Sam Cooke (Soul Stirrers) – Nearer My God to Thee

Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964).  Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He later added an “e” onto the end of his name, though the reason for this is disputed. He w as one of eight children of Annie Mae and the Reverend Charles Cook, a Baptist minister. He had a brother, L.C., who some years later would become a member of the doo-wop band Johnny Keyes and the Magnificents. The family moved to Chicago in 1933. Cooke attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, the same school that Nat “King” Cole had attended a few years earlier.  Cooke began his career singing gospel with his siblings in a group called The Singing Children. He first became known as lead singer with the Highway QC’s as a teenager. In 1950, Cooke replaced gospel tenor R.H. Harris as lead singer of the landmark gospel group The Soul Stirrers. Under Cooke’s leadership, the group signed with Specialty Records.  Main Source:  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

   

 

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