美国名人黑人音乐家山姆·库克.docx

美国名人黑人音乐家山姆库克SamCooke,1931-1964:Thesingerwasoneofthebiggeststarsinthemusicindustryduringthe1950sand60splaystopmutemaxvolume00:00-15:41repeatByCynthiaKirk2007-6-9VOICEONE:mShirleyGriffith.VOICETWO:AndmRayFreemanwiththeVOASpecialEnglishprogram,PeopleinAmerica.EveryweekwetellaboutsomeoneimportantinthehistoryoftheUnitedStates.Thisweekwetellaboutblacksingerandsongwriter,SamCooke.(MUSIC:"YouSendMe")VOICEONE:Ithasbeenyearssincethatsongwasahit.Yetitisstillpopulartoday.Thesongiscalled"YouSendMe."Itwaswrittenandsungbyayoungsingerandsongwriter,SamCooke.Duringthelatenineteenfiftiesandearlysixties,SamCookewasoneofthebiggeststarsinthemusicindustry.Hissmoothvoiceandmusicalstylewerepopularwithbothblacksandwhites.AlthoughSamCookediedyearsago,hisinfluencestillispresentintoday'smusic.VOICETWO:SamCookewasborninClarksdale,Mississippi,innineteenthirty-one.HegrewupinChicago,Illinois.HisfatherwasaministerinaBaptistchurch.Samstartedsingingreligiousmusicwhenhewasonlyfifteenyearsold.Whenhewasnineteen,hebecametheleadsingerofafamousgospelsinginggroupcalledtheSoulStirrers.Innineteenfifty,hebeganwritingandrecordingfortheSoulStirrers.Duringhissixyearswiththegroup,Cookebroughthisownkindofexpressiontogospelmusic.Hebecamegospelmusic'sbiggeststar.Hisgoodlooksandsingingabilitiesmadehimverypopularamongwomen,bothyoungandold.HereisSamCookewiththeSoulStirrerssinging"TouchtheHemofHisGarment".(MUSIC)VOICEONE:AlthoughSamCookewasastarwiththeSoulStirrers,hewantedtosingotherkindsofmusic.So,hedecidedtosingpopularmusicinstead.Cooke'sdecisionto"crossover"topopmusicshockedmanyblacks.Thatwasbecausemakingsuchachangewasnotaseasythenasitistoday.Racialtensionswerehighbetweenblacksandwhitesinthenineteenfifties.Andgospelmusicwaspopularamongblackpeople.Itwasconsideredanimportantpartofblackculture.ThecompanythatrecordedtheSoulStirrers'recordsurgedhimnottostartsingingpopmusic.Theythoughtitwouldoffendthegroup'sfans.VOICETWO:Cookezhowever,wantedtosingtoallgroupsofpeople.Hewantedtoexpresshisracialidentitywithoutoffendingwhites.Atthattime,mostrecordsbyblackartistswerenotplayedonradiostationsthathadwhitelisteners.So,heleftthegospelmusicworldwherehewasextremelypopularwithblacks.Butthemovewasnotamistake.Hesoonbecameabigstarsingingpopmusic.SamCooke'sfirstpoprecordwasreleasedbyasmallcompany,Keen,innineteenfifty-seven.Itwas"YouSendMe."Itwasahugesuccess.Itsoldonemillionsevenhundredthousandcopiesinthefirstyearalone.Itisoneofhismostmemorablerecordings.Hereisthefirstversionherecordedofthatsong.ItwasmadetoshowCooke'sabilitytosing.(MUSIC)VOICEONE:SamCookehadavoicethatwasunlikeanythepublichadeverheard.Hisvoicewassoft,yetintense.Hemadesingingseemeffortless.Cookewasalsoawisebusinessman.Innineteenfifty-nine,hebecamethefirstblackartisttoestablishhisownrecordcompany,SARRecords.Hewrotemostofhisownmaterial.And,heownedtherightstohissongsthroughhismusicpublishingcompany,KagsMusic.Veryfewblacksatthattimewereabletocontroltheirmusicalprofessioninsuchaway.And,withoutsuchbusinesscontrol,theylostmoney.HereisanotherhitbySamCookezwhenhewaswiththeKeenrecordcompany,called"WonderfulWorld."(MUSIC)VOICETWO:Innineteensixty,SamCookesignedanagreementwithamajorrecordcompany,RCA.Suchamoveiscommontoday.But,amovefromanindependentblack-ownedrecordcompanytoamajorrecordcompanywassomethingfewblackartistswereabletodothen.CookehadanumberofbighitsatRCA.Inthissong,SamCookeusesa"callandanswer"formofmusicalexpressionthatstartedintheblackchurch.Thesongiscalled"BringitonHometoMe."(MUSIC)Innineteensixty-twozSamCookerecordedasongforRCAaboutapopularnewdancestep,theTwist.Thesongiscalled"Twistin'theNightAway."(MUSIC)VOICEONE:InDecembernineteensixty-four,SamCooke'slifewassuddenlycutshort.HewasshotandkilledatahotelduringavisittoLosAngeles.Hewasthirty-threeyearsold.Hisdeathshockedhisfans.Thousandsofpeoplegatheredathisfuneral.TwoofCooke'slastsongswerereleasedafterhedied.Oneofthesongsiscalled"AChangeisGonnaCome."Itisapowerfulsongthatcombinesgospelandpopmusic.ThesongislikemanyofSamCooke'sthatmadehimsopopularasasingerandsongwriter.Itisaboutneverlosinghope.(MUSIC)VOICETWO:ThisSpecialEnglishprogramwaswrittenbyCynthiaKirk.ItwasproducedbyLawanDavis.mRayFreeman.VOICEONE:AndmShirleyGriffith.JoinusagainnextweekforanotherpeopleinAmericanprogramontheVoiceofAmerica.