''Swing Low'', also known as ''Sam Cooke'', is the sixth studio album 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 ...

. Produced by

Hugo & Luigi Hugo & Luigi were an American record producing team, the duo of songwriters and producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. They shared an office in New York's Brill Building, and besides their working relationship, were cousins. Background First ...

, the album was released in February 1961 in the United States 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 ...

. The album includes the hit single "

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 ...

". The album was

remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

in 2011 as a part of ''The RCA Albums Collection''.

Track listing

Side one

# "

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African-American spiritual song and one of the best-known Christian hymns. Originating in early African-American musical traditions, the song was probably composed in the late 1860s by Wallace Willis and his d ...

" (Traditional) – 3:05 # "

I'm Just a Country Boy "I'm Just a Country Boy" is a song written by Fred Hellerman and Marshall Barer. In 1954, the song was recorded by Harry Belafonte accompanied by Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra (RCA Victor) and released on 78 rpm and 45 rpm record. It was th ...

" (

Fred Hellerman Fred Hellerman (May 13, 1927 – September 1, 2016) was an American folk singer, guitarist, producer, and songwriter. Hellerman was an original member of the seminal American folk group The Weavers, together with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Ron ...

, Marshall Barer) – 4:05 # "

They Call the Wind Maria "They Call the Wind Marīa" ( ) is an American popular song with lyrics written by Alan J. Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe for their 1951 Broadway musical '' Paint Your Wagon'', which is set in the California Gold Rush. Rufus Smith originally ...

" (

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...

Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe ( ; born Friedrich "Fritz" Löwe, ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988

) – 2:54 # "

Twilight on the Trail ''Twilight on the Trail'' is a 1941 American western film directed by Howard Bretherton, written by J. Benton Cheney, Ellen Corby and Cecile Kramer, and starring William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Brad King, Wanda McKay, Jack Rockwell, Norman Willis a ...

" (

Sidney D. Mitchell Sidney D. Mitchell (June 15, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland – February 25, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) was a Hollywood film industry lyricist and composer. Mitchell is best known for his collaborations with Lew Pollack on movie scores at ...

Louis Alter Louis Alter (June 18, 1902 – November 3, 1980) was an American pianist, songwriter and composer. At 13, he began playing piano in theaters showing silent films. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Stuar ...

) – 3:10 # "If I Had You" (Sam Cooke, James W. Alexander) – 2:20 # "

" (Cooke) – 2:32

Side two

# "

Grandfather's Clock Grandfather's Clock is an easy Patience_(game), patience or Solitaire (game), solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards. Its foundation is akin to Clock Patience; but while winning the latter depends entirely on the luck of the draw, ...

" (Henry Clay Work) – 3:10 # "

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1854. Foster wrote the song with his estranged wife Jane McDowell in mind. The lyrics allude to a permanent sepa ...

" (

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

) – 3:44 # "

Long, Long Ago "Long, Long Ago" is a song dealing with nostalgia, written in 1833 by English composer Thomas Haynes Bayly. Originally called "The Long Ago", its name was apparently changed by the editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold when it was first published, posthumou ...

" (Thomas Haynes Bayly) – 3:00 # "Pray" (Johnnie Taylor) – 2:10 # "You Belong to Me" (Cooke, Alexander) – 2:44 # "Goin' Home" (

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

, Williams Arms Fisher) – 3:05

Personnel

All credits adapted from ''The RCA Albums Collection'' (2011) liner notes. The musicians who recorded "Chain Gang", save for Cooke, Clifton White, George Barnes and Glenn Osser, are unknown. *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, Don Arnone,

Everett Barksdale Everett Barksdale (April 28, 1910 – January 29, 1986) was an American jazz guitarist and session musician. Biography Barksdale born in Detroit, Michigan, originally played bass and banjo before settling on guitar. In the 1930s, he moved to ...

, Al Chernet, George Barnes (on "Chain Gang") – guitar *

Milt Hinton Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer. Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the ...

– bass *Jimmy Crawford, Bunny Shawker – drums *

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians have described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts h ...

– piano *

Seldon Powell Seldon Powell (November 15, 1928 – January 25, 1997) was an American tenor saxophonist and flautist whose work spanned multiple genres, including jazz and rhythm and blues. Background Powell worked with Tab Smith (1949), Lucky Millinder (194 ...

– saxophone *Hinda Barnett, Fred Fradkin, Archie Levin, Harry Lookofsky, Ben Miller,

David Nadien David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1966 to 1970. His playing style, characterized by fast vibrato, audible shifting noise ...

, Sylvan Shulman – violin *George Ricci – cello *Al Brown – viola *Steve Lipkins, Leon Marian – trumpet *

Henderson Chambers Henderson Chambers (May 1, 1908 – October 19, 1967) was an American jazz trombonist. Early life and education Chambers was born in Alexandria, Louisiana. He studied at Leland College and Morehouse College, then joined Neil Montgomery's band ...

, Albert Godlis, Frank Saracco – trombone *

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 ...

– conductor * Glenn Osser – conductor on "Chain Gang” *Bob Simpson – recording engineer

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control 1961 albums Sam Cooke albums Albums conducted by Glenn Osser Albums conducted by Sammy Lowe Albums produced by Hugo & Luigi RCA Victor albums