Cooke's Tour

Cooke's Tour
Studio album by Sam Cooke
Released	April 1960
Recorded	March 2–3, 1960 RCA Victor's Studio A (New York City)
Genre	Traditional pop
Length	33:04
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Hugo & Luigi
Sam Cooke chronology
The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke (1960) Cooke's Tour (1960) Hits of the 50's (1960)

Cooke's Tour is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Produced by Hugo & Luigi, the album was released in April 1960 in the United States by RCA Victor. Cooke's Tour was the singer's first on the RCA Victor label.

The album was remastered in 2011 as a part of The RCA Albums Collection.

Background

As Keen's marketing was limited, Sam Cooke began to shop around to other labels in February 1960. Interest was immediate from labels such as Atlantic and Capitol, but Cooke signed with Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore at RCA Victor, who offered a $100,000 advance.^[1] RCA Victor had previously signed Jesse Belvin, Della Reese and the Isley Brothers, and Peretti and Creatore were set on making Cooke an international album artist.^[1]

Cooke's Tour, recorded on March 2 and 3, 1960, is an "adventurous travelogue" that explores various territories around the world.^[1] Glen Osser wrote arrangements and conducted the album’s orchestra, which was a R&B rhythm section and a fifteen-piece string ensemble. Cooke was closest to the album’s final track, "The House I Live In," as he had just moved into his dream home in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.^[1]

Track listing

All songs arranged and conducted by Glen Osser.

Side one

1. "Far Away Places" (Joan Whitney Kramer, Alex Kramer)  – 3:28
2. "Under Paris Skies" (Hubert Giraud, Kim Gannon, Jean Dréjac)  – 3:10
3. "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)" (Jimmy Kennedy, Michael Carr)  – 3:10
4. "Bali Ha'i" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)  – 3:17
5. "The Coffee Song (They've Got An Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil)" (Bob Hilliard, Dick Miles)  – 2:02
6. "Arrivederci, Roma (Goodbye to Rome)" (Carl Sigman, Renato Rascel)  – 2:47

Side two

1. "London by Night" (Carroll Coates)  – 3:34
2. "Jamaica Farewell" (Irving Burgess)  – 2:32
3. "Galway Bay" (Billy Strayhorn)  – 3:00
4. "Sweet Leilani" (Harry Owens)  – 2:48
5. "The Japanese Farewell Song" (Hasegawa Yoshida, Freddy Morgan)  – 2:57
6. "The House I Live In" (Lewis Allen, Earl Robinson)  – 3:19

Personnel

All credits adapted from The RCA Albums Collection (2011) liner notes.^[1]

Sam Cooke – vocals Al Hanlon – guitar Charles Macey – guitar Clifton White – guitar Lloyd Trotman – bass Bunny Shawker – drums George Gabor – percussion Hank Jones – piano Al Chernet – guitar George Duvivier – bass Morris Wechsler – piano Jerome Weiner – flute Joe Small – flute Hinda Barnett – violin Arcadie Berkenholz – violin James Bloom – violin

Fred Buidrini – violin Morris Lefkowitz – violin Felix Orlewitz – violin Frank Siegfried – violin Ralph Silverman – violin Harry Urbont – violin Paul Winter – violin James Bloom – violin Anthony DiGirolamo– violin Ben Miller – violin David Nadien – violin Isadore Zir – viola Ray Schweitzer – cello Abe Rosen – harp Glenn Osser – arrangement, conducting Ray Hall – recording engineer

Notes

1. The RCA Albums Collection (liner notes). Sam Cooke. US: RCA Records/Legacy Recordings. 2011. 88697898702.

External links

• Songs of Sam Cooke: Main Page