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Influences: Sam Cooke In the first of a new series on Room for Ravers, we consider those artists who had a major influence on the Small Faces. Listen to the opening drum roll on the first Small Faces album. This is the Sam Cooke song Shake. It was also covered by Otis Redding who played a storming version of it at Monterey. Sam Cooke is one of those artists who died young but left a lasting legacy. At nineteen he joined the Soul Stirrers who were already gaining a name around the world. His first record was Jesus Gave Me Water on which he sang the lead. However, he then moved away from the gospel music when he became a solo artist. You Send Me was released by Keen Records in 1957. This made the R&B and pop charts and has recently been heard advertising the Royal Mail in the UK. He then had a sustained run of chart hits in the US Billboard rankings. In the UK, he first reached the charts with Chain Gang which reached number 9 in 1960. Two years later, he scored with Twistin’ the Night Away followed by Another Saturday Night and the aforementioned Shake. His biggest UK hit was Wonderful World which was 27 in 1960 but it went as high as number 2 in 1986. Animals fans will also be aware of Bring it On Home To Me. However, Cooke was not just a very special singer. He wrote most of his material including Shake. To be completed Recommended listening: Sam Cooke – Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964
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