You Send Me
| "You Send Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Sam Cooke | ||||
| from the album Sam Cooke | ||||
| B-side | Summertime, Pt. 1 | |||
| Released | September 7, 1957 | |||
| Format | 45 rpm, 78 rpm | |||
| Recorded | June 1, 1957 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 2:43 | |||
| Label | Keen Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Sam Cooke | |||
| Producer | Bumps Blackwell | |||
| Sam Cooke singles chronology | ||||
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"You Send Me" is a 1957 single by R&B singer-songwriter Sam Cooke.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Cooke made a demo recording of "You Send Me" featuring only his own guitar accompaniment in the winter of 1955. The first recording of the track was made in New Orleans in December 1956 in the same sessions which produced "Lovable", the first release outside the gospel field for Cooke (credited on that single as Dale Cook). The classic version of "You Send Me" was cut in Los Angeles in June 1957 and was issued as a single with another track from the same session: a version of "Summertime", as the debut release on the Keen label[1] founded by Bob Keane; this release marked the first single credited to "Sam Cooke" (whose true surname was Cook). Although "Summertime" was the intended A-side, disc jockeys favored "You Send Me" which broke nationally that October to reach #1 for a two week stay in December 1957, with sales estimated at a 1.5 million units. "Overnight, with a single song, Sam Cooke" - who had spent the summer of 1957 living in his producer's apartment - "became a secular superstar, with audiences consisting of black and white, men and women, young and old."[2]
As was common practice in the 1950s when it was unusual for hits in the C&W or R&B markets to crossover to the Pop charts, a cover version of "You Send Me" aimed at the Pop charts was cut by Teresa Brewer[1] and released in October 1957. Symptomatic of the changing music scene, Cooke's original was able to repeat its #1 R&B chart performance in the Pop field, eclipsing Brewer's version. However Brewer's version of "You Send Me" reached as high as #8 representing a strong improvement over her five prior single releases, although "You Send Me" would prove to be Brewer's final Top 20 hit.[3]
[edit] Acclaim
Since its release, the song has become a landmark record of the soul genre, which Cooke helped create. It was named as one of the 500 most important rock and roll recordings by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2005, the song was voted #115 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
[edit] Covers
"You Send Me" has been covered by a number of artists, including Michael Bolton, Nat King Cole, The Drifters, The Everly Brothers, The Four Seasons, José Feliciano, Aretha Franklin from "Aretha Now" (1968), Steven Houghton, Nicolette Larson, Steve Miller Band, Van Morrison, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge, Roy Ayers and The Supremes. In the United Kingdom, Rod Stewart released "You Send Me" as part of a medley with "Bring It on Home to Me" and charted it on the UK Singles Chart at #7 as a double A-side with "Farewell". The Dixie Chicks released their version of the song on their 1992 independent release, "Little Ol' Cowgirl".
[edit] Chart performance
[edit] Teresa Brewer version
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Pop Singles Chart | 8 |
[edit] Sam Cooke version
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Black Singles Chart | 1 |
| Pop Singles Chart | 1 | |
| 1958 | UK Singles Chart | 29 |
[edit] Aretha Franklin version
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Black Singles Chart | 28 |
| Pop Singles Chart | 56 |
[edit] Personnel
- Written and produced by Sam Cooke.
- Instrumentation by Rene Hall (arrangement and rhythm guitar), Ted Brinson (bass), Earl Palmer (drums), and Cliff White (guitar).
- Engineering by Bob Kidder.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Show 17 - The Soul Reformation: More on the evolution of rhythm and blues. [Part 3] : UNT Digital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. 2010-09-15. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19767/m1/. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
- ^ Gulla, Bob (2008). Icons of R&B. Westport CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 114–116. ISBN 978-0-313-34044-4.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 83.
- Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964. Abkco Records, 2003. Los Angeles, California.
- Wolff, Daniel J., S.R. Crain, Clifton White, and G. David Tenenbaum (1995). You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke. William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-12403-8.
| Preceded by "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record November 30, 1957–December 14, 1957 |
Succeeded by "Raunchy" by Bill Justis |
| Preceded by "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley |
Billboard Top 100 number one single December 16, 1957 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "April Love" by Pat Boone |
| Preceded by "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley |
Billboard R&B Best Sellers in Stores number-one single November 25, 1957 - December 30, 1957 (six weeks) |
Succeeded by "At the Hop" by Danny & The Juniors |
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