cut for John and Alex Siamas’s Keen label, over the course of three years, reflect his massive talent at a turning point. Now the authentic Keen recordings of Sam Cooke, sourced directly from the original master tapes, are available for digital download. Sam Cooke’s authentic Keen recordings downloaded from iTunes, Amazon and all authorized digital E-tailers offer an unparalleled listening experience. The series includes a virtual box set, (the equivalent of 3 CDs) containing Cooke’s complete Keen recordings as well as four of his originally released Keen LPs with multiple bonus tracks. As always, ABKCO assures the consumer the very best audio quality thanks to painstaking research that has yielded tracks from the original tape reels from which the Keen albums and singles were mastered in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
This virtual box set titled, Sam Cooke: The Complete Remastered Keen Collection is a three-volume compilation that offers the Sam Cooke aficionado the unique opportunity to download all of Cooke’s Keen album and single tracks for a comprehensive overview of his time at the label. The first volume of the set offers 23 tracks, 13 of which are the content of Cooke’s 1958 LP debut for Keen, simply titled Sam Cooke. The album’s other ten tracks are singles presented in mono as originally recorded and released. Beyond ‘You Send Me,’ the set includes ‘Summertime (Part 2),’ ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’,’ ‘That Lucky Old Sun,’ ‘(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons,’ ‘You Were Made For Me,’ ‘Desire Me,’ and ‘Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From ‘Houseboat’).’
The second volume in the set includes the 1958 album Encore in its entirety, as well as all the tracks from Cooke’s 1959 salute to Billie Holiday, Tribute To A Lady, again, in mono as originally recorded and released. Among the collection’s 24 tracks are ‘Along The Navajo Trail,’ ‘Mary, Mary Lou,’ ‘When I Fall In Love,’ ‘I Cover The Waterfront,’ ‘Today I Sing the Blues,’ ‘God Bless The Child,’ ‘I’ve Gotta Right To Sing The Blues,’ ‘Good Morning, Heartache,’ and ‘T’aint Nobody’s Bizness (If I Do).’
The set’s third volume is an 18-track collection comprised mostly of singles and selections that appeared on hit collections and various artist compilations. These tracks, with the exception of ‘Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha’ and ‘With You’ are in mono and also include ‘Only Sixteen,’ and ‘(What a) Wonderful World,’ written by Cooke along with Lou Adler and Herb Alpert who were on staff at Keen. Rarely heard songs include ‘Ee-Yi-Ee-Yi-Oh,’ ‘No One (Can Ever Take Your Place),’ plus, ‘I Thank God,’ ‘Deep River,’ ‘That’s Heaven To Me,’ and ‘Steal Away,’ the four gospel tracks that were released on Keen’s gospel artist compilation LP, I Thank God.
Also released concurrently with the virtual box set are the individual Keen albums with bonus tracks. They include Sam Cooke, the 13-track 1958 label debut, Encore, also from that year with 12 original tracks and the bonus ‘Ee-Yi-Ee-Yi-Oh’ in stereo. 1960’s Hit Kit features fan favorites ‘Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha,’ ‘Win Your Love For Me,’ and two versions of ‘ Lonely Island ,’ (the single version of which is included as one of three bonus tracks). Of special note are rare stereo versions of ‘Little Things You Do’ and ‘Let’s Go Steady Again.’ Last but not least is The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke that, of course includes ‘(What A) Wonderful World,’ as well as ‘Summertime (Part I),’ ‘There I’ve Said It Again’ and three bonus tracks.
Sam Cooke: The Complete Remastered Keen Collection
Annotated track listings for all Sam Cooke Keen label releases from ABKCO:
Digital ‘Box Set’:
‘Disc’ One
Tracks 1 to 13 are the Sam Cooke LP from 1958. Tracks 14 to 23 are singles, all in mono:
1) You Send Me
2) The Lonesome Road
3) Tammy
4) Ol’ Man River
5) Moonlight In Vermont
6) Canadian Sunset
7) Summertime (Part 2)
8) Around The World
9) Ain’t Misbehavin’
10) The Bells Of St. Mary’s
11) So Long
12) Danny Boy
13) That Lucky Old Sun
14) (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons (KEEN single 4002 A – 1957)
15) Desire Me (KEEN single 4002 B – 1957)
16) You Were Made For Me (KEEN single 4009 A – 1957)
17) Lonely Island (KEEN single 4009 B – 1957)
18) Stealing Kisses (KEEN single 2005 A – 1958)
19) All Of My Life (KEEN single 2005 B – 1958)
20) Win Your Love For Me (KEEN single 2006 A – 1958)
21) Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From ‘Houseboat’) (KEEN single 2006 B – 1958)
22) Love You Most Of All (KEEN single 2008 A – 1958)
23) Blue Moon (KEEN single 2008 B – 1958)
‘Disc’ Two
Tracks 1 to 13 are the Encore LP from 1958. Tracks 14 to 24 are the Tribute To The Lady LP (KEEN A-2004) from 1959, all in mono:
1) Oh, Look At Me Now
2) Someday
3) Along The Navajo Trail
4) Running Wild
5) Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive
6) Mary, Mary Lou
7) When I Fall In Love
8) I Cover The Waterfront
9) My Foolish Heart
10) Today I Sing The Blues
11) The Gypsy
12) It’s The Talk Of The Town
13) God Bless The Child
14) She’s Funny That Way
15) I’ve Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
16) Good Morning, Heartache
17) T’aint Nobody’s Bizness (If I Do)
18) Comes Love
19) Lover Girl (Man)
20) Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off
21) Lover Come Back To Me
22) Solitude
23) They Can’t Take That Away From Me
24) Crazy In Love With You
‘Disc’ Three
All are mono save for two tracks. Please note that two of the mono tracks, ‘Little Things You Do’ and ‘Let’s Go Steady Again,’ appear in stereo on the individual release of Hit Kit. Tracks on the box set reflect the audio of the singles:
1) Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha (stereo version/KEEN single 2018 A – 1959)
2) Little Things You Do (KEEN single 2018 B – 1959)
3) Ee-Yi-Ee-Yi-Oh (KEEN single 2122 B – 1960)
4) Only Sixteen (KEEN single 2022 A – 1959)
5) Let’s Go Steady Again (KEEN single 2022 B – 1959)
6) Summertime (Part 1) (KEEN single 2101 A – 1959)
7) There I’ve Said It Again (KEEN single 2105 A – 1959)
8) One Hour Ahead Of The Posse (KEEN single 2105 B – 1959)
9) No One (Can Ever Take Your Place) (KEEN single 2111 B – 1960)
10) (What A) Wonderful World (KEEN single 2112 A – 1960)
11) Lonely Island
12) With You (stereo version/KEEN single 2117 A – 1960)
13) So Glamorous (KEEN single 2118 A – 1960)
14) Steal Away (KEEN single 2118 B – 1960)
15) I Thank God (KEEN single 2117 B – 1960)
16) Deep River (from KEEN various gospel artists LP I Thank God LP)
17) That’s Heaven To Me
18) Steal Away (album version from the KEEN I Thank God LP)
Sam Cooke (KEEN A-2001) (1958)
1) You Send Me
2) The Lonesome Road
3) Tammy
4) Ol’ Man River
5) Moonlight In Vermont
6) Canadian Sunset
7) Summertime (Part 2)
8) Around The World
9) Ain’t Misbehavin’
10) The Bells Of St. Mary’s
11) So Long
12) Danny Boy
13) That Lucky Old Sun
Encore (KEEN A-2003) (1958)
1) Oh, Look At Me Now
2) Someday
3) Along The Navajo Trail
4) Running Wild
5) Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive
6) Mary, Mary Lou
7) When I Fall In Love
8) I Cover The Waterfront
9) My Foolish Heart
10) Today I Sing The Blues
11) The Gypsy
12) It’s The Talk Of The Town
*Bonus Track:
13) Ee-Yi-Ee-Yi-Oh (stereo version)
Hit Kit (KEEN LP 86101) (1960)
1) Only Sixteen
2) All Of My Life
3) Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha (stereo version)
4) Blue Moon
5) Win Your Love For Me
6) Lonely Island (album version – same performance as single version except it has a vocal overdub in the intro)
7) You Send Me
8) Love You Most Of All
9) (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
10) Little Things You Do (stereo version)
11) Let’s Go Steady Again (stereo version)
12) You Were Made For Me
*Bonus Tracks:
13) Lonely Island (single version)
14) So Glamorous (single version)
15) Steal Away (single version)
The Wonderful World Of Sam Cooke (KEEN LP 86106)
1) (What A) Wonderful World
2) Desire Me
3) Summertime (Part 1)
4) Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From ‘Houseboat’)
5) That’s Heaven To Me (also appeared on the KEEN I Thank God LP of various gospel artists)
6) No One (Can Ever Take Your Place)
7) With You (stereo version)
8) Blue Moon
9) Stealing Kisses
10) You Were Made For Me
11) There I’ve Said It Again
12) I Thank God (B-side of ‘With You’/also appeared on the KEEN I Thank God LP of various gospel artists)
*Bonus Tracks:
13) Steal Away (album version/appeared on the KEEN I Thank God LP of various gospel artists)
14) Deep River (appeared on the KEEN I Thank God LP LP of various gospel artists)
15) One Hour Ahead Of The Posse (B-side of ‘There I’ve Said It Again’)
