If I Had A Hammer
I love Sam Cooke. And when I say I love Sam Cooke I mean I really really love Sam Cooke. I think he’s the greatest singer of all time. There’s just something in his voice, whether it’s soul, youthfulness, innocence, I have no idea, but his voice is like no other. So a few weeks ago I was sitting in Dutch Kills for some (or a lot) of cocktails and Sam Cooke’s voice came on the speakers and I didn’t know the tune. I tried my trusty Shazam app on my iphone but it wasn’t picking up the song, so I asked my friend Larry (since I was squashed back into a corner between others) to find out so he kindly asked the bartender, and the song was ‘If I Had A Hammer’, which was sung live at the Copacabana. What a song it is, the brilliance aided by the back and forth between Cooke and the crowd.
Reader Comments
I absolutely love the version of this song that Trini Lopez does. I had never heard this one before. It’s completely different and remarkably wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
Sam Cooke has the most beautiful voice. Peter, Paul & Mary now have my second favorite version. He could sing the alphabet & I’d immediately call it my favorite.
“Sam Cooke: Live at the Copa” was recorded 45 years ago this month. It was a significant moment in his career because his first run at the Copa in March of 1958 had been a colassal disaster, and the negative experience hadn’t left him. A perfectionist, Sam sang songs out of his element, and it marked the first time he’d failed at something professionally.
But by July of 1964, Sam had practiced tirelessly and was more prepared for the Copacabana, and some “Cookies” would argue his live performance here was one of the best of his career. Personally, I prefer “Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963,” but you really can’t go wrong with either album.
Erik Greene
Author, “Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family’s Perspective”
http://www.OurUncleSam.com