One Night Stand - Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963

Recorded at the Harlem Square Club in Miami on 12 January 1963, 'One Night Stand' is a live album that really packs a punch. I couldn't quite believe how good it was when I first heard it. The singer chose some of his best songs for the evening and was most ably backed by an excellent band, including King Curtis on saxophone. Sam Cooke really worked the audience up into a frenzy and the atmosphere was absolutely electrifying. Surprisingly, the album wasn't released until 1985 because the people at RCA Records thought that the performance was 'too rough and gritty' and would diminish the artist's smooth image. The singer's voice is certainly grittier on this recording than on his studio outings, which makes the album sound more down to earth and vital. So, here we have yet more incontrovertible evidence that Sam Cooke was not only an amazing singer, but also a great entertainer. Highly recommended.

One of the VERY best live shows ever recorded by anyone. Sam proves HE is the one and only King Of Soul and everybody else are his soul disciples: James Brown, Bobby Womack, Joe Tex, Otis Redding... Everybody learned from The Master. This is as RAW and gritty (soulful) as can be; as very passionate, honest, in-your-face and "street" as you can get. Very different from his smooth pop records. This is the real Sam Cooke. Get this one and Jerry Lee Lewis' Live at The Star-Club Hamburg and you have the other greatest live record of all time (Bear Family label). Btw: this particular version of the Cooke show is remastered with clearer sound (no bonus tracks, but the show although short, believe me, is ALL you will need, it will seem longer than it is because it is so intense...). Favorite song: "Bring It On Home To Me". Terence Trent d'Arby in his short heyday "borrowed" a whole literal chunk out of THIS show, that's how legendary this is. It's a life-changer when you got a heart.

Amazing live album from mr soul himself , you can almost feel the sweat dripping off of him .Close your eyes and your there with the crowd as he does one classic after another . Such energy , such class , Sam Cooke is what soul is all about .

I bought this on the strength of the reviews on here. I have to say that most things said on those reviews are correct. The album has great sound on both voice and band. Sam’s voice is crystal clear and he’s definitely the man in charge here! The band (guitar x2, saxophone x2, bass, piano & drums) are really crisp and very rhythmic – maybe a couple more little solos would have been nice. The atmosphere is just right – excited but none of that awful screaming and over-adulation that ruins some live recordings. There are three recordings of this concert, all a little different. The 1985 recording is the rawest and most raucous, and the reason why it was shelved for so long. The 2000 version is toned down and the 2005 version is a mixture of the two? It was recorded at the Harlem Square club, to a predominantly black audience, in Miami, Florida. My only, very miniscule, negatives would be, the shortness of the album – at an incredibly short 30 odd minutes, and perhaps for me, it started to sound just a little samey towards the end - so perhaps a half hour was perfect to maintain the party atmosphere throughout. This album would be a blast as a background at a ‘barbecue? Yes, very good and I enjoyed it very much.

Safely delivered. Superb live recording of a soul legend at his absolute peak.

So Rod Stewart has covered SC numbers with his good interpretation, but oh man live and raw on this cd takes soul to another level, untouchable. This is brilliant!

This live album catches Sam Cooke on absolute fire from 63 at a small venue. Apparently this live recording was kept under wraps and never released for years because Sam sounded too raw for the record producers idea of his image. His performance is off the scale here - pure raw talent. If you only ever buy one album by Sam Cooke - this is THE album !

I've been a fan of Sam Cooke as long as I can remember (and I'm ancient now). This album shows Sam at his best, working a crowd in live performance with a powerful, exciting performance, in contrast to some of his RCA recordings which came perilously close to easy listening. The live album is closer to his work with the Soul Stirrers and I recommend it unreservedly.

favolosa atmosfera anni 60 - coinvolgente consiglio assolutamente l'acquisto a chi vuole respirare l'aria dei locali americani dell'epoca con un live strepitoso dello zio Sam

This is a totally different side of his live performance. I'm sure the venue had a lot to do with that. He is partying with audience from start to finish with plenty of singalongs. I recently watched a special on Netflicks called the two killings of Sam Cooke. So when I heard the cd I laughed, & cried, for a music icon's life lost too soon. The only bad thing is there's only 10 songs.

Apenas dos años antes de su muerte, acaecida en extrañas circunstancias en un sórdido motel de carretera de Los Angeles en diciembre de 1964, Sam Cooke se presenta en el Harlem Square Club de Miami un sábado por la noche del mes de enero de 1963 y nos brinda un concierto que tanto por el fondo como por la forma supone una reliquia sonora que toma más valor si cabe si echamos un vistazo a lo que es la industria musical en la actualidad. En un club abarrotado y con una atmosfera asfixiante, lo que en un principio iba a ser un concierto más dentro del circuito chitlin (locales frecuentados exclusivamente por afroamericanos durante el período de segregación racial estadounidense), la decisión de la RCA de grabarlo nos permite disfrutar de un evento singular. En unas condiciones extremadamente difíciles dadas las condiciones de la sala, el exceso de aforo y los medios técnicos disponibles en la época, los ingenieros de sonido hicieron todo lo que pudieron para captar la soberbia actuación de la flamante estrella de la RCA. Este es un Sam Cooke en estado puro. Despojado del traje de swinger modosito, despliega ante su gente un Soul primitivo de alto voltaje. Desatado tanto él como su audiencia, es una delicia escuchar canciones como “Chaing Gang”, “Cupid”, “Twistin' The Night Away” o “Having a Party”, con su voz en primer plano y de fondo el griterío ensordecedor del público. Después de las vicisitudes de esta grabación (salió al mercado en 1985), finalmente podemos disfrutar de un artista único en su hábitat natural y en plenitud. Obra maestra.

"One Night Stand - Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club" ist eine von zwei Live-Konzerte, die die viel zu früh verstorbene Musiklegende aufgenommen hat. "One Night Stand" wurde seinerzeit von Sams Plattenfirma abgelehnt, weil der Klang der Aufnahme zu rau war. Erst Mitte der Achtziger wurde der Mitschnitt des legendären Konzerts endlich veröffentlicht. Für diese 2010er überarbeitete CD-Version wurde die Klangqualität etwas aufpoliert, ganz optimal ist sie meiner Meinung nach aber immer noch nicht. Mehr kann man bei einer Live-Aufnahme aus der damaligen Zeit jedoch vermutlich ohne größeren Aufwand auch gar nicht herausholen. Schade finde ich, dass diese "One Night Stand"-Fassung nicht mehr Lieder als bei den vorherigen Veröffentlichungen dieses Konzerts enthält. Da Sams Auftritt im Harlem Square Club gewiss nicht bloß 38 Minuten dauerte (was ungefähr der Dauer einer LP entspricht), schlummern in irgendwelchen Archiven bestimmt noch weitere mit geschnittene Songs. Doch selbst mit der kurzen Laufzeit und dem stellenweise etwas kratzigen Klang ist es immer noch ein sehr bemerkenswertes Live-Album. Sam Cooke war an diesem Abend in Höchstform.

Love me some Sam Cooke! I played it for my grandparents and watched their eyes glaze over as they took a trip down memory lane. A vinyl must have. So good and soulful! I love the live versions better than the recorded studio tracks. An amazing set! You can feel the energy in the room that night. I'm glad the label finally released this. RIP Sam!