Sam Cooke was an amazing talent in so many ways, and this collection of the music his record company produced during its short five-year existence is further evidence (if more were needed) that his early death was a profound loss. Aside from his extraordinary talents as a singer and a songwriter, Cooke proved himself with SAR records to be a canny businessman and producer. In this regard, he was a pioneer. As Peter Guralnick points out in the introductory remarks in the excellent and thorough booklet that accompanies the set, Cooke's entrepreneurial effort marked one of the earliest occasions when "a prominent black artist was in a position to actually control the means of production."

And control them he did. One of the many pleasures of this collection is that you get to hear some of Cooke's direction to the groups on his label, and he can be both humorous and fierce. "Paul, you weren't watching me, no way," he says to Paul Foster of the Soul Stirrers at one point; but at another he patiently explains to a clearly frustrated Foster what the words of a particular song mean so that, as Foster says, "I can get the sense of it."

Cooke himself made history and has been called "the man who invented soul" (although that title should technically go to Ray Charles) by "crossing over" from the world of gospel, where he was lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, to the world of popular music--a move thought by many in the gospel community to be literally sinful. The set reflects that division, with the first CD devoted to gospel music--including that of the Soul Stirrers, reconstituted with Johnnie Taylor singing Sam's former part--and the second compiled mostly of popular love songs. To my mind, the first disc is far and away the better of the two. I find most of the songs on the second disc fairly forgettable, except the Sam Cooke songs that Sam sang better himself on other occasions. But the first disc is another matter. In fact, aside from the Soul Stirrers albums themselves, and of course Mahalia Jackson, I don't think there's any gospel music I enjoy more. The songs here are varied, moving, lovely. Many of them are powerful enough to bring me to tears. If the first CD alone were the price of the whole set, I'd happily pay it--and then some.

When you hear the magic on these two CD's, you know there is a God! As a game, you can count how many times the hairs stand up on your neck while you're listening to these "Soul Stirrers" (the most apt title of a group in history). The beautiful thing about this collection is it's just Sam's show, but he brings out the best in so many others. In addition to this masterpiece, try to find RCA's now deleted "The Man and his Music" at a used CD store. It's the best single disc collection of the greatest singer who ever drew breath. I am mind-boggled that someone would let that go out of print!! Find it!!

If you are at all interested in gospel and/or soul music, buy this set. Nearly every song is perfect, but "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" by the Womack Brothers (disc 1) and "That's Where It's At" by the Simms Twins (disc 2) by themselves justify the price.