He was born Samuel Cook in 1931 in Mississippi, but he grew up in Chicago. He came up in the local gospel music scene along with his friend Lou Rawls. Sam ran across the same problem as Ray Charles in that gospel fans didn’t want their singers doing pop tunes. His first pop recording in 1956 was done under another name. He was briefly signed by Specialty Records, but owner Art Rupe fired him when he found Sam recording a song by Gershwin!
He signed with a small label, and his song “You Send Me” became a hit in 1957. In 1960 he signed with RCA, and this was the first in a long chain of hits.
Sam had trouble keeping it zipped, which was to lead to his death in a South-Central Los Angeles motel office in 1964.