Back to His Roots
This is my favorite secular cd of Sam's. He seems to be coming full circle. His voice had matured and the cd had a more soul and gospel, and raw feel - you know, like unassimilative black music. I love his other works, but his vocals seems to be watered down to appeal to the mainstream audience.

I understand he had to have two faces. One for his folks, the real self, and a water down version for the mainstream(mo money).

Inspired Cooke in Front of an Enthusiastic Audience
If you only know Sam Cooke from pop songs like "Only Sixteen" or "Wonderful World" this CD will be something of a surprise. Here we meet Sam Cooke the live soul performer in front of an enthusiastic audience, who seems to know his song-catalogue by heart.


Cooke himself is in top-form and leaves himself no breaks between the songs. Vocally he's rawer than we usually meet him on his studio-recordings, but just as brilliant and convincing. He is backed by a competent band, and the whole show is just breath-taking. Highlight for me is hearing the audience singing along on "For Sentimental Reasons". Note that compared to the other live album available with Sam Cooke, this album contains almost entirely Cooke originals. Recommended for fans of atmospheric live-recordings. If you prefer the more polished sounding Cooke - this probably won't be the right buy.

A must have for any age
The Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club was one of my better purchases. The CD was brand new in the package as promised. The disc had no marks, blimishes or scratches and it plays clear and even. The performance of Sam Cooke and hearing him live is an exeperience that I will cherish. I wanted quality above all and this CD delivers. I was pleased to see that each song had a nice length to it and was not too short as many compilation CDs are. I wanted to add this CD to my library, therefore, it had to be in good condition and it was. The audio quality was very good, very clear and crisp inspite of being recorded in 1964 before digital technology existed. The remastering was done ideally for each track. Overall I'd say I am very pleased with this product.

My review of One Night Stand: Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
I also have the cd One Night Stand : Sam Cooke Live at The Harlem Square Club. It is a GREAT cd ! However the quality of the recording is not very good ! I still like it !!! It also seems that Sam put more emotion into this performance than I have heard him do before . His voice also sounds more expressive to me on this cd. However I had heard him sing in the past but, have only recently become a actual fan of his !! I gi gave it 4 stars because of the quality of the recording !!!

A Mature Sam Cooke
I can categorically say this album was the cream of Sam Cooke. The reason for saying this, is to counteract the previous comment made by A. Sturley. Sam did not change his voice for this concert. Sam was getting more mature. His voice was breaking. Which I preferred. Had he lived longer, he would'nt be too far of Bobby Womack or a more polished soul singer. Also him moving with the times, who knows how he would really sound like had he lived longer. A. Sturley, if you do not believe me,buy and listen to the album (Keep Moving On).Both albums will always make music listeners take notes. The One Night Stand: Live at the Harlem Square Club was Sam Cooke delivering at his very best!