Pioneer of soul inspires tribute tour
Jarvis Church pays homage to the legendary Sam Cooke
The 1964 death of American soul singer and songwriter extraordinaire Sam Cooke seems destined to be labelled a conspiracy, according to Jarvis Church. Church, originally lead vocalist for the Canadian 1990s R&B band the Philosopher Kings, last year released the solo album The Soul Station Vol. 1: The Songs of Sam Cooke — A Tribute. Church brings his Cooke-based show to the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage this weekend. (Friday’s show is sold out, but tickets may be available for Saturday’s show through the NAC box office or Ticketmaster.)
Cooke, just 33 when he died, was a pioneer of soul as well as a gospel, pop and R&B artist. His hits like You Send Me, Twistin’ the Night Away and A Change Is Gonna Come, the latter a hopeful distillation of the civil rights struggle of the mid-20th century, are high points in the evolution of popular music. With massive appeal to white and black audiences of the time, he’s often called the King of Soul, the male counterpart to Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul.
Cooke’s death in a seedy Los Angeles motel — he went there with an alleged prostitute and was shot to death by the motel manager, who said she was acting in self-defence after he attacked her in a rage — has been interpreted by conspiracy theorists as an assassination by white supremacists of a black man who had become too powerful. In other words a death that, like his life, bears significance.
No way it was a conspiracy, says Church, along with Cooke biographer Peter Guralnick and others. “It was really just random, a stupid accident. He lost his temper, but you want (his death) to be more than just that, more important than just busting down a door, scaring a lady and getting killed.”
The singer’s banal death, however, detracts not a whit from the glory that was his musical life.
Cooke, says Church, created music that “spoke to the people. It was relatable. Songwriting to him was conversation, and I loved that about him.”
He’s right. If you don’t know Cooke’s 1960 hit Chain Gang about a prisoner dreaming of his woman and home as he slaves beneath a blistering sun, find it on YouTube. His voice floats like a daydream above the chain gang-like grunts of background singers and the ringing of a sledgehammer striking rock. You feel like you and Cooke, prisoners both, are yoked together on some brutally hot roadway as he tells his musical story.
His civil rights anthem, A Change Is Gonna Come, endures thanks to its message of brotherhood, says Church, who was born in Jamaica. “We’re not dealing with civil rights anymore, but there’s still homophobia, other problems. It’s just a universal song.”
Church, 40, has an impressive musical resumé himself. His real name is Gerald Eaton, Jarvis Church being a reference to the two Toronto streets between which he once lived.
As a member of the long-on-hiatus Philosopher Kings — “We’ll probably do another album sometime,” he says — he shared a Juno along with gold and platinum albums.
A solo artist for the past decade, he was also one half of the production and songwriting team for Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado in the early 2000s.
His decision to pay tribute to Sam Cooke was inspired by reading Guralnick’s biography Dream Boogie. He’d already decided to do a series of recordings honouring great soul artists, and the book was the kick start.
The show includes covers of other greats like Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder as well as some of his own tunes. But the focus is Cooke.
Says Church: “I was just a kid when I first heard his music but I always loved it. His voice was one of the sweetest that America’s ever heard.”