专辑简介:
As the late, great critic Robert Palmer wrote in the liner notes to the 1995 edition of "Night Beat," this beautiful album is something of an anomaly in Sam Cooke's career, which evolved from the Soul Stirrers' classic gospel through a series of mostly terrific hit singles (see "The Man and His Music") and a pair of very different live albums (get the "Harlem Square Club" set) and his own record label (which issued sides by Bobby Womack and the Valentinos, Johnnie Taylor, and many others, collected on the excellent "SAR Records Story"). Until shortly before his death in December 1964 the market for Cooke's music would have been almost exclusively a singles market, but by then the artist had become aware of Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, and as "Night Beat" reveals would certainly have adapted to the emerging emphasis on the album as artistic statement.
"Night Beat" was recorded over several sessions in February 1963, with a small group including guitarists Rene Hall, Barney Kessell, and Clif White, the legendary West Coast drummer Hal Blaine, organist Billy Preston and pianist Ray Johnson.
The material combines original adaptations of r & b and blues classics as well as new material by Cooke and longtime partner/mentor J.W. Alexander. Cooke's musical and vocal conception is utterly fresh and original, so this is never quite a blues set nor a soul album in any conventional sense. What it remains more than forty years after Cooke's death is compelling and hauntingly intimate. "Night Beat" has a timeless aspect, even more than some of the artist's finest pop single productions, and more than hints at the emotional depth that would dazzle and resonate so convincingly on "A Change Is Gonna Come" (from his 1964 album "Ain't That Good News"). "Night Beat" is to my ears Cooke's most consistent studio work.
Others have complained about this marvelous 2005 master. In fact, the tape hiss is evident simply because it IS such a fine transfer (by Bob Ludwig, who also did a superlative job on the Rolling Stones' Abkco and Virgin remasters). To remove it, as was done on the 'cleaner' 1995 edition, would also remove and distort subtle musical and vocal information. I wholeheartedly recommend the 2005 edition, a great improvement over the earlier CD. You will be in the room with Sam and his fine band. (And, as a bonus all of the artwork from the original front cover has been restored as well.) 曲目列表:
1. Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
2. Lost and Lookin'
3. Mean Old World
4. Please Don't Drive Me Away
5. I Lost Everything
6. Get Yourself a Another Fool
7. Little Red Rooster
8. Laughin' and Clownin'
9. Trouble Blues
10. You Gotta Move
11. Fool's Paradise
12. Shake Rattle and Roll 试听: