Sam Cooke-Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 (1985)

For many, this is the best live album of all time, belonging to one of the greatest voices of all time: Sam Cooke. Sam Cooke was a pivotal figure in establishing soul music as a genre. His career, filled with essential songs and albums, demonstrated the enormous talent of this legendary and unforgettable singer. Cooke mastered soul, rhythm and blues, gospel, and rock and roll like no other, and along with Otis Redding and James Brown, he is considered one of the undisputed kings of soul, achieving a staggering fifty hits in just eight years (1957-1965). His death under mysterious circumstances on December 11, 1964, is one of the most tragic dates in the history of popular music. A year earlier, on June 12, Sam Cooke had performed a show at the legendary Harlem Square Club in Miami, which was recorded in its entirety and released many years after his death. That night, Cooke was surrounded by his usual band, comprised of guitarists Clifton White and Cornell Dupree, bassist Jimmy Lewis, drummer Albert Gardner, pianist George Stubbs, and the horn section of King Curtis and Tate Houston. In this live performance, Cooke sheds his elegant composure to become, for one night, a sweaty "soul man", singing and dancing with wild, rhythmic passion to an audience completely devoted to him. From the opening track, "Intro (Don't Fight It) Feel It", to the album's closing song, "Having a Party", Cooke demonstrates his incredible intensity on stage, completely energetic, powerful, and unrestrained, revisiting some of his greatest hits such as "Cupid," "Chain Gang," "Somebody Have Marcy", "Bring It On Home to Me", and "Twistin' the Night Away". “Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963” is considered one of the 500 best albums in history and a fabulous document of the best soul music ever heard.