‘Sam Cooke’s change from gospel to secular music yielded a outstanding 20 songs that made the R&B Top 10, six of them No. 1s, in lower than seven years. On September 16, 1964, he was releasing the follow-up to the most recent of these chart-toppers, “Good Times,” which like a lot of his 45s, had successful B-side in “Tennessee Waltz.” No one may have guessed that the brand new single can be the final of his lifetime.
The high facet of the brand new launch was the swinging “That’s Where It’s At,” penned by the nice singer himself with common co-writer J.W. Alexander. Cooke had recorded it a yr earlier at RCA Studio in Los Angeles, and it was launched on RCA Victor with the B-side “Cousin Of Mine.” The pairing once more gave him a double chart presence.
Both sides of the one turned Top 10 R&B hits, respectively reaching No.6 and No.8. “That’s Where It’s At” didn’t make a lot headway on the pop chart, reaching solely No.93, however “Cousin Of Mine” managed a Top 40 rating, at No.31. Yet it was “That’s Where It’s At” that went on to develop into the better-known staple of Cooke’s repertoire, helped partially by later covers by mates and collaborators equivalent to Lou Rawls and Bobby Womack, amongst many others.
Listen to the Greatest Soul 45s playlist.
Cooke’s demise on the age of simply 33, the next December, made this the final time he would see his identify on the charts. But in January 1965, yet one more double-sided hit supplied one among his most interesting hours, sadly posthumously, when “Shake” was accompanied by the era-defining “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
“That’s Where It’s At” went on to draw covers by such fellow soul males as Johnnie Taylor, in 1968 and Lou Rawls with Ray Charles, in 1989. Van Morrison lower it as a part of a medley with “So Quiet In Here” in 1994.
Buy or stream “That’s Where It’s At” on Portrait Of A Legend.