Artists like Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson or even Curtis Mayfield definitely put the capital S in Soul. However, many music enthusiasts give Sam Cooke and the Soul stirrers(Cooke’s original group) credit for championing the recipe for soul food(music). Flaunting a melody that made Motown artists green with envy.

Sam Cooke confuses me. He says he doesn’t know much about history, but then he tells me he’s an expert on “Cupid” while “Having a Party.” But when he told me “A Change was Gonna Come,” I knew he wasn’t playing.

Released during the upheavel of the Civil Rights Movement, this soulful ballad was a godsend. When your people are considered 2nd and 3rd class citizens, change is a must. When your people are seen as uncivil and animalistic, change is mandatory. Being prohibited from prospering socio-economically, a change better come. This is the angst that this civil rights ode resonates from.

Februrary 21, 1965 Malcolm X was shot dead, and the souls of black folk fell under deep depression. Deep down, we knew that “after every dark night, there would be a bright day”, as 2pac once said. The brilliant voice of Sam Cooke offered us this glimmer of hope and promise. He was and still is right, “A Change Is Gonna Come.”Godbless Sam Cooke, may his soul rest in peace. For it was his soul food that helped spawn our appetite for change.

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