Ten Year Itch

Editor's note: This is part of an ongoing series which takes a look at a piece of film or music that is at least 10 years old and demands to be reexamined.

The rhythm and blues music of today is wrapped up in immediate sexuality and overbearing synthesizers. It has been stripped of the soul that once made it so engaging.

On Jan. 12, 1963, Sam Cooke gave an R&B performance at The Harlem Square Club in Miami that encapsulated all the emotions of the time. The resulting recording is one of the most passionate sets ever put on tape.

The set was recorded and was supposed to be released as "One Night Stand," but did not see the light of day until 1985. Since then it has been released on two other separate occasions, in 2000 and 2005.

Cooke's intensity is what makes this live recording so important. The songs cast a sonic portrait of a man possessed. He sings with a fervor and rawness that was not just experienced through the man's studio output.

Cooke performed with a band that included his regular touring guitarist and drummer, but he also put saxophonist King Curtis and Curtis' band to work, rounding out the live lineup.

Curtis' saxophone work on "Somebody Have Mercy" is so blistering, it will give anyone pause for not picking the instrument on that fateful day in grade school when instruments were passed out (I chose football; maybe I'll get that draft-day call next year).

While Cooke and his band are utterly amazing, the crowd is almost overbearing on the record. Cooke gets those who were in attendance whipped up into such frenzy their screams and call and response vocals nearly overtake the performers.

The record goes out on a serious high note with "Having a Party." With the "Cokes in the ice box" and "everything on the table," Cooke and company create an incredibly positive atmosphere that could put a smile on anyone's face. Cooke begins the song by telling the audience, "I want you to remember this - you gotta remember this song for me."

I can guarantee no one in attendance forgot that song or that night for the rest of his or her life.

Luke McCormick can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275 or lmccorm2@siu.edu