"Sad Mood" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

, released on November 8, 1960 by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. Arranged and conducted by

Sammy Lowe Sammy Lowe (May 14, 1918, Birmingham, Alabama – February 17, 1993, Birmingham) was an American trumpeter, arranger, and conductor. Career Lowe was active both in jazz and in R&B music, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. From the 1930s to ...

, the song charted within the top 30 of ''

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'' Hot R&B Sides chart and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Background

"Sad Mood" was first recorded in Cooke's second singles session for RCA on April 13, 1960. The song was set aside after four takes, with Cooke unhappy with the way it was working. Cooke gave it another go on October 1, 1960, this time with "strings, an all-star rhythm section, an assured vocal, and a

arrangement." Despite this, Cooke was still largely unhappy with the way it turned out, feeling it missed something. "He had established a way of working with arranger René Hall out on the Coast, and even though Sammy Lowe's string arrangements were not all that different from some of René's, the song still did not say Sam Cooke in the way that some of his earlier

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hits indelibly, if indefinably, had," said biographer Peter Guralnick. Hugo & Luigi were nonetheless satisfied, and set themselves on making it the follow-up single to "

Chain Gang A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was nota ...

". "Sad Mood" charted well, but sold only 150,000 copies, roughly one-quarter of the sales of its predecessor.Guralnick, Peter (2005). ''Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke''. New York:

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, p. 325, 348, 361. First edition, 2005.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

to the 2003 compilation '' Portrait of a Legend: 1951–1964''. * Sam Cooke —

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Clifton White — guitar * David Francis — drums * Milton Hinton — bass guitar * Ernie Hayes — piano * Everett Barksdale — violin * Hinda Barnet — violin * Alfred Brown — violin * Max Cahn — violin * Fred Fradkin — violin * Archie Levin — violin * Charles Libove — violin * Harry Lookofsky — violin * Ben Miller — violin

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

References

{{Authority control 1960 singles Sam Cooke songs Songs written by Sam Cooke 1960 songs RCA Victor singles Song recordings produced by Hugo & Luigi