100 days of 365 Albums A Year, ain’t that good news? Sam released two soul classics in a little less than a year. “Ain’t That Good News” is one of them; released just after the memorable “Night Beat”, it found it’s way to be one of the best albums (if not THE best) in Sam’s catalogue and a personal favorite of mine. This album is definitely a soul essential; it covers it all. The first side (the first six songs) include the wilder type of soul with decadent and catchy songs while the second side (the last six) is the smoother type of soul relying a lot on the emotion that Sam’s voice brings and the use of strings. I think everybody can find what they like in Soul on this beautiful album that this soul pioneer crafted for us.

“Ain’t That Good News” is actually a great album because of it’s versatility and it wouldn’t be fair for you to only talk about the overall result while you have two really distinct parts of this album. Like I said previously, the first part is really catchy and decadent; Sam just shows us that even after the smooth “Night Beat” he still had what it takes to do this kind of soul. The whole thing kicks off with the brilliant song “Good News” which really sets the mood for the other 5 songs. Not so long after that you’ve got one of my favorite songs on the first side, “Good Times”, a beautiful feel-good track and a highlight of the whole album. The other songs are still great songs that all have something special that will probably catch your ear or stay stuck in your head for a while.

The second part of this album might be more interesting for the soul purist. Well, let’s just say it starts strong. ”A Change Is Gonna Come” is easily one of my favorite songs of all-time. Sam sings with an unmatchable passion this powerful and moving politically oriented song backed by a beautiful orchestral arrangement. This song is not a soul essential, it’s a MUSIC essential. I must say it was probably a bad choice to put this song at the start of the second half of the album since it definitely outshines every single song beating them by miles. No matter what quality the following material is, it still couldn’t have possibly held it’s own against a masterpiece like ”A Change Is Gonna Come”, but there are actually some great songs where Sam Cooke displays a lot of emotion and pure vocal talent that solidifies his place as one of the best singers who has ever graced this earth. Songs like “Falling In Love” or “Sittin’ In The Sun” are some gems that some might overlook because of the standard the first song of the side set, yet those songs are still beautiful musical works.

There is another thing that this album has that I need to mention, the replay-ability. You could replay this album for a thousand times and I don’t think that it would ever become remotely annoying or boring. Sadly, this would be the last Sam Cooke album released prior to his murder in some weird circumstances, but Sam Cooke found a way to give his fans another classic before his death. A classic that would contain everything that makes soul such a great genre and that also contains one of the best songs of all-time.

by Jean-Guy