Free Film Screening of 'Sam Cooke - Legend'
Written by Peter Guralnick (Lost Highway) and narrated by Jeffrey Wright, Sam Cooke - Legend is a stirring look at a singular talent.
This tuneful documentary can't possibly examine every detail of the late singer-songwriter's life in a mere 70 minutes. Nonetheless, Guralnick, who has overseen the reissue of several Cooke CDs, has put together a surprisingly thorough biography. Destination points include Cooke's gospel roots, groundbreaking career decisions, and forays into the civil rights movement. The story is fleshed out by vintage performance and interview clips (the chats with Dick Clark are particularly insightful).
Commentators include family members and fellow performers like Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, and Bobby Womack, while musical highlights include Cooke's version of Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" (a song he wished he had written) and a breezy duet with friend Cassius Clay (soon to become Muhammad Ali).
This screening is a taster for The Songs of Sam Cooke & Ben E King Choir - an 8 wk course starting at the Tramshed in Narrabeen on Thursday 30th July. Enq: Kate Maclurcan (0412) 771 394
"No serious rock or pop fan should be without this excellent biography. Written by Peter Guralnick and featuring spectacular interviews with many Cooke intimates like Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin, brother LC, and Lou Rawls this documentary, that originally appeared on VH1 in a truncated form, gets to the heart of who Cooke was."
