Celebrating the birthday of Sam Cooke, The King of Soul, who would have been 81 years old today, had he not been murdered in 1964… Sam Cooke sang gospel, R&B , soul, and pop - and played a crucial role in developing the soul style and successfully crossing it over from the (black) R&B charts into the mainstream. Without Cooke, no Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye… Last year we did a slew of Sam’s biggest hits and his seminal civil rights classic A Change is Gonna Come, so this year we’ll focus on some of his minor hits which still showcase his incomparable voice and groove… (photo via easterhay )