"Another Saturday Night" is the title of a 1963 hit single by Sam Cooke from the album Ain't That Good News. It reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and was number one on the R&B chart for a single week. In the UK, the song peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart.
Session drummer Hal Blaine played on this version of the song. Other musicians on the record included John Anderson on trumpet, John Ewing on trombone, Jewell Grant on sax, Ray Johnson on piano, and Clifton White and Rene Hall on guitar, and Clifford Hills on bass.
"ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT" Composer: Sam Cooke
Original Artist: Sam Cooke
Label: RCA Victor Records;
Recording: RCA Victor #8164 (45)
Release Year: 1963;
Chart: #10 Billboard Hot 100 and #1 R&B
Cover Artist: Cat Stevens
Label: A & M Records;
Recording: A & M #1602 (45)
Release Year: 1974;
Chart: #6 Billboard Hot 100
Produced by legends Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, a song written by Sam Cooke titled "Another Saturday Night" peaked at number 10 on the Hot 100 in 1963. The lyrics bemoan being new in town and not having a date on consecutive Saturday nights. We are also privy to the results of his disastrous blind date. Over a decade later, a remake of the song by Cat Stevens reached an even higher position on the charts than the original. More importantly, however, the Stevens version encouraged new interest in the music of Sam Cooke, with more cover versions of his songs appearing (including "Only Sixteen" by Dr. Hook and "Wonderful World" by James Taylor). However, gone from the Cat Stevens cover of "Another Saturday Night" was Cooke's very cool and swagger-laden line, "How I wish I had some chick to talk to." Stevens only ever sings, "How I wish I had someone to talk to."
Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke
ReplyDeleteHe was the biggest star in gospel music before he ever crossed over into pop. His first single under his own name, "You Send Me," was an historic success, going to number one on the charts and selling two million copies. He wrote his own songs, hired his own musicians, and started his own record label and music publishing company. At a time when record companies treated black artists like hired help, he demanded respect and a recording contract equal to that of top white artists of the day. And Sam Cooke connected, in songs like "Wonderful World," "Chain Gang," "Another Saturday Night," and "Having a Party" - seemingly effortless compositions that still sound fresh today. In a biography that for the first time tells the full story of Sam Cooke's short, blazing life, prizewinning author Peter Guralnick captures a personality so vivid, so appealing, that it is almost impossible not to fall under its spell. At the same time, 'Dream Boogie' re-creates in remarkable detail the astonishing richness of the African American world from which Sam Cooke emerged, and the combination of style, wit, and resiliency that was necessary in order to survive and overcome the pervasive prejudice of the day. Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Fidel Castro, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. are all part of this story. Sam Cooke also befriended and acted as a mentor to the young Cassius Clay, and he engaged racism, the essential issue of the day, in ways both small and large; writing and recording the civil rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come," proudly declaring his decision to wear his hair "natural" years before other black performers stopped straightening theirs, and refusing to perform for segregated audiences in the South - a stance that provoked the threat of violence on more than one occasion. With almost unbearable poignancy and drama, 'Dream Boogie' tells a story at once tragic and true; Sam Cooke's rapid rise to stardom; his troubled marriage and relationships with women; his triumphant recordings and - along with Ray Charles - his reinvention of rhythm and blues as soul music; the joy he brought to live performance and the rolling parties of the road tours; and the senseless waste of his death by shooting at the age of thirty-three. Peter Guralnick's biography is an epic story of American life during a turbulent and hopeful age as well as a deeply moving portrayal of a complex, inspiring artist and human being.